A testimonial.It means a great deal to be sent a testimonial from a client ... and we are delighted to be able to share this with you. At High School, I really struggled writing essays and with math but was one of the more capable students in my Music, Drama and English Literature classes. I always felt that I was only just keeping my head above water in the academic subjects and couldn’t understand why this was. My confidence and self-esteem was really low during this period and after dropping out of doing my A Levels, I felt really lost and wasn’t aware of what my strengths or skills were. I took a number of jobs after leaving College, including a Store Trainer role at a Supermarket and a Medical Receptionist role at a GP surgery. What I really liked about both these roles, was that they needed me to verbally communicate and written communication was very low. I started to realise that verbal communication was a strength of mine and also the ability to empathise with others. In 2007, I moved to London and started working for a large training provider in an administrative role. I found the role incredibly challenging as the volume of admin was really high and my organisational skills weren’t strong enough to cope with this. Again, I found myself trying to keep my head above water which knocked my confidence and caused me to feel intense anxiety and stress. I somehow managed to stay in this role for 3.5 years until I moved into a different role as an IT Software Trainer. The IT Software Trainer role was great on one hand, as it allowed me to use my verbal communication skills but on the other hand, very challenging as the complexities of the software were difficult to grasp. I also had to read and respond to very long emails with multiple questions, which put a lot of pressure of my working memory. Again, I started to beat myself up over why I couldn’t remember things and also compared myself to others around me. After about 4 years in this role, I attended a Specific Learning Challenges Awareness presentation by Janette Beetham. As soon as Janette started to describe some of the challenges people with dyslexia face, I started ticking a few of them off in my head and came to the realisation that I could be dyslexic. After completing a questionnaire that gives an indication whether or not you may have dyslexia, I then decided to go for a screening. As soon as we met, I realised this was someone who really wanted to help me, wasn’t going to judge me and someone who I could talk freely to. During the screening it was clear that I had difficulties with my working memory and towards the end of our meeting, Janette asked me ‘do you find yourself apologising a lot?’. At this point, I started to cry and was overwhelmed with emotion, the question made me realise that I had been apologising all my life for difficulties I had no idea that I had. Janette was a great emotional support to me and explained clearly what the challenges were that I was facing but also made me realise what associated strengths I had. After the screening, I immediately felt my confidence rising as I finally had answers to why I struggled with certain things. Shortly after the screening, I met Janette again for a workplace needs assessment. This was extremely helpful as we were able to go through all parts of my role, identify the challenges and then Janette suggested a few strategies which helped me cope better. Once I had put these coping strategies in place, I felt I had control over my work tasks and the confidence to talk to others about what I found challenging, and what adjustments would be helpful. I later met with Janette again for some specialist coping strategy coaching as I was moving into a new role which would present new challenges. The support I received was amazing! It really helped to boost my confidence, allowed me to gain control over my work and also made me realise what my strengths were. I would strongly recommend anyone that believes they have a specific learning challenge to get support from Janette as the support I have received has completely changed my life. Thanks to seeking specialist support, I have increased self-awareness, better self-esteem and the belief that I can do anything I put my mind to. Thank you for writing this and saying we can share this David, we believe others will be inspired by your story. I’m excited to be able to tell you about this straightforward and very practical initiative. I’ve wanted to share this for a while now, but I've been so busy getting it up and running that there has been very little time to share an update with you. However, with two pilots now successfully completed I believe the time is right for me to share this post. To see the original post which includes a video interview with one of the recent graduates as well as links to the academic paper please click here. Accredited Dyslexia Champions making it safe to talk about challenges in the workplace.
