Project name:
iDYSLEXIC
One-line project summary:
The worlds first bespoke social network to assist children and adults living with Dyslexia
Present your project.
iDyslexic is the worlds first global social network to assist children and adults living with Dyslexia and ADHD. One in ten children suffer from a learning disorder. 70% of people incarcerated suffer with a learning disorder. Dyslexia & ADHD are the most common conditions. We believe that early intervention is the key to assisting children and helping them to find their focus and purpose in life. We have proven this model works over the past 10 months since launch. We currently have Dyslexic Associations and industry professionals from around the World assisting children and adults. This is key to building respect and validation across the industry. We’re focusing on engaging students, parents, teachers and caseworkers but our customers are also Dyslexic and ADHD professionals and organisations who are looking to engage with a dedicated Dyslexic - ADHD community.
Submit a video.
What specific problem are you solving?
One in Ten. Some of our experts are suggesting that it's One in Five. Emerging countries don't understand what Dyslexia is and have no resources or education systems in place to manage it. There are a number of platforms discussing the condition but no one has built a bespoke social network specifically designed to support dyslexic learning and to connect everyone until now. iDyslexic provides a secure platform for children, adults, professionals to discuss how we can assist and improve how we educate. We have thousands of users since launch. We're receiving the most remarkable mails from parents who are desperate to find solutions thanking us for building this network. The positive information and posts are changing their childs self esteem. For younger children their issues are not been seen, left out, stupid, isolated, that stigma of been taken out of class daily to work with a special needs teacher. Dyslexia is a reading difficulty and ADHD is a lack of focus. A child can feel very isolated in a school if they have these conditions.
What is your project?
WHO BENEFITS
- CHILDREN
For younger children their issues are not been seen, left out, stupid, isolated, that stigma of been taken out of class daily to work with a special needs teacher. Dyslexia is a reading difficulty and ADHD is a lack of focus. A child can feel very isolated in a school if they have these conditions.
- ADULTS
We're finding that they are getting assessed and diagnosed later in life and they're now realising why they had issues at work, in their personal life so we're offering our platform to connect with other adults and to connect with our professionals to get the best advice and support on how to deal with it.
- PARENTS
iDyslexic connects parents to let them understand how to deal with everyday situations better, manage homework, schooling, behaviour etc
- SCHOOLS
iDyslexic saves schools time because the teacher and case worker have direct access to the parents (for meetings, homework behavioural discussions). It also saves time by having a digital file of the childs IEP. This is currently labor intensive and handled manually. One in Ten children suffer with the condition. We plan a global rollout over the next 12 months through languages.
Who does your project serve, and in what ways is the project impacting their lives?
We're seeing direct time feedback. Comments, posts, messaging, sharing, users deep linking and posting socially about the positive effects iDyslexic is having on their lives. The Dyslexic Association and smaller Dyslexic - ADHD associations have been tackling this problem for many years. We've plugged our social network into their community. They use our platform to connect with their community to push physical classes, assessment, tools to assist.
I left school at 15 because of my Dyslexia and ADHD. Back then there was no diagnosis for it, you were just stupid or bold. Nothing has really changed in the education system. We're showing children that having Dyslexia and ADHD is a positive and won't hold them back. When they mapped the human genome they discovered that ADHD is not attention deficit disorder but a SUPERFOCUS so if a child finds what they love they will be the very best at it. 40% of entrepreneurs are Dyslexic, because they have to think differently and work out solutions in non conventional ways. There's too much bad press focused on the negatives of the condition. When children see posts like SuperFocus it's immediately changing their outlook and self esteem.
Which dimension of The Elevate Prize does your project most closely address?
Elevating opportunities for all people, especially those who are traditionally left behindExplain how your project relates to The Elevate Prize and your selected dimension.
We’re working closely with the Irish and UK Dyslexic Associations. iDyslexic is an easy way for them to connect with their Dyslexic community. The Duke of Edinburgh Awards advertised us across their networks so we are getting our name out through strategic partnerships in the Dyslexic community. iDyslexic was the first company chosen across Europe by Microsofts AI for Good. Jean-Philippe Courtois Global President of Microsoft is a fan. He’s been tweeting about iDyslexic this year. Google are also championing us. We have secured grants to allow us to host iDyslexic on their servers for the next twelve months.
