This guide is designed to provide you, the employer, with a comprehensive, understanding of
dyslexia, its potential impact on employees, and how you can offer effective support while
harnessing the unique strengths that individuals with dyslexia often bring to the workplace.
Understanding Dyslexia
While dyslexia is commonly perceived as simply a difficulty with reading and writing,
these literacy challenges are often just the “surface symptoms”. The root lies in deficits
related to more fundamental cognitive abilities, specifically short-term memory,
phonological processing (the ability to process the sounds of language), and the overall
speed of information processing.
The resulting difficulties with literacy and numeracy can vary widely; they may be very
severe and obvious, or they may be more subtle, manifesting as a general slowness rather
than significant inaccuracy in tasks that involve written English.
Emotional Impact
By the time an individual with dyslexia reaches adulthood, they may have been coping for
many years with these difficulties, which may have been unrecognised or misunderstood.
This long-term struggle can lead to a constellation of unpleasant, and sometimes debilitating,
emotions: anger, confusion, embarrassment, anxiety, and depression. Consequently, it’s
common for an employee’s confidence and self-esteem to be low. Understanding this
emotional context is vital for supportive employer-employee relationships.
Potential Workplace Challenges
The underlying challenges of dyslexia can translate into a wide array of inefficiencies in the
workplace. Problems most often reported include:
- Following written and spoken instructions.
- Remembering and recording telephone numbers, messages, and the content of
meetings. - Organisational tasks like filing and looking up entries in directories.
- Dealing with maps, charts, and tables of figures.
- Navigational difficulties in both unfamiliar and familiar surroundings.
- Writing memos, letters, and reports, including the final presentation of written work
or figures. - Data entry via a word processor or calculator.
- Formulating thoughts rapidly enough to actively participate in discussions.
- Time management, such as keeping track of appointments, meetings, scheduling
work, and meeting deadlines.
Interaction with Colleagues and Management
Employees with undiagnosed dyslexic difficulties are often a puzzle not only to themselves
but also to their colleagues and managers. Their behaviour in the workplace might be
misinterpreted:
- They may seem withdrawn or unwilling to contribute their full weight.
- Alternatively, they might be perceived as oversensitive or aggressive.
In general, these employees can be difficult to manage or ‘place’. They may genuinely be
ambitious to progress in their career, but their efforts can be constantly hindered by what
appears to be inefficiency or a baffling inertia or resistance to tasks.
How Employers Can Offer Support
As an employer, you can significantly help your staff with dyslexia by implementing
supportive practices and making reasonable adjustments:
- Communication & Planning:
– Give advance notice of tasks whenever possible.
– Offer help and support with new or difficult tasks, and be available to provide guidance when necessary.
– Avoid talking too fast when giving instructions.
– Encourage the employee to repeat instructions and messages to confirm understanding.
– Consider tape recording important instructions. - Instruction Formats:
– Present ** complex written instructions in flow charts** or other visual formats. - Workload Management:
– Offer help with prioritising and organising the workload.
– Provide equipment and materials to ease work, such as coloured paper, text- to-speech software, or voice dictation systems.
– Offer a quiet workspace where concentration is less likely to be disrupted. - Feedback & Recognition:
– Show approval and give praise when appropriate to build confidence.
– Avoid harsh criticisms or careless remarks that could undermine their self-esteem.
The Positive Aspects of Dyslexia
It’s important to recognise that dyslexia is often associated with significant strengths that can
be highly valuable in the workplace:
- Grit and Determination: Dyslexic people who succeed in their work despite their
challenges embody hard work, long hours, and determination. This ‘grit’ is a
quality that earns the deep respect of any employer who understands their journey. - Alternative Thinking Styles: Because their thinking is not confined to the general
mould of analytical thinking, they often develop holistic and alternative ways of
approaching tasks. - Innovation and Creativity: Many people with dyslexia excel in lateral thinking, are
highly creative and innovative, and are skilled at seeing links and associations that
a more linear thinker might miss. - Visual and Practical Skills: They often possess strong powers of visualisation,
excellent practical skills, and an untaught intuitive understanding of how systems
work.
The Legal Framework
In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 is the primary legal framework that protects individuals
with dyslexia. Dyslexia is generally classified as a disability under the Act if it has a
substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-
day activities.
This legal recognition places a clear duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments to
ensure a dyslexic employee is not placed at a “substantial disadvantage” in the workplace.
These necessary adjustments, which must be applied to all aspects of employment, could
include:
- Providing clear verbal instructions.
- Allowing the use of assistive technology.
- Modifying certain procedures or adjusting workloads.
Fulfilling this duty is both a legal requirement and an opportunity to foster a truly inclusive
and high-performing team.