A recently published briefing paper states that UK productivity is ‘in stagnation’ and has been so for a period of 10 years. Although the root of this is varied and complex, I would suggest that if workplace support for neuro-divergent individuals were to be available in all workplaces this could potentially have a positive multifaceted impact. The briefing paper, Productivity in the UK, July 2017 states this reported ‘stagnation’ has puzzled economists and the following theories are listed within this paper to try to help explain the situation: • falling productivity in the oil and gas, and financial sectors; • weakness in investment that has reduced the quality of equipment employees are working with; • the banking crisis leading to a lack of lending to more productive firms; • employees within firms being moved to less productive roles; • slowing rates of innovation and discovery; • an ageing population; • inaccuracies in the data. However, as also stated in the paper none of these is sufficient on its own to explain entirely what has happened. For obvious reasons, everyone concerned is keen to be able to predict when the weakness in productivity growth will come to an end and how this might best be brought about. Although this post may be seen to be taking a simplistic approach toward increasing productivity, I believe it is important to firstly look at this on a ‘grass roots’ / micro level – from the perspective of the individual employee. In particular, it would appear there is a dearth of information available about the missed opportunity of increasing the engagement and productivity of neuro-divergent individuals by ensuring they can access appropriate support within the workplace. (We are potentially looking at 1 in 7 people). A dyslexic employee after accessing support: ‘I am completing and achieving more …..I am prioritising better and am more efficient at completing tasks to deadlines.’ Of course, there are numerous reasons why some individuals may be underproductive including lack of training, health, appropriateness of the work environment, poor management, smoking breaks, inefficient systems etc. However, by ensuring those with dyslexia, dyscalculia and other neuro-divergent ‘conditions’ feel safe to access appropriate support this could be a ‘win-win’ for everyone concerned regardless of these factors - plus these individuals could help bring about positive change in these areas listed. The benefits of providing this type of support are many-fold in that an increased number of these individuals will become more able & more likely to utilise their widely acknowledged atypical problem-solving skills, creativity and innovative thinking which could help organisations with new products & services as well as them being more successful & productive at a macro level. ‘It has helped me build relationships and identify strategies for dealing with delivery of multiple projects’. As there is an ongoing drive towards encouraging people to take up STEM (science, technology, engineering & maths) in education & careers (all of which are subjects known to have a ‘pull-factor’ for neuro-divergent individuals) by providing support and informing individuals that organisations are dyslexia/’neurodivergence’-friendly may aid recruitment into the sector. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of understanding about dyslexia and co-occurring neuro-divergent conditions which has meant that the subject has largely been overlooked in relation to the workplace – with most of the focus being on children & education. However, there are currently an increasing number of enlightened organisations providing a streamlined process of support for their neuro-divergent employees and viewing this as an important opportunity.
It is suggested that this is a subject which should now be taken seriously and would ideally be included within the list of focus areas for increasing UK productivity. If we review this list from the briefing paper above, we can pull out at least two areas which this has some relevance (in addition to increased individual productivity) and these are; inaccuracies in data & slowing rates of innovation and discovery. Recent work with staff at a globally recognised university (which has a speciality in STEM and business subjects) has shown that providing an accessible process of support to neuro-divergent staff can increase engagement and improve individual productivity - as well it having a positive impact on career wellbeing. If you would like to find out more about this you can find the full research paper here: Vol.05 No.06(2017), Article ID:76910,23 pages 10.4236/jss.2017.56007 Workplace Dyslexia & Specific Learning Difficulties―Productivity, Engagement and Well-Being An HR Manager's experience of workplace dyslexia support.At the start of my career there was a single defining moment that pretty much over shadowed everything. I was invited to attend a two-day assessment centre for a graduate management traineeship. I was apprehensive but hopeful. The first tasks were aptitude tests. I can remember the numbers and letters swimming in front of my eyes. I just couldn’t think how to answer the questions. I could barely understand them. I went through the rest of the assessment centre feeling very despondent.