How did you come up with your project?
My son was diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADHD when he was six. He's fourteen now. Over the past few years he was having trouble fitting in at school. I built iDyslexic to show him that he’s not alone. Over the past 10 months since launch we’ve seen a huge improvement in his self esteem and confidence because we're showing him that millions of people are effected by it and that it won't hold him back in life, if anything it will be a positive if he finds the correct projects to focus on. We remove stigma, reduce inequality, early intervention allows a child to feel part of a community, to make them feel they are not stupid, left out, not listened to. Direct action to assist with their education has a huge effect on their mental health and well being. We connect parents with Dyslexic associations and professionals to get the best advice. iDyslexic also offers a parent a secure classroom to upload the child’s IEP - assessment file for fast access by the school. The parent invites in the teacher, case worker and child into this classroom to help manage daily homework, calendar and activities.
Why are you passionate about your project?
We live with Dyslexia, ADHD and Anxiety daily. I've spent fifteen years looking for solutions to assist my son with the many challenges he faces with his education and there's no new tech to assist. Microsoft are developing learning tools but theres no social network to connect the community around the world. He came home from school two years ago and told me that he felt handicapped because they take him out of class daily in front of all his friends. That's the day we started to build iDyslexic. Since his diagnosis my wife and I used to get meetings at his school every six months for twenty minutes and it wasn't enough to let me assist him with his education. That's why we built the secure classroom inside the app to allow parents like me to connect daily with the school and assist with homework and daily activities. The classroom makes everybody accountable.
Why are you well-positioned to deliver this project?
I build Social Impact Tech and when tech comes from somewhere good it always works. I'm launching iHELP in June to assist with depression, anxiety and mental health recovery. We've proven at iDyslexic that wrapping a social network around a user helps them to recover quicker because everyone that loves and cares about them is in the one space.
iHELP will assist the HSE and NHS connect patients who require Healing Hotels, Stepdown Hospitals and other accommodation options to rest and recover and for those needing to self isolate who cannot safely do so at home. Users will utilizing the iHELP apps for a register of approved holistic, creative and therapeutic practictioners in collaboration with the HSE
My Background + achievements:
Marrying my first girlfriend, having two amazing children I guess. Another few achievements were signing the biggest record deal in the World back in 1991 to Geffen Records in Los Angeles, getting to tour the world as a recording artist, introducing Facebook to Ireland in 2004, launching technologies that assist people globally. There’s a lot of achievements and awards but family always comes first. I have great friends around the world and trusted relationships at executive and board levels who assist me to deliver projects that I launch.
Provide an example of your ability to overcome adversity.
I develop technology platforms around the world across Education, Music, Talent Discovery, Augmented Reality, Safety, Adventure and Social Impact. For me personally I found a purpose beyond profit. I’m more interested in building technology that has social benefits rather than building a business to just make money. If technology is applied correctly it can facilitate tremendous positive social change. Companies are now seeing value in building social good communities and increasing the level of social consciousness will benefit their company in the long term.
Even thought I'm very successful I don’t see myself as successful at all. It’s because of low self esteem linked to Dyslexia. When you’re young Dyslexia is associated with failure. I’ve never read a book because I can’t but I’ve learnt to work around that. We’re trying to remove that stigma from Children with iDyslexic so they won’t have to feel like this when they’re older.
Describe a past experience that demonstrates your leadership ability.
I excel during crisis because my dyslexia and ADHD allow me to think differently the other and work out new solutions. Crisis like this are always followed by innovation and growth. Some of our companies are growing exponentially and some are really struggling to survive so each day brings new challenges. That’s the one great thing about being Dyslexic, our core skill is figuring out new ways to work around problems.
I'm building iHELP, iAUTISTIC, iCANCER and Stand UP Charity (to assist the homeless) in collaboration with Stanford, Duke and Penn State University.
