How to Better Support People with Dyslexia in the Workspace
Your guide to better supporting individuals in the workspace and getting the most out of our unique skillset
At 14 years old my parents received a letter from the school to say I was illiterate.
By the time I was 17 I had been published in an anthology of stories by Livewire Books in London.
Hello, I’m Trisha. I’m a Mum, writer, and psychology graduate with a PGCE. I work in digital transformation as a manager.
And I just happen to be a dyslexic too.
As part of the dyslexic community, we tend to have a preference for using the right side of our brains. This is the side responsible for spatial and musical awareness.
Although I have to say I’m pretty tone-deaf!
This side of the brain is also responsible for holistic perception, feelings, intuition and creativity.
With all the challenges that being ‘right brained’ can have, there are also a lot of pretty awesome qualities we can bring to the workspace.
I am here to show you how dyslexics can thrive and grow in their careers by drawing upon my own lived experiences…
According to the NHS, one in ten people in the UK are estimated to have dyslexia. Whilst more recent studies by the Made by Dyslexia charity showed this stat may be as high as one in five.
So, whatever the numbers chances are you work with one or even several people daily who neuro-divergent.
Neuro-divergency is an umbrella term and can cover a range of conditions not just dyslexia. From autism, to dyspraxia, to ADHD and dyscalculia. All of these conditions tend to full on a spectrum.
For the sake of this article we are going focus on dyslexia.
The dyslexic individual doesn’t just have to be a co-worker they could be your boss or even the CEO of the organisation!
The Dyslexic Skillset
“Once freed from archaic schooling practices and preconceptions, my mind opened up. Out in the real world, my dyslexia became my massive advantage: it helped me to think creatively and laterally, and see solutions where others saw problems.” — Sir Richard Branson.
As dyslexics we can contribute to the workspace with innovation, creativity, an entrepreneurial mindset, strategic thinking, storytelling and our amazing ability to connect the dots and see patterns that neurotypical brains might not be able to see.
A recent study on dyslexic thinking found that non-dyslexics process over 250 words per minute. Whilst dyslexics can process 10,000 images per minute!
Images take longer to produce, so with all that going on in the brains of dyslexics—no wonder there is a longer response time needed.
Due to this more visual approach to thinking and planning popular jobs for dyslexics include engineers, investigators, architects, entrepreneurs, especially in the tech and digital industries, and even spies!
The skills that a dyslexic can bring to the workplace have long been recognised and highly regarded by the UK Government agencies and even NASA!
“British Intelligence has valued people who think and learn in different ways since it was first formed around 100 years ago” — Jo Cavan, a Senior GCHQ Director.
It has been noted that a higher percentage than normal of the workforce at NASA are neuro-divergent. Dyslexia is said to represent at least 50% of the the neuro-diverse staff there.
The skills that dyslexics can bring to the workplace, especially in the digital era have now been recognised as a skillset by LinkedIn.
Sadly, not all organisations and employers recognise the true value that neuro-diverse staff members can bring to the workspace. Those that do, don’t always support us to flourish and tend to manage via a ‘left brain’ approach.
10 Ways to Better Support Dyslexic Staff Members in the Workplace
So, our spelling may suck, but we can bring many other amazing abilities to the workplace from our strategic leadership skills to high Emotional Intelligence (EQ), storytelling, innovation, creativity and problem-solving skills.
It is a myth that dyslexics are unintelligent. Studies have shown we just process information differently. This can be best described as we use another operating system.
Some of us have iPhones, others have Android or the PC users and the Macs. We are the right brainers in a left brained world!
The truth is we have to make use of our ‘ out-of-the-box thinking skills’ daily just to navigate life! This strengthens our problem solving abilities.
Now, what can we do to best support our dyslexic co-workers, friends and even family members in the workspace…
1. Set up peer support groups
Encourage conversation and support others by setting up peer support groups. This is a safe space where people can open up about their struggles and even share their strengths and helpful resources with others.
Peer support offers inspiration, hope and also tailored signposting and advice for other neuro-diverse conditions too. Often dyslexia can be part of a cluster of other conditions such as dyspraxia, ADHD and autism.
With permission, I created a digital group via our work social media, but with a plan to also meet face-to-face or have working breakfasts together.
2. Adapt communication styles to suit needs
As Dyslexics, we tend to be visual thinkers. Therefore you can better communicate with us using mind maps, flow charts and more creative means.
You can also expect that a report from a dyslexic staff member may be colourful, straight to the point and very visual.
It’s important however not to assume how to communicate but ask the staff members or co-workers how they would like to be contacted. Then adapt your style accordingly.
Remember the words used are important when communicating, especially if that person is more visual. When discussing think about the vocabulary you are using. Words such as “I see what you mean” and “what are your views” on this can be very beneficial. As it provokes and creates visual awareness.
Words like “I hear you” may not work as well. I can confirm I do tend to connect better with people who apply visual vocabulary to their discussions as I just assume they also think in pictures. This makes me believe they understand me better.
Remember everyone works differently and dyslexia is on a spectrum. Always ask the individual what works best for them.
3. Staff training
It’s beneficial not just for managers and leaders to understand dyslexia, but also for co-workers too.
Ensure you budget for training in neuro-diversity for all staff to create a better understanding and reduce the risk of misinformation, stereotypes and even discrimination occurring in the workplace.
If you have a new member of staff joining the team who has disclosed dyslexia to you buddy them up or find them a mentor who is also dyslexic.
I love to support other people and they don’t always have to be dyslexic. I have mentored people with ADHD and people on the autism spectrum.
I may not always have the same diagnosis, but I do know what it’s like to feel isolated if you think a little differently from others.
