Dyslexia Workplace Needs Assessments

 A personal Story

 
When my daughter was in secondary school, at around 7 or 8 years old, she was struggling with her reading.  It seemed to happen suddenly, where she couldn’t keep up with the work in class.  At parents’ evenings we were told that her reading ability was below average, and they decided to test for dyslexia. 
 
The test came back, and we were told that the test was negative, she did not have dyslexia, and she was just, and I quote “the laziest kid in Lazytown”. 
 
Fast forward to 2020, during the COVID pandemic, my work as a physiotherapist and ergonomics consultant, had slowed, so I had decided to use the time to add a new string to my bow and took the British Dyslexia Associations, Workplace Needs Assessor course, a lengthy study with a long 60 page workbook that is completed to demonstrate your knowledge and application. 
 
At the time my, now 17 year old daughter was getting ready to take her A level exams, and during my studies for the course, there were characteristics described that were familiar, including secrecy around studying and reading that many dyslexics develop due to the stigma that the condition can bring when you have been told you are lazy or not smart enough.  So, out of interest, I got my daughter to do a screening test, and the result was that she was ‘likely to have dyslexia’.  We then paid for a dyslexia diagnostic test, because she was hoping to go to university and a diagnosis would open the door to additional support processes.  The diagnosis was positive.
 
I finished the course and through this, I learned much more about dyslexia…
Not all screening tests are the same or are appropriate.  They are age, region and culture specific, and they are not totally reliable, hence the false negative test for my daughter in primary school.
Most people with dyslexia don’t know.  They most often think their difficulties in academia or with reading, writing and comprehension are related to their intelligence.  The irony is, this is far from the truth as evidenced by the success of many people with dyslexia despite, the challenges, by developing effective coping strategies.
There are/were a host of famous, successful people with dyslexia, including Richard Branston, Keira Knightly, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg and numerous others, including, so the legend goes, Albert Einstein. 
There are many actors, singers and entrepreneurs who have dyslexia, and this is not a coincidence.  Those in creative industries, or in senior roles where big picture thinking is a huge advantage, people with dyslexia excel.
People with dyslexia have brains that work differently.  Not worse or better, just different, and this can be a huge asset to a business.  At one point MI5 were preferentially recruiting people with dyslexia for code breaking and other similar tasks.
The problems that many gifted people with dyslexia have, is that they are forced into ways of working that fit the masses, like a left-handed person in a right handed world, but left handed people often become ambidextrous and so, ultimately have the advantage. 
 
Dyslexia Workplace Needs assessments help those with dyslexia to maximise their strengths and discover tools and strategies that help them to overcome their challenges so that they can be productive members of a workplace and ultimately excel in any role. 
 
I have seen my daughter go from strength to strength, and though it is true, she must work harder than her contemporaries as the system of learning and assessment remains traditional and dogmatic, she has the tools in place to give her a fair opportunity, which as a parent, is all you can ask for.

 

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