How long have you been working on your project?
All my life
Where are you headquartered?
Kilkenny, IrelandWhat type of organization is your project?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofitIf you have additional video content that explains your project, provide a YouTube or Vimeo link here:
Describe what makes your project innovative.
There's no other bespoke social network to connect Dyslexics globally. iDyslexic is groundbreaking and assists through secure classrooms, giometrics, messaging, profiles, deep linking, introductions, posts and comments. We receive messages from parents daily that their child was diagnosed with dyslexia and was very down, they put them on our platform and they changed overnight and that their self esteem was back and their grades had improves and all because they no longer feel alone.
Thats the biggest problem with any disability that people feel alone and not part of a community. We wrap that community around them and make them feel welcome and part of our Dyslexic family.
What is your theory of change?
It’s behavioural economics. We’re providing the platform that assists. Without it there’s a disconnect across the Dyslexic community globally. Professionals are posting on their own blogs etc but no one until now has connected the community
KPI’S INTERNAL
1. LANGUAGE Text analytics for iDyslexic forum creation.
2. DECISION Content moderator to monitor iDyslexic social feeds and help create a unique user experience
3. SPEECH Speech to text for social, forum, survey inputs ad
4. MACHINE machine learning for creation of iDyslexic learning model to secure open source data recovery and advance future
tech developments
KPI’S EXTERNAL
We’re receiving external feedback from schools, parent, case workers that our platform is making their lives much easier because the connection is speeding up the process of dealing with a student. iDyslexic makes everyone accountable, Students, Parents and Schools
Select the key characteristics of the community you are impacting.
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your project address?
How many people does your project currently serve? How many will it serve in one year? In five years?
current 62,000
1 year 220,000
5 years 3m
One in five children have a learning disorder and Dyslexia is the largest.All of our activity happens inside the secure classroom allowing everyone to connect securely and access iep files + homework and activities
What are your goals within the next year and within the next five years?
I'm building 9 social impact project that will assist millions of disadvantages people globally. Theres no point having knowledge on how to build tech and social networks if you don't give back and assist.
iHELP
iAUTISITC
iCANCER
iCHRONIC
iSURVIVE
iRECOVRY
iALLERGIC
Stand UP Charity
What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year and in the next five years?
Key obstacles we face that could prevent iDyslexic from achieving our goals?
a. A larger network launches a copy of iDyslexic
b. Lack of funding to roll it out globally
c. Lack of engagement from schools
d. Bad press
e. Not adding the value we hope to add
How do you plan to overcome these barriers?
(a) We're applying for trademarks on the iDyslexic user journey to create our own IP. Because we are first to make with this solution this will become a barrier for any company trying to copy the iDyslexic model.
(b) I have funded the initiative personally from conception to date. I run a venture builder model fund where I select a project, fund it, build it with our teams in the Ukraine and launch it into the market and place management teams on top. We are starting to look at external funding now for global rollout.
(c) We're currently rebuilding the back end to connect it with two of my other companies www.eshools.co.uk and www.wonde.com Between both of these companies we operate across 20,000 schools managing data on 22 million customers. I plan to link iDyslexic to both companies over the coming months to be read for school term in September.
(d). To date we have received amazing press. Here are some examples.
https://medium.com/@catapooolt/idyslexic-an-app-facilitating-brighter-future-for-students-with-dyslexia-goes-live-ahead-of-15214cbda755
https://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/home/354065/kilkenny-tech-entrepreneur-launches-specialist-app-to-support-children-with-dyslexia.html
https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/idyslexic-goes-live-ahead-of-crowdfunding-37652564.html
https://beat102103.com/news/kilkenny-man-creates-smartphone-app-to-help-those-with-dyslexia/
https://irishtechnews.ie/tech-entrepreneur-launches-specialist-app-to-support-children-with-dyslexia/
(e) We're currently adding value but i want to do more. I want to build Dyslexic screening inside the app. I want to link to all dyslexic tools insure the secure classroom so we're currently offering 50% of what the apps and platform can actually do so a dyslexic person and their family.