4. Signposting to diagnostic assessment or producing as in-house WAP
Concerned that a staff member might have a learning difference? But they might not have been diagnosed? Encourage conversation on how you could best support them and if required signpost them for diagnostic assessment.
Although not all staff members may be comfortable with this an alternative might be as part of a WAP (Wellness Action Plan) to consider any needs. This plan may prove valuable in understanding and best supporting their needs.
I give all staff the operation to do a WAP plan and we have also done team WAPS in the past. This helps us to see as a whole team how we can best communicate ideas with each other.
5. Create a dyslexia-friendly working environment with specialist resources
If you recognize that a staff member has dyslexia, small changes can be made to create a dyslexia-friendly working environment.
Reading
Write dyslexia-friendly communication. This means that there is plenty of space around the text and the font is also well spaced out. use an Arial or Comic Sans type font.
I am not a fan of comic Sans I don’t feel it looks professional. Small or italic fonts can bleed together making them harder for me to read.
Structure with headings and make good use of bullet points. This styling may benefit neurotypicals too. I’ll be honest no one wants to read 50 blocks of plain text in an email. Be concise. Use shorter sentences and paragraphs.
Resources
As I’ve previously mentioned everyone works differently. You must look to adapt to individual needs — because those with dyslexia will be on a spectrum.
For a majority of dyslexics, me included black text on white paper is problematic. The whiteness makes it harder to read and creates the illusion of dancing letters. Prolonged exposure can cause me to suffer from headaches and even sickness.
Be mindful of this with your dyslexic teammates. I’d recommend using paper of off-white tones, such as eggshell yellow. Plastic overlays are something else that can be used — I have a preference for blue, but I have friends that prefer pink, green or even orange.
Having the right resources will enable higher performance and increase productivity in the workplace and when working from home.
6. Allow for flexibility and the creation of dyslexia-friendly workspaces
I welcomed flexible working when it was first introduced in my organisation. I never coped well in a cluttered, desk-sharing office space.
Loud and busy environments make it hard for dyslexic and other neurodiverse individuals to focus.
Lighting, noise and a heightened sense of spatial awareness mean I struggle to work in noisy, busy environments. I am well aware of everything going on around me — all at once.
It’s exhausting!
Having the flexibility of a few days in the office and a few days working from home each week means my organisation gets the best from me.
As I can do my high-focused work at home in a specially adapted workspace that suits my needs. Then when I come to work I use this time for meetings, training and to best support staff members face-to-face.
I no longer feel knackered come Friday as I have separated my high-intensity focus days and my people connecting days. It’s creating a personalised balance and what works for one co-worker might not work for another.
7. Invest in assistive technology for staff
I tend to use screen readers (and make the most of spell check). Several other technological devices can make work life easier.
Speech recognition software for example allows speech to be converted into text, and vice versa. This reduces the task of reading and writing which can often take much longer for dyslexic staff members.
I have my working-from-home area set up perfectly for speech recognition. This is the idea as some of the emails I might send could be confidential.
When you’re in a busy office environment the last thing you want to do is dictate the contents for all to hear.
Worse still Sindy walks past and announces what she got up to at the weekend. Before you know it’s in the email!
8. Toolbox talks and raising awareness
I see the value of experts by experience. Having members of staff, especially those in higher management positions or even CEOS come into to speak about dyslexia is very valuable.
Someone with a degree doesn’t always give you that real-depth insight. It can be very mechanical. Like a frame, but not always within context, but this leads on to my next point…
Having a dyslexic and an educational specialist or psychologist share their experiences and knowledge can be very valuable indeed. Now, that’s an approach I’d recommend.
This could help dispel any misconceptions about dyslexia and help to make staff feel more comfortable supporting co-workers or having conversations about neuro-diversity in the workplace.
9. Promote the use of reminders and digital calendars
As we benefit from seeing things visually calendars and reminders are a great way to track things visually.
In turn, this will help staff members stay more organised. I have my calendar colour coded depending on the event. I book block time out in advance for certain events, such as report writing.
This is especially important as I have my headphones on for assistive technology. So staff know if they contact me during this time I might miss their call as I’ll be focusing on the report.
I also use my diary to set up notifications of important deadlines, such as when the key performance indicators are due (KPIs) or project end dates.
10. Focus on the super strengths of dyslexic thinking
We know we suck at spelling so when our managers, senior leaders and co-workers point this out to us we find it incredibly frustrating Instead of focusing on our weaknesses see our strengths.
Delegate work based on these strengths and as an organisation you may well be rewarded. Naturally, we are storytellers, innovators, and holistic thinkers we a gift for negotiation. Use our skills of creativity.
In summary
You can expect spelling mistakes, big ideas and the ability to thrive in the workplace if we are supported in the right way.
That support is going to come in all shapes and forms and will be different depending on the individual. If you only do two or three things on this list then my friend you may well be way ahead of other organisation
- Set up safe spaces for discussions on neuro-diversity.
- Offer neurodiversity training for all staff, have toolbox talks and share real-life stories.
- Adapt written communication to be more dyslexia friendly, aka visual, more spaces and be mindful of the fonts you use.
- Think about verbal communication and the words you use aka “I see what you mean” or “Can you picture…”
- Invest in the right assistance resources to increase productivity.
- Allow for flexibility and be mindful of the working environment and the stress it can cause to some people, i.e. over-stimulation, and burnout.
- Use induvial and team WAPs (Wellness Action Plans) to tailor support, communication and promote growth.
- Promote the use of digital calendars and setting reminders to increase efficiency and organisation.
- Create a skills matrix based on strengths for all staff members and delegate tasks based on this.