National Dyslexia Awareness Week – Nicky’s story

To mark National Dyslexia Awareness Week, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Administrator Nicky Bowbrick-Parry shares her story.

I was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2021 following a series of failed exams while completing a diploma in procurement. When I was diagnosed with dyslexia it helped me understand why and how I struggled at school.

The dyslexia I’ve been diagnosed with is mainly around processing speed, working memory and literacy, but some of this could be to with being deaf as well. I am good at practical tasks, being able to analyse and reason with non-verbal information, and process multiple visual cues to spot patterns and trends.

I find meetings can be overwhelming especially if everyone talks to fast, and I haven’t caught everything, particularly actions. We are very quick to go through meetings at 100 miles an hour due to diary capacity, however, due to the dyslexia and deafness my brain is working twice as hard. Firstly, to hear the information then secondly to process it. I start to feel frustrated if I miss information as it makes me feel stupid when I’m not. If I, then make a mistake it will be because I have missed important information.

Whilst completing a CIPD qualification, I asked for reasonable adjustments from the online provider for both my dyslexia and deafness to be taken into consideration when marking my work because my written answers may not be the sort of language they would expect. I was awarded free three months extra support to compete the course and my work was taken into consideration, which helped me hugely.

I have been lucky enough to be given some software to assist me with my dyslexia which I received via an access to work grant. I have the Dragon and read/write (Texthelp) software packages on my laptop which help me when reading and writing long documents and I have been using Dragon while I pull this article together.

I get quite tired quickly and to help me overcome my challenges; I set calendar reminders for: deadline dates, diary breaks to move from my desk to help refresh your mind and blocking time out in my diary to complete specific work. I write a list of daily/weekly tasks. If needed I ask for extra time to complete projects and other work, this has prevented me from becoming overloaded.

My advice if you have dyslexia is to not shy away from letting your colleagues, your line manager, trainers, lecturers, friends, family know about your diagnosis. Your supporting network is important to your disability, health, and wellbeing.

If you think you are dyslexic try obtaining a diagnosis, by requesting an Occupational Health referral, this will help identify the type of adjustments you may need to be able to carry out your duties effectively. You may be able to apply for funding via the Access to work Scheme to obtain support, although it is not guaranteed.

There are some easy quick wins you and your line can do to help, especially if your role is desk based, ensure you have a break away from sitting, the screen and to help calm your mind, by calendar noting 5-minute breaks throughout the day.

• Ask for extra time to complete tasks,
• Setting deadline dates,
• Setting calendar reminders,
• Blocking out calendar to concentrate on work.
• Changing type Font to a Sans-Serif font size 12, (Arial, Comic Sans, Verdana, Tahoma, etc although size 14 is best for people with a visual impairment. Creating accessible learning materials | RNIB)
• It is important you update your disability status on ESR, it will help the trust establish how many employees identify as having a disability.

On a final note, people with dyslexia have great strengths: -

• Ability to think in 3D
• Connecting ideas and noticing patterns
• Big picture thinking
• Think outside of the box
• Great long-term memory
• Strong verbal skills
• Strong visual thinkers
• Creativity and problem solving
• Analytical and critical thinking
• High level of curiosity