Shining a light on Dyslexia: an invisible disability in the workplace

By Dominique Nally, HR Consultant

I didn’t know much about dyslexia prior to 2019. I had heard of it, read a little about it, but my understanding of what it means for the person living with this neurodiverse condition was very, very limited.

Since 2019, I’ve had the privilege to work for an organisation who champions neurodiversity and neurodivergence, which opened my eyes a great deal. A year ago, I joined OneHR Ltd and have been working with a colleague who lives with dyslexia and whose daughter also lives with dyslexia. This got me wondering how their intergenerational experience has been – at work, studying and seeking employment – and whether there has been much progress in the workplace in terms of support and reasonable adjustments.

What is dyslexia?

According to the British Dyslexia Association, about 10% of the population lives with dyslexia – “a neurological difference which can have a significant impact during education, in the workplace and in everyday life.” It is a lifelong condition that usually runs within families.

Super-strengths and challenges

What springs to mind when you think of dyslexia? Difficulty reading and writing, being unable to decipher a word – ‘can’t spell, can’t write’?

Like with any other condition, the symptoms for each person living with dyslexia will be unique, “ranging from mild to severe.”*

But having dyslexia does not mean we can’t work with the written word – there are many super-strengths and some are highlighted here**:

• Great long-term memory
• Excellent communication skills
• Problem-solving ability
• Strong 3D visual skills

Organisational skills and time management may be more of a challenge but there are many tools nowadays, including assistive technology to support a young person in education or a colleague at work.

* The British Dyslexia Association

**Taken from Genius Within CIC’s website

Accessible documents and assistive technology

There are many ways an employer can accommodate inclusivity and accessibility at work, to help staff living with dyslexia, as shown in the mind map below.

• Underlining words or writing them in italics can make the letters look crowded.
• Avoid writing entire words in capital letters.
• There should be plenty of contrast between the colour of the page and the colour of the words.
• A white background can make it difficult to read the text.
• We all learn differently. Vary how you present the information. Don’t just use linear writing.

There is tech out there which does not have to cost the earth that would also help:

1. Speech recognition software: dictate or talk to a computer. Converts into written text. Helps write emails, reports and other communications.
2. Text-to-speech software: allows you to understand written materials, proof-read or check your work.
3. Mind mapping software: allows you to plan your work more effectively. Easier to understand than linear writing.
4. Scanning software and hand reading pens: allows you to store and listen to the text found in books and other documents.
5. Spell checkers: specifically designed with dyslexia in mind to automatically make connections to written communications.
6. Smartpens: these can be used to write text, track it and recreate the notes in digital form. These pens can usually be uploaded to a smart phone, PC or tablet.
7. Computer-based learning programmes: these are specifically written for people with dyslexia to help sharpen skills in writing, touch-typing and numeracy.

Let’s hear from mother and daughter Kaye and Scarlett!

Kaye is in her early 50’s and a director of OneHR Ltd.  Scarlett, her daughter, is 18. They have been sharing their experience of living with dyslexia. It is a very interesting intergenerational point of view, showing how recognition of the condition and support in education, at home and at work has progressed over the decades.

Listen to Kaye and Scarlett’s discussion on Soundcloud using the links below. Their discussion has been summarised in text (but is not shown verbatim).

Question 1: When did you discover you had dyslexia?

Scarlett: I was diagnosed at 11 when first joined secondary school but I had always known I had dyslexia, even at primary school.

Kaye: I didn’t know my dad had dyslexia and I was home-schooled until I was six years old, so I didn’t know I had it. When I joined mainstream primary school, my spelling was great, but grammar was very difficult for me. By the time I got to secondary school, I couldn’t keep up with reading. I felt terrified to be asked to read out loud.

Question 2: How does it affect you personally?

Scarlett: it’s taken a long time to come to terms with how I think and experience things differently from others. It’s not just to do with learning, reading or writing; it’s the way my brain works. I need to come up with different ways to learn and communicate with people. I still need to understand it more now.

Kaye: at school, I felt stupid, and dyslexia wasn’t a thing like it is now. It’s spoken of now in work and reasonable adjustments are made. There was none of that when I was growing up. I was made to feel stupid but not as much as it was for my dad. No one even knew about dyslexia then. At school, I had a Franklin’s handheld device that gave me options of what the word might be. That was a long time before today’s predictive text options that are available on every device.

Question 3: How have you found living with dyslexia while also building your career in HR?

Kaye: when I was at university, going to lectures was very difficult because my audio memory was rubbish. I had to take a lot of notes, but they were half words and stuff was all over the place. I had to work quite hard to get my qualifications. HR is very paper based, you have to write a lot of documents and reports, your attention to detail needs to be excellent. HR is probably not the best fit for my dyslexia, but I loved it. I was always very good with people, am quite perceptive and I can give strategic advice – all part of the job. I started with blue chip companies, so I had a team to delegate to and help to manage my admin.

Question 4: How has dyslexia impacted you during your studies?

Scarlett: when covid hit, it was really hard. I had always had special help at school and teachers by my side for support. I’d never had to rely on just myself to do the work before. That messed me up and I still feel it stunted my learning. I worked hard and got my GCSEs, but I feel I could have done much better if I had been able to stay in school and got the support that was in place for me. At college, I don’t get that same level of support; they expect me to do the work independently. It did affect my ability to revise and in classes, I was taking constant pictures of the board. I had to ask teachers to slow down because they spoke too quickly or ask them to repeat what they said. I take a lot of notes. I needed to find techniques that worked for me.

On the register, my name comes up with a little star. It shows I have a learning disability. My thinking is completely different from someone else. I think in 3D and others don’t. I keep myself informed by reading dyslexia blogs and chats.