What organizations do you currently partner with, if any? How are you working with them?
Some examples of what our partners think of iDyslexic
Rosie Bissett CEO Irish Dyslexic Association
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
I HAVE WATCHED AND ADMIRED FROM A DISTANCE THE INCREDIBLE DEVELOPMENT BRENDAN MORRISSEY HAS ACHIEVED WITH i dyslexic
HE HAS DONE SUCH GREAT WORK TO ENABLE KIDS TO FIND THEIR STRENGTHS AND WORK AROUND THEIR WEAKNESSES WITH A TRULY HOLISTIC APPROACH WHICH MAKES IT EASY FOR THE CHILDREN THEMSELVES BUT ALSO THEIR PARENTS AND RELEVANT PROFESSIONALS TO AVAIL THEMSELVES OF THE BENEFITS FROM WHAT BRENDAN HAS CREATED
HE HAS BROUGHT ON BOARD VERY IMPRESSIVE PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS
HIS WORK MEANS THAT A HUGE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WILL BE MORE SUCCESSFUL AND FULFILLED
HE HAS INVESTED TIME AND MONEY BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY HAS BROUGHT GREAT ENERGY AND IDEAS TO THE TABLE IN A COMPELLING MIX OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS AND PHILANTHROPY CORRECTING MISCONCEPTIONS AND MAKING PEOPLE BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES BECAUSE THEY HAVE THAT RARE BUT MUCH SOUGHT AFTER TALENT OF ‘SUPER FOCUS ‘
HE HIMSELF IS THE BEST EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED IN SPITE OF WHAT IS OFTEN PERCEIVED AS A DISADVANTAGE
TRULY ‘ GAME CHANGING ‘ WORK FOR WHICH WE SHOULD ALL BE TRULY GRATEFUL JOHN KENNEDY OBE
What is your business model?
BUSINESS MODEL
a. We've built the worlds first bespoke social network
b. We're building in machine learning / artificial intelligence to measure how our secure classroom changes a child's education
c. We've build a secure classroom that allows a parent to upload the child's IEP file for fast access from the school, this creates a digital fingerprint. Parents can then assist from home
d. We have built direct and group messaging
e. iDyslexic geometrics allows a user to see other users of the apps in their school, town, country, allowing them to easily make connections. This is key to children not feeling isolated.
f. We have a main feed (like instagram) where professionals post relevant curated content to help build our community
What is your path to financial sustainability?
We charge a parent $20 per classroom per year. This allows a parent to set up a classroom, invite in their child, their case worker and their teacher. Parents upload the IEP file into this classroom to allow fast and digital access to it by the school. The student users this secure space to upload their homework daily by taking images off it in class and posting it on the secure feed. This allows a parent to have an overview of what's happening in a classroom. A parent can also set top a group chat that connect them daily to the school. We find this solution the most powerful and rewarding one as we can see students grades improving when iDyslexic links parents directly to the class and teachers.
We will be raising capital over the coming months. In the ling term the classroom charge and advertising will cover all expenses. We are looking at building a Dyslexic approved hardware store on the site that allows parents to purchase tools to assist that are verified by our community. iDyslexic will clip the ticket on all items sold (Amazon model).
If you have raised funds for your project or are generating revenue, please provide details.
I have funded the project to date with $300,000 investment to build a bespoke platform from CMS to iOS and Android apps. This funding also pays 3 staff to manage iDyslexic. We have a few hundred paying subscribers. This number will grow substantially when we plug iDyslexic into my schools system through eSchools and Wonde.
If you seek to raise funds for your project, please provide details.
We are raising a round now between $250,000 and $500,000. We don't mind if this comes as grant, debt or equity support. The current market cap is $5m. We are looking to close a round to offer between 5 and 10% of the Irish holding company. This is a seed + round. When we plug into schools we will be raising a substantial A Round later in 2020.
What are your estimated expenses for 2020?
2020
- Rent $8000 (remote working %)
- Utility bills $6200
- Phone bills/communication costs $2800
- Accounting/bookkeeping $1250
- Legal/insurance/licensing fees $600
- Postage zero
- Technology $58000
- Advertising & marketing $43000
- Salaries $96500
- Total $216350
Why are you applying for The Elevate Prize?
