How can employers help with dislexia?

“Dyslexia is not necessarily a problem with reading, writing and spelling. The perception of it as such is one of the biggest hurdles dyslexic people have to overcome. 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 as she speaks about Dyslexia at the workplace.

Ruwan completed her M.Sc in Occupational Therapy from the University of Jordan and was a volunteer in (KAFD) King Abdullah II Fund for Development, Amman – Jordan. She also worked as an Occupational Therapist at Faisal Bin Fahd`s Mother Center For Autism - FFM; Riyadh Kingdom of Saudi Arabia thereby giving therapeutic sessions for Autism Children. She established the Occupational Therapy department in the center and was responsible for giving workshops for the mothers of children who suffer from Autism. She represented Jordan from July 18th -30th 2005 at the Youth Exchange Program "Religions Dialogue" in Budapest and Sopron – Hungary/EU. She joined BILD in 2006 and soon carved a niche for herself at BILD.

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. Competence in literacy skills is important but only as it relates to the demands of a job. Reading is a good example. Only in a few occupations is it necessary to be able to read aloud accurately and fluently. What is important in most jobs is being able to extract relevant information from text quickly and efficiently. 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. The tape recorder, coupled perhaps with dictation and the services of an audio typist is a good alternative to attempting to take verbatim notes.

How can employers help?
Employers should put aside their prejudices and try to understand how dyslexia affects an individual employee. This should enable them to learn how to accommodate the dyslexic person’s area of weakness, in the same way as they provide opportunities for others to develop their skills and display their talents. If a dyslexic person for example is slow at reading, their supervisor could be asked to highlight important parts of training manuals and other documents. Where spelling and grammar present difficulties, documents prepared by a dyslexic person could be proof-read by a close colleague. Employers can make available a wide range of aids from simple calculators to word processors with grammar and spell check programmes.
Anyone who has some kind of difficulty usually has more strengths than weaknesses. It could be good practice, therefore to pair a dyslexic with a non dyslexic person. The former might be highly analytical and very good at coming up with good ideas, expressing these verbally and the latter better at putting them on paper.

Are there risks for employers?
The answer to this question is a categorical No. 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.

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 would be last on the list. It was suggested that the dyslexic should in fact be number one. Why? To get as far as the short list for this particular position a candidate would have needed to acquire good academic qualifications. They will have needed to be bright enough to have spent three years at university and gain an honours degree. They have therefore shown themselves to be hard working , good at learning, determined and thorough. They will have a good understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and will have developed both unconsciously and consciously, all kinds of strategies and skills which have enabled them to compensate. They will have in fact, developed qualities which should commend them to any employer. 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.
(By Remediana Dias)