Gwyn Singleton ''nee'' Gwynifer Begbie,(1933–2021) was a Scottish pioneer of educational support for

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

. She published a

spelling dictionary Spelling is a set of conventions for written language regarding how graphemes should correspond to the sounds of spoken language. Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element. Spell ...

and associated teaching aids for children with dyslexia, based on an aural coding system, with David Moseley and founded Dyslexia ScotWest support group for families with children with dyslexia.

Life

Born Gwynifer Begbie in Edinburgh 1933, to mother Ena Davis-Jones, a teacher and her father J. Mouland Begbie, the leader of the

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...

, she also had a sister Margot. The family moved to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

where she attended Laurel Bank School and Jordanhill Teacher Training College. Her first job was in Haggs Hill School, Glasgow. In 1959, she married Ronald Singleton and later divorced. She had four children Julia, Hilary, Gregor and Clare. In the 1980s, she helped to found a group to support families affected by dyslexia in the west of Scotland (Dyslexia ScotWest) and completed a degree in education, at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

. She moved to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, teaching at Nunnykirk specialist school with her new partner David Moseley, and together they published a spelling dictionary, designed for dyslexic children and created associated freely available worksheets, which were commended by the Dyslexia Association. This became a recommended resource for use in Scottish education authorities, with

Stirling Council Stirling (; ; ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its merchants and tradesmen, the ...

including it in its "advice and good practice in supporting dyslexia". Singleton retired, and later died aged 87, in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

, on 21 September 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singleton, Gwyn 1933 births 2021 deaths People educated at Laurel Bank School Dyslexia researchers People associated with the Open University Scottish educators People from Edinburgh