Dyslexia: Workplace Accommodations for people with Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities

 Workplace Accommodations for People with Dyslexia

From website DyslexiaMyLife.org

As a person with dyslexia, you are entitled to reasonable accommodations from your employer if they are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Before asking for help, do what you can on your own. Many people with dyslexia get help from their co-workers, spouses, and friends. Some find ways to accommodate themselves. Many dyslexic salespeople have found ways to get their customers to write the order!

If you wish to request help from your employer, decide whether or not you wish to disclose your disability. Disclosure is becoming easier as the stigma lessens, but discrimination is not yet cleansed from our country. If you do not wish to disclose your dyslexia, explain what you want using positive terms. Many times, a productivity argument has won the day.

Examples:

§  Have you seen XYZ software? It gets the computer to talk so that you can hear what’s on the screen. Since my job requires so much detailed reading, it would be wonderful if I could hear it. Then there would be fewer errors.

§  I need Mary to proof my work before you see it. That way we can both pay more attention to the content -- and not worry about the way it’s typed.

Regardless of the strategy, you take, consider practicing the conversation beforehand with a friend or co-worker. Your accommodation request must be well-thought-out, and the easier it is for your employer, the more likely your success. You may have to disclose your dyslexia, particularly if the accommodation you need is difficult to obtain or against the culture of where you work. If you work for a big company and you have reason to believe that your boss will not be open-minded, you may want to visit the Human Resources department. They are often knowledgeable about the Americans with Disabilities Act and usually consider it part of their job to help employees with disabilities.

The following are some problems that are common to people with dyslexia, as well as suggested solutions. Use them to think about possible accommodations or to start a discussion with your employer. If you find that you need help in thinking about your situation, call the President's Committee Job Accommodation Network (JAN). Describe your disability to the consultant who answers the phone and he or she will help you think about accommodation options. Their phone number is 1-800-526-7234.

Problem:  You have severe difficulty reading. As a matter of fact, someone is reading this article to you.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Ask another employee to read to you.

2.    Get written memos placed on your voice mail.

3.    Your boss tells you what needs to be done rather than writing down directions.

4.    Someone highlights important information and you read that material first.

5.    A reading machine is bought for you.

6.    Voice output is added to your work computer.

7.    You phone people instead of writing them.

Problem:  Your reading problem is not severe, but it is still hard for you to read large amounts of material.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Discuss the material with co-workers. Obtain their ideas and summaries.

2.    Find other ways besides reading to obtain the same information.

3.    Manage your work so that you have the time to read slowly and complete the task.

4.    Get information through drawings, diagrams, and flow charts. Your supervisor or team members may be able to organize some of your information in this way.

5.    Voice output on your computer may assist you.

Problem:  You have visual perceptual problems, causing you to have difficulty locating objects, so you lose things frequently.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Keep your work area well organized. Your supervisor and team should ensure that common areas such as tool stations, files, and bookshelves stay neat.

2.    Color code items.

3.    Keep items on shelves, bulletin boards or other places where you can see them.

4.    Put important objects, such as keys, in the same place each time you put them down.

5.    Ensure that you have sufficient light.

Problem:  You have auditory perceptual problems, giving you difficulty in following verbal directions.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Ask people to give you instructions slowly and clearly in a quiet location.

2.    Ask people to write down important information.

3.    Ask people to show you what needs to be done and then watch you do it.

4.    Take notes as you hear directions. Ask a person who heard those directions to review your notes.

5.    Repeat instructions back to people. Make sure they listen to you and confirm that you understand.

6.    Tape-record important procedures and instructions. Playback and review.

7.    For complicated projects, write a memorandum to your supervisor that outlines your understanding of what you are to do. Get their sign off before you proceed.

Problem:  You have difficulty understanding the hidden meaning of what is said.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Ask people to talk to you directly and not hint.

2.    In some cases, you may want to make hidden meanings explicit and say, for example, “Are you trying to tell me to be neater?”

Problem:  You have difficulty with remembering and sticking to deadlines.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Use a daily calendar and alarm feature on your work computer. Some software will ring and put a written reminder on your computer screen.

2.    Use a signal watch.

3.    Use a tickler file. This file has a section for each month and a section for each day. You can put follow-up reminders in the file. Get in the habit of reviewing the file each day for the deadlines.

4.    Ask your supervisor to remind you of important deadlines or to review priorities on a regular basis.

Problem:  You have difficulty with handling interruptions. Each interruption interferes with your ability to get started again.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Use a “Do not disturb sign.”

2.    When interrupted, pause and write down what you were doing so that you remember it when you need to resume your work.

3.    Do one task at a time. Start new tasks only when the earlier one is completed.

4.    Initiate as many calls as possible, avoid interruptions from callbacks by telling the receptionist you will call back, and hang up if you get an answering machine.

5.    Arrange your time so that you are available for interruptions for part of the day and have quiet time during the rest of the day. If you stick to a routine, people will often respect it.

6.    When someone who is not your boss tries to interrupt you, keep your eyes on your work and don't engage in conversation.

Problem:  You have difficulty with the physical act of writing.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Use typewriters and computer keyboards as a substitute for handwriting.

2.    Have an assistant handwrite when necessary.

3.    Teach others to read your writing.

Problem:   You can write, but there are frequent grammatical errors and misspellings.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Use spell check and grammar check software.

2.    Obtain clerical support.

3.    Ask co-workers, friends or family to proof your work before you turn it in.

Problem:  You reverse numbers frequently as you calculate figures.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    State numbers aloud when you write them down or touch the calculator key. Pause and ensure that you have written it correctly.

2.    Use a piece of paper with a hole punched out of it to check your numbers.

3.    Use a talking calculator.

Problem:  You have difficulty with left and right. You have been known to get lost in your own office building.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Use maps.

2.    Find people who will go with you and navigate.

3.    Stay late and practice going from one place to another.

4.    After you have been on the job a while, offer to put up pictures or find ways to place cues in public space so that there is a visual distinction between left and right. Get maps up on the walls.

Problem:  You are easily distracted and the work is done in “open space” with “systems furniture.”

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Ask for a private place to work.

2.    Arrange to work at home on occasion.

3.    Negotiate for the quietest and least distracting location (usually along corners away from doors).

4.    Arrange to use libraries, file rooms, private offices, storerooms, and other enclosed spaces when they are not in use.

Problem:   You have trouble remembering details such as names, numbers and specific facts, particularly the first time the information is presented. This is usually due to short-term memory problems.

Suggested Solutions:

1.    Use mnemonic devices and acronyms such as remembering the color of the rainbow by syllables. For example, ROY G BIV is the initials of the colors of the rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.)

2.    Organize details on paper so that they can be quickly looked up through diagrams, flow charts, or cheat sheets.

3.    Develop ways of drilling yourself on the new material.

4.    Use your computer software. Sometimes well-designed menus and “Help” features can assist you.

5.    Have your supervisor check with you to be sure that you understand.

Remember, if you need assistance, you may call the President’s Committee Job Accommodation Network at 1-800-526-7234.

 About the Author:

Dale S. Brown is Program Manager for the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities in Washington, D.C. She has led support groups for people with dyslexia at The International Dyslexia Association Annual Conferences since 1987, and is a well-known speaker at Branch meetings all over the country on the issue of employment. She has written numerous articles and book chapters on employment. Her poetry book, I Know I Can Climb the Mountain, was published by Mountain View Books in Columbus, OH. It describes her personal experience “climbing the mountain” caused by society’s negative attitudes towards her dyslexia. She is a co-editor with Paul Gerber, Ph.D. of  Learning Disabilities and Employment, published by Pro-Ed.