Having MIT rubber stamp our solution would be a huge plus for iDyslexic and the Dyslexic community globally. MIT solutions moving into schools would open many doors for us. You in turn could use our technology to address the 1 in 5 students you connect with that are neurodiverse.
You could help us to remove the misconception people without dyslexia have about dyslexic people and how to dispelling that myth. The biggest challenge for me with building all of this was bringing everything that I had parked from my childhood back to life. I left school at 15 because I couldn’t understand what was going on and was made to feel stupid. Back then there was no understanding of any neuro diverse conditions. You were just thick or stupid. When situations arise that I can’t cope with the frontal lobe of my brain shuts down and I can’t express how I feel. The brain becomes overwhelmed. That used to happen in school and still happens today. That’s one of the main reasons I built iDyslexic so children won’t have to feel like this when they’re older. Most days I receive messages from parents saying their child was diagnosed and was very low but they put them on our apps and saw the positive posts and community and they changed overnight. We started doing that for a few people then thousands so I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve achieved in the past year. Those messages make it all worth while
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
What organizations would you like to partner with, and how would you like to partner with them?
Can I tell you a story. A year ago Jean Philippe Courtois global president of Microsoft wanted to meet the top 7 entrepreneurs in Europe. We were invited to Microsoft HQ in London where we all sat in a small room around a table and each entrepreneur gave their 2 minute pitch on who they were. When it came to me the frontal lobe of my brain shut down (this happens to a person with Dyslexia, ADHD and Anxiety if they become overwhelmed). I apologised by mail after the meeting and explained thats the very reason why I built iDyslexic so children won't have to feel like this when they're older because they will understand what's happening to them when they're under pressure.
He wrote back and has been tweeting about iDyslexic that he loved to learn from us so Microsoft Education would be great to plug the iDyslexic solution into their schools across the World. Children reach out to us from countries like Turkey, Greece even China to tell us that their governments don't have any understanding of what Dyslexia is. This needs to change. We need to raise funding to build in languages to make iDyslexic easy to use globally so we can assist as many people as possible.
The Gates Foundation would be great. We reached out to them but they're more research based instead of providing instant solutions like iDyslexic.
Please explain in more detail here.
Neuro Diversity seems to be the buzz word at the moment. It’s not that long ago that no-one talked about these issues so it’s a huge relief that we can stand up and be proud of having Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism etc. When they mapped the human genome they discovered its not attention deficit disorder but a SuperFocus. Business owners want that Superfocus and Neuro diverse brains to work out new solutions to problems.
One in five people have a learning disorder, dyslexia is the biggest so the education system is completely broken. 70% of inmates have a learning disorder so instead of focusing on educating they focus on crime. Early intervention is key to get people on the right path. It would make a lot of sense for the Government to invest early in these diversity and inclusion space StartUPs instead of investing when it’s too late.
Solution Team
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MR BRENDAN MORRISSEY Founder , iDyslexic
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Your bio:
The Times describe Brendan Morrissey as a serial Entrepreneur. His career journey started as Geffen recording artists My Little Funhouse. This deal, the largest advance paid for a new artist. He moved to Los Angeles, recorded three records for Geffen Records and toured the world for six years with bands like Guns n Roses, The Ramones & Chilli Peppers
Brendan holds a diverse portfolio of tech investments and interests across Education, Music, Talent Discovery, Augmented Reality, Safety, NeuroScience, Adventure and Social Impact. Founder at MobStar, Mishon, DataEgg, iDyslexic, StandUp Charity, SafePal and partner at eSchools, ProTunes, Wonde, GDPR, Bare in the Woods Music & Arts Festival, iLaugh and iHelp.
2011 lead to the prestigious appointment to the Media Advisory Board at Fordham University New York.In 2012 at an event at Sony Pictures in Hollywood Brendan was awarded the Innovation in Entertainment Award honouring the top Irish Entrepreneurs working abroad.