in the workplace Dyslexia Awareness 22/10/13

What does it feel like to be dyslexic?

ReadingWritingSpellingMemoryOrganisationNumeracy Speed of processing Motor skills??? What are the difficulties?

Weaknesses associated with dyslexia Visual deficit: difficulty processing visual information effectively; visual disturbances Phonological deficit: difficulty processing sounds effectively; auditory disturbances Memory: short term, working, long term Speed of processing Gross or fine motor control Focus and attention deficits

Difficulties experienced by individuals in the workplace Speed of processing reduced Short term and working memory overload Difficulty retrieving facts under pressure Difficulty acquiring automaticity Difficulty dealing with several instructions at once Wrong place, wrong time, reading timetables, getting work in on time Disorganised and forgetful

What this means in practice... Literacy skills lag behind overall performance and underlying cognitive ability Misreading affects comprehension Planning and writing reports difficult Poor, sometimes bizarre, spellings (e.g. ‘sufficient’ as ‘cerficant’; ‘similarly’ as ‘simmerly’) Difficulty concentrating, easily distracted Low confidence and self esteem Embarrassed/tired/disillusioned

Rose Review 2009 Report on identifying and teaching young people with dyslexia and literacy difficulties ‘Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across a range of intellectual abilities. It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category and there are no clear cut-off points.

Rose definition continued … Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor coordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia. Specific Learning Difficulties SpLDs include: Dyslexia Dyspraxia Dyscalculia ADHD

Dyslexia is often regarded as a difficulty with reading and writing, but in fact literacy difficulties are no more than surface symptoms of weaknesses in short memory and information processing and in perceptual, spatial and motor skills. The literacy and numeracy difficulties associated with these may be severe and obvious, or may be more subtle, manifesting themselves in general slowness involving written English. Other surface symptoms include difficulties in managing, organizing and recalling information. personal organization and time keeping. These difficulties are made worse when dyslexic employees are put under pressure. Sylvia Moody 2009

Equality Act 2010 Employers must make reasonable adjustment to their premises or employment arrangements, if these substantially disadvantage a disabled employee, or prospective employee, compared to a non-disabled person. BDA Website 22/10/13

A new species of giant rat has been discovered deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea. The rat, which has no fear of humans, measures 82cm long, placing it among the largest species of rat known anywhere in the world. The creature, which has not yet been formally described, was discovered by an expedition team filming the BBC programme Lost Land of the Volcano. It is one of a number of exotic animals found by the expedition team. Task – ‘Quietly read through the text …

A new sqecies of giant rat has deen biscovered beeq ui the jungle of Paqua New Gniuea. The rat, which has no fear of hnmans, weasures 28cm long, qlacing it among the largest species of rat known anywhere in the world. The creature, which has not yet beeu formally bescripeb, was biscovered by an exqedition team filming the BBC qrogramme Lost Land of the Volcano. It is one of a mumber of exotic amimals found by the exqebition team. What if you experience directional confusion? What if you reverse letter symbols and whole words?

A new special giant rat has been destroyed deep in the jungle of Papa New Guinness. The rat, which has no fear of humans, measures 82cm long, placing it around the largest special rat known anytime in the world. The creator, which has not yet been forever described, was disguised by an expert team filming the BBC programme Lost Land of the Volcano. It is one of a number of extinct animals found by the experiment team. What if you rely on sight vocabulary - tending to miscue and skip uncommon words to keep up?

A new species of giant rat has been discovered deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea. The rat, which has no fear of humans, measures 82cm long, placing it among the largest species of rat known anywhere in the world. The creature, which has not yet been formally described, was discovered by an expedition team filming the BBC programme Lost Land of the Volcano. It is one of a number of exotic animals found by the expedition team… What if your brain struggles to focus on and process detailed patterns?

A new species of giant rat has been discovered deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea. The rat, which has no fear of humans, measures 82cm long, placing it among the largest species of rat known anywhere in the world. The creature, which has not yet been formally described, was discovered by an expedition team filming the BBC programme Lost Land of the Volcano. It is one of a number of exotic animals found by the expedition team. What if you find reading laboured and tiring?

What do you mean you can’t remember what you’ve read. You’ve had over five minutes! What if you struggle to remember detailed verbal information?

How does it feel to be dyslexic...?

Holistic ‘right brain’ rather than sequential ‘left brain’ Problems with order sequence and breaking sequences into steps Difficulties with linguistic coding – limiting strategies for storing/retrieving language. Short term memory problems – relies on long term memory – meaning and association A dyslexic cognitive style?

Screening test (BDA adult dyslexia checklist) – gives an indication Adult diagnostic assessment - expensive Workplace needs assessment WNA Identification of dyslexia in the workplace

Specialist one to one training Specialist support software training Dyslexia awareness training for stakeholders Dyslexia friendly task procedures Objectives

Includes: Work based training … Assistive technology training …text to speech/speech to text/digital recorder/mind mapping software/portable ipad or tablet Dyslexia friendly workplace Programme of Adjustments

Further reading Dyslexia Action British Dyslexia Association PATOSS Irlen.org.uk

References Legislation.gov.uk (2010) The Equality Act [online] Sir Jim Rose (2009) Rose Review Identifying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties [online] -IRPC-final-report.pdf -IRPC-final-report.pdf Sylvia Moody (2009) Ed Dyslexia and Employment: A guide for assessors, trainers and managers, London, Wiley Blackwell