Aroundtown Magazine January/February 2024 edition

FAMILY
Barnsley’s Alexandria wants to
make dyslexia crystal clear
A teenage beauty pageant contestant from
Barnsley is using her platform to raise
awareness of dyslexia – and hopes to bring
the Miss World crown back to England for
the first time in 40 years.
Fifteen-year-old Alexandria
Crystal is the youngest ever Miss
England contestant after being
picked as the judge’s wildcard for
2024. She turns 16 just before the
semi-final heat is held at Blackpool’s
Viva! venue in April – a month
before she sits her GCSE exams.
If successful, she could make
it through to the Miss England
final in May, the overall winner
of which will win a place in Miss
World 2024. As well as making her
the youngest ever winner of the
coveted titles, being crowned Miss
England or Miss World would also
give Alexandria the platform to put
Barnsley and the north of England
firmly on the map.
For Alexandria, she wants to give
her natural beauty a purpose. In
the lead up to the competition, she
has been creating videos on her
YouTube channel and Instagram
account to raise awareness of
dyslexia, a condition both she and
her younger brother have recently
been diagnosed with.
“I have always felt that I learnt
differently but because I was
Alexandria wants
“
to create awareness
that, within the
next decade, will
filter through into
workplaces, giving
today’s cohort of
school and college
students more
support in later life
”
learning well my dyslexia wasn’t
diagnosed until I started to
struggle with certain aspects of my
education. I am still learning how the
condition affects me and steadily
grasping that I often only need
things explaining to me differently or
given a little more time to help me
understand certain subjects.”
Photographs courtesy of
Stephanie Thornton Photography
Dyslexia isn’t just bad spelling
or getting Bs and Ds mixed up. It’s
a specific learning difficulty that
primarily affects literacy skills. But
it can also impact how a person
processes or retains information,
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