A survey by Unionlearn has highlighted that staff who suffer from dyslexia are missing out on training, either because they do not disclose their condition or because they are not given the right support.
Dyslexia is something we know a lot about at Simple HR as one of our Directors, Alistair Williams, manages his dyslexia by a variety of adjustments.
As with all equality challenges the onus is on the employee to disclose any protected characteristic that they feel is relevant in the work place; however by tapping into the gifts that sometimes comes with dyslexia, employers can benefit from diversity and inclusion in the work place.
Generalisations are impractical however current thinking is that dyslexia has no correlation to intelligence or ability and that dyslexic people think differently. Often both analytical and creative, the perseverance required to complete their education makes them tenacious and resilient.
Helping dyslexics is as individual as the condition, for some coloured glasses or paper work well, for others high contrast black on white is ideal. Generally larger print, simple fonts like Arial and a little more time to read and prepare documents will suffice.
It cannot be emphasised enough that patience and tolerance are the biggest enablers and IT and time really make a significant difference.
According to Alistair, dyslexia should not be a learning disability; it is a complication that managed well can enable a person with dyslexia to enrich the business they work for.
To discuss any aspect of this article or help on training your employees, please contact Simple HR today.