At these events, they give you feedback at the end of the second day. I remember sitting in front of these two HR Managers (how ironic, since I wanted to be an HR specialist). They looked very uncomfortable. I assumed they were going to tell me that I wasn’t going any further. They had my aptitude tests in front of them. One of those HR managers said my scores were the worst they had ever seen and if they had their way I would not proceed to the next round of interviews because they essentially predicted potential to succeed. However, however I had scored above average in the other eight tests and the operational managers who had been observing me throughout the two-day assessment were overruling them and wanted to interview me. I will never forget what one of those managers said next “how can you be so very bad and completely outstanding all at the same time? It doesn’t make sense”. They were suspicious and intrigued all at the same time. I got the job and then spent the next two years in a frenzy trying to prove myself. I worked 80 hour weeks. I hardly slept or ate. All I did was work and produce very mediocre results. I was haunted by my experience. I thought I was a lazy, slacker who wasn’t really clever enough to hold down the job or get herself together. I was so frightened of being caught out as a fraud. I became very ill. Every job I’ve held I’ve had to put in far more hours just to keep on top of the work. Hours and hours spent reading and rereading reports. Days spent checking and rechecking or getting other people to recheck my work. Agonizing over emails. The frustration at not being able to understand the simplest process. The embarrassment of constantly forgetting people’s names. The self-deprecating jokes I would make at my own expense, ha, ha yes what an idiot I am. I’ve lost my phone/keys/purse/car keys again. I was dying inside. I could never go for more responsible jobs or promotion. The anxiety was the worst. The depression worse still. And then I find out that I am dyslexic and slowly things started making sense. Working with my Strategy Coach Janette has been a revelation. I’ve been working on more effective ways to organise my work and prioritise. The best session for me was when she helped me structure my ideas into a presentation. That was my aha moment. Pictures and symbols and colour that was the key for me. Something that would have taken weeks took less than two hours. I went home smiling. Finding a way to work, that worked for me was wonderful. I’m beginning to embrace some of my strengths. I am a problem solver. If you need a quick and ingenious solution to an immediate problem, I’ll usually come up with something. I’m good at building rapport with people. I am trustworthy and conscientious, especially with people’s feelings. I only need a few bits of the jigsaw to be able to make sense of the picture. I like my job and don’t wake up in dread. For the first time in a long time I’m hopeful. I've got my dyslexia strategy coach to thank for that. For more information on workplace dyslexia support please contact us. An Oxfordshire-based engineer has developed an exciting new software application which saves time and simplifies a set of tasks which plumbers can often find challenging and time consuming. Rich Cartwright, who studied Marine Engineering at Plymouth University, realised there was a ‘need’ for an effective tool for this type of work because he was being approached by countless plumbers asking him to carry out these tasks on their behalf. The tasks being referred to are related to conducting room by room heat loss calculations as required to comply with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) The Domestic Heating Design Guide EN 12831. These calculations are important for plumbers, heating engineers and surveyors yet they can be a real ‘headache’ to calculate and present to clients and this can be especially so for those who have ‘processing differences’ such as dyslexia and dyscalculia. Rich has been able to utilise his vast practical work experience and his dyslexia related strengths of problem solving, creativity and ‘big picture’ thinking to undertake the research, design and development of this new plumber’s tool which he has simply called ‘Heat Engineer’ software. Whilst the features of the software include:
It would appear this innovative piece of software is actually one of the first industry focused, ‘dyslexia friendly’ work tools - and it is particularly relevant that it is related to engineering. The engineering profession is known to be a particularly attractive career path for those with dyslexia and other associated ‘processing differences’ – and many of these individuals will not be aware that their, often not literacy related, challenges are associated with them being amongst the 15 – 18% of the workforce who are ‘neurodiverse’. There are countless ‘literate dyslexics’ working in every type of workplace yet many may not be in a position to confidently explore their dyslexia related strengths. Many may be experiencing challenges which have the potential of affecting their wellbeing as well as their productivity - due to lack of awareness, appropriate support or useful ‘tools’. Rich Cartwright says he has put a lot of ‘blood and sweat’ into developing this new tool and he passionately believes this will make a real difference to those who have struggled with undertaking heat loss calculations until now. To find out more about the software please visit: www.heat-engineer.com/about Or to find out more about Dyslexia in the Workplace please visit: www.right-resources.org.uk/dyslexia Janette Beetham MIC FRSA - Workplace Dyslexia Consultant Please follow on Twitter @JanetteBeetham @neuro_diversity |