Dyslexia Awareness Month

What is a Twitter Storm?

A Twitterstorm is a sudden spike in activity surrounding a certain topic on the Twitter social media site. We will use the hashtag #SayDyslexia to raise awareness for Dyslexia Awareness Month!

When a specific tweet and hashtag are tweeted and retweeted quickly enough, the hashtag is included on Twitter’s “trending” list and displayed to all Twitter users, even those who are not a member of the hashtag user’s list of followers. This often leads to the original message or hashtag crossing to other social media sites or the mainstream media, resulting in much deeper penetration into the collective conscience.

The perfect Twitterstorm: Starts on Twitter, is picked up by traditional press and through various feedback loops and reaches a wide audience, even those who are not on Twitter.

When is the #SayDyslexia Twitter Storm?

The #SayDyslexia Twitter storm will take place on October 15th to represent the 1 in 5 people who are Dyslexic. In an attempt to make this storm international at approximately the same time- we thought we could begin tweeting using this chart for timezones. Feel free to tweet before or after your timezone if that works best for you!

I’m new to Twitter… How do I do this?

1. Before October 15th, Go to http://www.twitter.com and sign up for a free Twitter account.
2. Once your account is set up, start following people – search #Dyslexia, #Edchat, your state legislators, national legislators. The more people following you when the twitter storm begins the better!
3. Now that you have your account – learn how Twitter works: there are 3 major functions that we need you to learn to participate in the Twitter storm:
   1. Tweet – Type messages about Dyslexia, add in pictures with the hashtag #sayDyslexia
   2. Retweet  – Search #sayDyslxia and retweet to share the tweet with your followers.
   3. Retweet with comment – retweet tweets with your comment – make sure to add the hashtag #sayDyslexia.
   4. Like – Clicking the heart shows you like the tweet.

What do I tweet during the #sayDyslexia Twitter Storm?

• Tweet Dyslexia Facts:
  • #1in5 people in the US are affected by #Dyslexia #SayDyslexia
  • #Dyslexia is the most common disability – 80% of those in #SpecialEducation have #Dyslexia #SayDyslexia
  • #Dyslexia does not have a medical cure. The only help for Dyslexia is education. #SayDyslexia
  • Students who are behind in 3rd grade rarely catch up. #SayDyslexia
• Tweet Dyslexia photos:
  • Check out the Literacy infographics from Pennsylvania’s Department of Education!
  • Google Dyslexia and check images for a variety of Dyslexia Graphics:

• Share your story:
  • Create a thread to share your families Dyslexia Story. There is no limit to the number of tweets you can thread together!