Jonathan Bryan

When I was 7 I was removed from special school to learn to read and write at home, and just before my 9th birthday I started to spell out everything I wanted to write and say with my eyes on a Perspex E-tran alphabet board held in front of me. Being able to communicate in my own words completely transformed my life and I became determined to advocate for others given the label PMLD and not taught literacy at school. As a voice for the voiceless I set up a charity, Teach Us Too, promoting an education system where all children are taught literacy regardless of their label or disability, and with the charity I speak to education students and professionals all over the country. I’m also a member of FLARE, the Department for Education’s national young SEND advisory group, meeting bi-monthly and taking other opportunities like meeting ministers at round tables.

In 2018 my memoir, Eye Can Write, was published and has sold over 16,000 copies with my royalties supporting my charity; I’m looking forward to furthering my creative writing as a student at Bath Spa University in September.

In 2020 I received an Alphege Award from the Archbishop of Canterbury for evangelism and witness, and I have done talks about disability and the church including a joint poem written with a friend and performed to thousands at the Satellites youth camp this summer.

As a Christian I am motivated by God who loves and wants the best for us, and so it is amazing when I hear of a child, or class, or school who have been taught to read and write because of my story and Teach Us Too. Amplifying the voices of other children and young people whose lives have been transformed by literacy is a recent passion of mine; together we are a powerful witness.