In this project, I would like to find out how children with dyslexia can be included in a setting where text and reading are turned into a game by using supporting visual systems. The board game is a medium that can contribute to the exploration of ethical issues in a secure setting. I have focused on cooperation and solving tasks together rather than on reading. I want to explore how the visual material in a board game with text can be designed so that it creates optimum conditions for reading and information flow for the target group, i.e. children with dyslexia.
The short version is that the process has been a long one. The project has changed enormously since I first started on the master’s degree programme, not least in the past year. I discovered that I had to work certain things out of my system, so that the final project would be something I was fully committed to as an illustrator. I had to find out how to best adapt the visual tools in the project to make the game inclusive and capable of building good relations, for example in a class setting.
The result is a prototype of the board game Hekseboka (The Book of Witchcraft), in which I emphasise visual systems rather than text. In the game, the participants are pupils at a school of magic. They have sneaked into the head teacher’s office and accidentally blown an important book to pieces. The players have to agree on a way of solving enough tasks to save the book before it freezes and is lost in the winter.
I have for many years had a great distaste for putting people into special categories and pigeon-holing them. Being good at reading is not the same as being smart or better than someone who struggles with reading. When he was growing up, I saw my brother struggle with prejudices as a result of his dyslexia. That made a strong impression on me and is something I have wanted to eradicate.