5 to 10% of the French population lives with a DYS disorder (dyspraxia, dysphasia, dysorthographia…). When writing becomes a struggle, learning difficulties inevitably follow. Affected by this himself, young Ryann Dubois used the COVID-19 lockdowns to design a computer keyboard kit for others like him. Today, these stickers are sold at Boulanger and have found their way well beyond France’s borders…
An invention born from personal experience
Living in Binic-Étables-sur-Mer (Côtes-d’Armor, France), Ryann Dubois has no fond memories of his first years at school. Bright and intelligent as he was, he struggled whenever writing was involved. “His mind works well, very well even, but his hands don’t keep up. As soon as he has to write, they let him down. Holding a pencil is torture, cramps stiffen his fingers,” notes his mother, Solène Dubois[1].
When he was diagnosed in CM2, an occupational therapist encouraged Ryann Dubois to stick small coloured dots onto his computer keyboard to help him use it more easily. But while the technique worked well, some difficulties remained, whether it was the dots coming unstuck or the fact that no one else could use his keyboard with the letters hidden underneath…
The birth of Ryann Dubois’s Keydys keyboard
During the lockdowns, in spring 2021, the 16-year-old from Brittany came up with his own system, keeping the colour code but adding the letters on top. “The colours help the eye learn to spot the letter you’re looking for more quickly. On top of that, the colours are arranged diagonally, with one colour per zone worked by the same finger!” he explains[2]. Before long, other DYS friends started asking him for one too.
Faced with this growing interest, Ryann Dubois created a Facebook page: “We got more and more requests. We’d work on it at night, like something out of an American start-up film. Sometimes we’d be printing until 3 in the morning. Fun when you’re 20, but… exhausting at 50!” notes Ryann’s father, Olivier Dubois1.
The thriving company R2Dtooldys
Driven by everyone’s enthusiasm, the family couldn’t ignore the requests and demand. On 9 July 2021, they made the venture official and founded R2Dtoolsys, a French limited company… Today, his “KeyDys” keyboard is available on the company’s website, and is also sold at Boulanger.
“The retailer gave me, free of charge, all the IT equipment I needed and around twenty experts across every field: legal, tax, business setup…” Ryann Dubois adds.[3] Thanks to this support, the family can now rely on a specialised printer and no longer needs those late-night printing sessions.
Available in Switzerland, Belgium, Québec, and Qatar, the Keydys keyboard comes in several versions for Azerty, Qwerty, and Qwertz layouts, for Mac, Android… And growth prospects look bright, particularly within the world of education. After the Nancy-Metz education authority, the head of the Rennes education authority would also like to make it available to all of its DYS students.
[1] Quote: https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/bretagne/cotes-d-armor/journee-mondiale-des-dys-un-jeune-breton-invente-un-clavier-pour-faire-disparaitre-les-difficultes-2286076.html
[2] Quote: https://actu.fr/bretagne/binic-etables-sur-mer_22055/bretagne-a-16-ans-ryann-invente-un-clavier-pour-les-eleves-dys-et-cree-son-entreprise_41340882.html
[3] Quote: https://actu.fr/bretagne/binic-etables-sur-mer_22055/handicap-a-16-ans-ryann-invente-un-clavier-pour-les-eleves-dys-et-le-vend-partout-en-france_48046264.html
