Jonathan Bryan’s Mum Vows To Continue Legacy

The mother of a teenager who campaigned for the educational rights of non-verbal children has vowed to continue running his charity in his memory.

Jonathan Bryan, 19, from Wiltshire, was born with severe cerebral palsy and died earlier this year.

Unable to walk, hold a pen or communicate verbally, he was taught to read at the age of seven, using his eyes to spell out words on a letter board. He went on to launch the campaign Teach Us Too, which became a charity in 2018.

Asked what Jonathan would want his legacy to be, Chantal Bryan said: “He would love for all children to be taught to read and write in school, regardless of how they look on the outside or the label they’ve been given.”

Jonathan’s journey was captured in a CBBC documentary and his 2018 memoir Eye Can Write, which shared his experiences of disability, education and faith.

Mrs Bryan said she had to take him out of his special needs school to teach him to read and write because literacy was not part of his curriculum.

At the age of nine, Jonathan told her: “I really need to make a difference for children like me in education.”

This determination led him to launch Teach Us Too.

Its mission is to ensure children with complex needs are given the chance to read and write.

“Writing was his big love. It gave him the ability to express himself in words he wouldn’t otherwise have had,” Mrs Bryan said.

She added that her son always believed the “charity is bigger than just my story”.

“There are other children that have learnt to read and write, but there are so many more who could be taught more than they are at the moment,” she added.

Since Jonathan’s death, the family has received letters remembering not only his determination but also his humour.

“His timing wasn’t great because it took him a while to say things, but he loved to put in a witty quip – being able to write gave him the ability to do that,” Mrs Bryan said.

She added that Jonathan also had “an extraordinary faith”.

“It was the one thing that never changed,” she said.

“He felt strongly that none of us talked about death enough. He prepared as much as he could, even writing his own funeral service, explaining before each hymn and reading why he had chosen it.”