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Dyslexics for the workplace

“Dyslexia is an underlying cognitive inefficiency associated with information processing which can affect the development of literacy skills as well as dealing with numbers, organisation and general memory tasks. Dyslexic people do not learn in conventional ways. They can learn and work very well but sometimes need to learn differently,” says Rawan Hawamdeh, Occupational Therapist at the British Institute for Learning Development (BILD), Jumeirah.

How do people with symptoms of dyslexia become successful?

The answer to this question is: ‘In the same way as anyone else.’ They work hard and develop the skills they need in order to pursue a specific occupation. In particular they develop strategies to compensate for their areas of weakness.

In the work place many dyslexic people develop good memory and organisational strategies to such a high level that they perform better in these respects than non dyslexic people. Development of complementary skills such as the use of electronic calculators, spell checkers and personal organisers is especially important.

Good keyboard skills enable dyslexic people to use word processors efficiently for written communication.

How can employers help?

Employers should put aside their prejudices and try to understand how dyslexia affects an individual employee. They should learn how to accommodate the dyslexic person’s area of weakness.

If a dyslexic person for example is slow at reading, their supervisor could be asked to highlight important parts of documents. Employers can make available a wide range of aids from simple calculators to word processors with grammar and spell check programmes.

It could be good practice to pair a dyslexic with a non dyslexic person.

What are the advantages in employing a dyslexic person?

The parent of dyslexic teenager concerned about the employment prospects for his son, said that if he were interviewing candidates for a position in his firm and he was down to a short list of five people, the dyslexic should be number one on the list. Why?

To get as far as the short list for this particular position a candidate would have shown themselves to be hard working, good at learning, determined and thorough. Added to this there is evidence to suggest that dyslexic people are or at least become, creative, particularly in areas such as problem solving. It is often the lateral thinker in the company who is responsible for that new idea which provides the edge over competitors.

Effective at work

If an employer has tried to ensure that the qualifications, abilities and aptitudes are consistent with the demands of a specific job a dyslexic person with certain accommodations, should be able to carry out their duties as effectively as anyone else.

Any additional costs incurred in providing appropriate support are easily justified as there can be advantages in employing dyslexic people.