Last week I was training with colleagues on our public speaking programme. We were both going through the programme ourselves and learning from the trainer how to deliver it. It was almost like going through 2 lots of training in the same day. Come to think of it that’s exactly what it was

We do a lot of our work in schools and we know that most young people love to write on the whiteboards ( whether they are allowed to or not!) Our trainer got to the point where he needed someone to write on the board and handed the pen to the nearest person in the group – who just happened to be dyslexic. He had no way of knowing this until they told him. A lesson learned – let participants volunteer to write!

It was particularly timely then that found that elsewhere on HR Zone there was a question about whether the DDA applies to dyslexia – and yes it is.

I wonder though how this really works? Do people with dyslexia tell their employers? Come to think of it what adjustments are made in the application process? If they do tell is it at the interview? Or when they start?

I recently chatted with a couple of young ladies with diabetes who said that they had to think long and hard about whether to mention their condition on an application form and it was agreed that the time to disclose this information is when they had been offered the job. It may be a sensible approach – but I think it is rather sad too. However, whilst I imagine that it is commonly understood that people with long term medical conditions such as diabetes can ask for adjustments made at work is it the same for dyslexia?

It would be great to hear what is being done in organisations to support people with dyslexia.

Jackie Cameron