Question 5: The focus is often on what you can’t do – Let’s turn this around: tell us about your super-powers!

Scarlett: thinking in 3D is one. I can communicate well while others with dyslexia can’t always. It’s hard to know if it’s me or the dyslexia that allows me to do something well. My brain is quite fast, so I pause a lot and go back on myself as a result. It comes across as not as smart, but actually it’s just a different way of thinking.

Kaye: I loved that I could do things better than others, that make me feel a bit special.

Question 6: What, if anything, do you struggle the most with at work and what techniques might you have put in place to help you?

Kaye: I struggle most with attention to detail. I know that it takes me longer to read things. If I work on policies, I know that I have to read it, re-read it and then read it again. I try to get someone else to proof-read things for me. But as a self-employed person working on my own when I started my own consultancy, I had to manage it. Now I have someone working with me who I can ask.

Question 7: What support do you wish you had had access to early on in your career?

Kaye: voice recognition software would have been helpful. I had admin support from early on in my career once I moved up to more senior roles. I wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t had others to delegate to. I would probably have spent all my time reading and re-reading stuff! I also had access in those larger companies to great self-awareness training that allowed me to learn about my strengths and what I needed to develop. I felt very supported and have been very lucky.

Question 8: What impact, if any, has dyslexia had on seeking employment?

Scarlett: None so far but in future, it will have an impact because I want to go into a writing-based vocation (journalism). Having dyslexia means I will need to have initial discussions with my employer or start my own company. The voice-to-text technology is not great at the moment (I used it in my exams). I hope this improves by the time I finish university and start my career. I’ll have to work harder than others. Just because dyslexia is spoken of more now, it doesn’t mean it makes it easier for me.

However, as a journalist, I will be able to look at a story from a completely different point of view and offer another insight, which is a plus. I think employing someone with dyslexia will use up more time and resources but emphasising the advantages, such as my individuality, ideas, innovation and creativity, will outweigh this.

Rather than look at the negatives, everyone needs to look at the positives. I do think that times are changing, and organisations are changing their attitudes towards dyslexia. Larger companies have more resources too.

Question 9: Congratulations on starting University soon! What adjustments will be put in place to help you with your studies?

Scarlett: forming a good relationship with my tutor, getting as much face time with my teachers as possible, making connections with the students’ disability helpers. If I’ve learned anything it’s that if you are good and do as you’re told, you fall in the background. If you make noise and stand up for yourself, and you talk to the teachers, they will see you as a person and not just a number in a class. That’s what I’ll be prioritising when I first start university. Setting up schedules and times from the very beginning is also important, as well as setting up positive routines early.

Question 10: What reasonable adjustments and/or assistive technology has been most useful to you?

Scarlett: spell-check, Grammarly. If I highlight text, the tech can read it aloud to me (text-to-speech). But the thing that really should have improved by now is the reverse tech of speech-to-text.

Kaye: when I was at university, I had the original Apple Mac computer, and it had nothing. When Microsoft came out and it had spell-check, it was amazing! I love audio books, even if it’s for work.

Question 11: How much of a support has it been knowing that your mum has dyslexia too?

Scarlett: really a lot. It has made me feel a lot more normal and when I am unable to do something, she doesn’t make me feel bad. When I was learning how to read as a child, I had one book with a really difficult word in it, ‘surreptitiously’; Mum and I sat next to each other and looked at it, tried to say it, again and again. Also, when I needed help from my teachers, she was right there by my side; she understands what needs to happen. Sometimes, it has been annoying as Mum says she gets it – but she doesn’t!

Question 12: Based on your own experience and that of Scarlett, what progress have you seen over the years in supporting people with dyslexia?

Kaye: massive! My dad could not spell my full name, Michaela. Dad left school when he was 15 because he was told he was stupid, whereas I got a little bit of help with my A-levels (but not at college). I was the first one in my family to go to university, the first one to get a professional career and now I look at Scarlett and see how much more help there is at school and in the workplace. It’s considered a (learning) disability and as such, it’s a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

Personally, I don’t like it called a disability because I don’t consider myself disabled. I am different, I think differently. But that’s probably my generation.

Scarlett: that’s the thing. It’s about taking the word disability and changing it. It is a learning disability. How is that bad? It’s not bad.

Question 13: What else would you like employers and education providers to consider, that would be helpful when interacting with people with dyslexia?

Scarlett: when we went to visit universities, I kept taking pictures of the boards, to read later. Provide print outs! They share the PowerPoint presentation but that doesn’t help me. I need a hard copy of it. I need to hold it.

Have more patience. They should be more educated. Don’t call me young, ignorant and entitled. I’m 18, I’m young but have an understanding of what’s going on in your own classroom.

We need learning to be more like a conversation in the classroom, being able to get up and do something. Not just sit there for hours. Learn by actually physically doing it – but that would require changing the entire education system!

Kaye: I went to a lecture with you recently and they put on a big presentation. It was lovely but I may have got about 6% of the information on the screen. Yes, handouts would be useful, to read at my own pace. I think I’m old-fashioned because I need everything printed but I’m not. People should be more aware of dyslexia as well as other differences, such as ADHD.

People with dyslexia will not all have the same opinions as me. Scarlett and I don’t have the same opinion, as heard today. I think there should be a level of awareness in workplaces and education, and they should come up with better ways to interact with people with all kinds of neurodivergence. Neurotypical communications doesn’t work for everyone!

The more an organisation speaks with people with dyslexia or other ND conditions, the more beneficial it will become for everyone. It will give employers that competitive advantage.