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Question:
"Is dyslexia a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act?"
HR tip:
An employee is protected by the Disability Discrimination Act if he or she has a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Dyslexia is a permanent disorder of the brain that makes it highly difficult for the person to deal with the written word and thus makes life difficult. It thus falls within the definition of the act. Accordingly, the sufferer is protected against discrimination and the employer is required to take all reasonable steps to help him or her.
See also: Working with dyslexia
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3 Responses
Do dyslexic thinkers admit to their disability
My experience of working with dyslexic thinkers is that they are unlikely to admit to ‘having dyslexia’ (or dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, AD/HD) for two reasons:
Anyone over the age of about 30 is most unlikely to have had it recognised at school – or anywhere else come to that; and secondly, if they do suspect dyslexia etc., there is a feeling of ‘mental illness’, and who’s going to admit to that at the risk of being stigmatised.
Sorry HR Professionals, the ball has to be in your court to recognise the possibility of the dyslexic thinking causing performance issues and to be ready to act positively and sensitively in order to support your employee.
Dyslexia – a different way of thinking
The dyslexic thinking style is a different way of using the brain – one which is largely not supported by our education systems.
Acknowledging that there are difficulties experienced when it comes to performing ‘every day’ tasks demanded by our way of life, I urge you too to acknowledge and appreciate the gift/talent that these people also offer – a notable number of the world’s major impact providing inventions were conceived by dyslexic thinkers.
There are specialist development providers around the country who guide dyslexic thinkers in learning how to learn in their natural way of thinking. Formal testing is not necessary as these providers are assessing for patterns and likelihood to respond to the methods – ‘slow learners’ may be mildly dyslexic thinkers.
Visit: http://www.unleashing-potential.co.uk for more information
Dyslexia and discrimination
My questions to employee: Who diagnosed you? There are many poorly qualified people in this field whose opinions are dubious.What testing was done? It should be up-to-date and recognised by the Brit.Dys Assoc. Whats your reading age? Anything over 12 is more than adequate for most situations. Whats your IQ and was the test comprehensive and recognised? No one shoud diagnose Dys without a full IQ as person could simply be a slow learner