Approximately 10% of the population are diagnosed with Dyslexia, many people have heard of it. However, many people do not know what it means in real terms. Dyslexic people are still masking their symptoms in the workplace for fear of repercussions, when there are some easy straightforward solutions that can support everyone in the workplace.

We all know that dyslexia is to do with reading and writing, but what many people don’t realise is that it affects how we process information. Reading and writing can take longer but also hearing information can be difficult as words can get mixed up. People may also struggle with other skills such as organising, remembering names/events and even knowing left from right.

So how can we support the dyslexic community and in turn, everyone else?

Break work up

People with Dyslexia are brilliant communicators. Often creative, excellent verbally and big picture thinkers. As such they struggle to break tasks up then get overwhelmed with how much stuff they need to do. If you support them by giving the task and the steps to perform it, this will help enormously.

Emails

Many organisations communicate primarily by using emails. They are a wonderful way to record that work has been done as it can be found and referred to at a later date. However, emails are now numerous, and long, with people sending them for all sorts of reasons and often cc’ing people in when they don’t really need to be. This can have a detrimental effect on the general worker as they plough through the tens and sometimes hundred of emails a day. A dyslexic worker can find emails a terrible way to receive information as they will have to read written information more than once before they understand the general gist of the information, then they will need to write a draft, ensure that they have the correct information and then take a longer time to check spelling and grammar.

How to help:

• Make sure your staff is aware of the company email policy. Usually, workers have 48 hours to respond to emails, but workers will often worry and think they must respond immediately.
• If the email is about something that doesn’t need to be recorded for a later date, make a quick phone call instead.
• Lead by example – make emails concise and wherever possible, use bullet points. Not only will it be easier to understand, but it will also be quicker to write, improving productivity.

Information sharing

We tend to expect information in a written form. This article is a perfect example. We have so many different technologies now to inform and educate such as video, voice recording, and infographics. YouTube and Instagram reels are popular for a reason. They are engaging and can present substantial amounts of information quickly and to many people. During the pandemic we had to get used to modern technologies such as video sharing platforms to be able to work, lets keep it going and introduce new ways of sharing information that will benefit not just people with dyslexia but all staff. See below for an infographic that gives you the same information in this article but in picture form. I recommend Canva, it is free and easy to use.

Understanding assisted technology

Did you know that the simple word document has many features that can support all sorts of challenges, which are free and easy to use. You can dictate information and have the computer type out most of the information for you. There is also a read aloud feature, which helps people to process written information more quickly by reading it out for you. Many people report that having the read aloud feature running as they are reading the document helps them to process it quicker.
Adobe documents also have these features, as will your smartphone and computer. Check the accessibility features on your devices.

Beware of the Grammar snobs

I want to start this section by saying that spelling and grammar is important. However – how important is it really if the email is informal and internal only? Many dyslexics tend to spell phonetically meaning spelling words how they hear it. A reader will still be able to understand the gist of the communication if a few words are spelled in this way so really what’s the harm?

By having a more relaxed view on spelling and grammar in certain situations, you could be saving the dyslexic member of staff hours of stress and worry, and the reduced anxiety will support them to have better spelling and grammar, not to mention a much more productive work environment.

Bonus tip: Get information and advice from an organisation that has already done it. 3SC are an award winning organisation that can help you with making the transition to a neurodiverse friendly work space.

Contact us for more information.