Introduction to Dyslexia for Employers

Dyslexia – The facts.
Around 4% of the population are severely dyslexic, with a further 6% having mild to moderate problems.

Dyslexia is a combination of abilities and difficulties that affects the processing of information. A dyslexic individual may have experienced difficulties in acquiring skills in reading, writing, spelling and numeracy.

They can develop strategies and alternative learning methods to overcome most of these and other difficulties.

It occurs independent of ability and socio-economic background.

An individual may have a strong feeling of having failed at school and not even realise they have dyslexia.

Job or organisational change may bring this to light for example:

Job or organisational change may bring this to light for example:

• Someone with access to secretarial support that is then withdrawn.
• A promotion bringing with it a requirement for more paperwork.

A dyslexic person has many strengths alongside their difficulties:

Strengths include:

• Good at ideas and innovative thinking.
• Good problem solver and lateral thinker.
• Creative in the way they make links and connections.
• Have excellent visual and spatial awareness.
• Good with practical tasks and creative in many ways.
• Strong in the areas of art, music, design, architecture and engineering.
• Good communicators.

Difficulties include:

• Erratic spelling.
• Misreading, leading to comprehension difficulties.
• Poor handwriting inaccurate number work.
• Difficulties with sequences e.g. date order.
• Ability to solve problems but inability to show process.
• Poor organisation or time management.
• Inaccurate number work.

Dyslexia - Good Business Practice.

Creating a dyslexia-wise work place is good employment practice. An environment that successfully accommodates your dyslexic personnel will bring out the best in all your staff.

Dyslexic people represent a significant resource in the labour market and at work their talents can be under used. Dyslexic people may require some adjustments in the working place that can be simple and inexpensive. Without these adjustments good candidates may not apply and excellent employees may be underused or even lost.

Each dyslexic person will have a different combination of strengths and weaknesses. Many dyslexic adults were not identified at school and did not get the support they required. Some may not be aware of their dyslexia but are well aware of their difficulties.

Recruitment and Promotion
When drafting job descriptions and person specifications ensure that you do not needlessly exclude a dyslexic person.

• Be flexible. Very often minor changes can make a significant difference.
• Concentrate on what is to be achieved rather than how it is to be achieved.

Application forms.

• Use a simple clear type face like Arial 12.
• Send the application form by email or on disc so that the individual need not be concerned about written presentation and can also use a spellchecker.
• Where possible, use matt, pastel coloured paper. Some forms of dyslexia are made worse by colour; with black against white being the worst.

Aptitude and other tests.

• Discuss with dyslexic applicants in advance so that necessary adjustments can be made.
• Ensure that test instructions are clearly read aloud.
• Allow more time for dyslexic candidates.
• If adjustments are unsuitable be prepared to waive the test. There are often equally satisfactory ways of getting the information

Copyright & Source: http://www.bda-dyslexia.org.uk/