Dyslexia

[skodagirl1985]

Prob not spelt the title right but you can prob guess what I frying to say.


Can an employer discrimiate against an emplyee if they have not been tested for dyslexia but have difficultly with reading, spelling and slow learning?

[rossm]

Firstly, I'm not an expert but...

I would guess that if someone was having difficulty reading, spelling and with slow learning, an employer would be within their rights to assume that the person was simply unsuitable for the job, unless it had been disclosed to the employer that the person had difficulties.

If however it were identified that the person had a learning difficulty, then the employer would not be allowed to discriminate.

It all depends on the employer and the job the person was doing too. Some better employers like local authorities or larger staff-focussed companies might be more patient, and assist an employee with difficulties, making sure they were given work they could do etc.

[redbaron]

they can do what they want?

out of interest what has dyslexia got to do with slow learning / bad typing ?


(from someone who has been tested for dyslexia)

[skorob2007]

I dont think they can discriminate in a malicious way, but if for instance, you wrote the following:

I just brought a car off of ebay and found I could of brought it cheaper elsewhere.There is 2 spare wheels in the boot.

Thats the wrong way.The correct way is:

I have just bought a car off ebay, and found I could have bought it cheaper elsewhere.There are 2 spare wheels in the boot.

In that instance, the employer should correct you and leave it at that, unless you keep repeatedly making the same mistakes.

Many people say brought instead of correctly saying bought, and instead of saying should have, they wrongly say should of. And there is should be said for a singular item, and there are for more than one.(I find that bl00dy irritating when people say should of or I brought it!!!!)

If they are genuinely picking on a person because of dyslexia then I think it may be a case of see the CAB and see where you stand.Of course, if it affects the job you are doing in a big way, then you may be deemed unsuitable for the job.

[heresmo]

Originally Posted by redbaron

they can do what they want?

out of interest what has dyslexia got to do with slow learning / bad typing ?


(from someone who has been tested for dyslexia)

...and what does it have to do with bad grammar either? (Here referring to Skorob2007's post.)

If a person is already employed, is that person confident that any shortcomings are indeed due to dyslexia? After all, Einstein famously couldn't spell correctly. More particularly, very few people (as Skorob2007 suggests) spell correctly and most accept that either it doesn't matter (as they probably are in no position either to comment on perfect typing, spelling or grammar) or there will be a process in place to ensure that written documents go out correctly. In the "good old days", a secretary would always correct a boss's letters, whereas now with directly written emails, I doubt that dyslexia would be a cause of discrimination on its own as a company would probably have to fire 75% of its staff who got things wrong in a similar way if that were the case ... It probably wouldn't be a good idea to take on a job where one was writing programming lines though

I'd say that if a person thought he/she was dyslexic, it wouldn't hurt to find out, so that he/she could learn how to counter it - e.g. use a spellchecker or ask a colleague to proofread things.

HTH
Mo

[KenONeill]

Actually, programming (in a true declaritive language) is one place where speeling eerurs don't matter that much. They'll get highlighted at compile time.

[skodagirl1985]

out of interest what has dyslexia got to do with slow learning / bad typing ?


(from someone who has been tested for dyslexia)[/quote]

I heard that bad spelling and slow learning is a possible sign of dyslexia.

[heresmo]

[quote from Hannah]I heard that bad spelling and slow learning is a possible sign of dyslexia.[/quote]

I've certainly heard that said of children where all are expected to learn the whole gamut of a curriculum at the same pace and for any reading task, at a young age, it could be difficult to grasp the underlying concept of a passage if the words themselves are gobbledygook to them. I've not heard it said re adults - do you have a link?

My thinking (and this is supposition) is that adults will perhaps have a better idea of what they are good at and what they aren't, so if choosing a job or career in their strength area, they probably wouldn't let dyslexia hinder them - think dream or just sheer determination to succeed here - as they'll have grasped the concept. By the same token, there are subjects which I simply cannot grasp and it matters not one jot that I am not dyslexic - I'd be a slow learner for the next millenium with those.

Mo

Edit: Got the quotes wrong. See? It's perseverance that counts

[auroan]

Have a quick gander below first.

Dyslexia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Skodaboy1983]

I've got to admit schools nowadays can pick this up quickly I must have come from the generation where it was never picked up.

A quick true story about a friend of mine who was diagnosed with aspergurs syndrome (I know it's diffrent but this was not picked up at school)

My mate muddled through secondary school and passed his exams but it was only when he went to college that this form of dyslyxic was picked up when he was struggled through college,he was diagnosed with aspergurs syndrome which did not effect him but he lacked confidence and had difficulty in reading or writing, he then went on to become student of the year and was invited to downing street to meet the prime minister Tony Blair.

I always wonder why this was not picked up at school where he could have got the help he would need to live a normal life instead of picking it up in college at the age of about 19.

[KenONeill]

Originally Posted by Skodaboy1983

My mate muddled through secondary school and passed his exams but it was only when he went to college that this form of dyslyxic was picked up when he was struggled through college,he was diagnosed with aspergurs syndrome which did not effect him but he lacked confidence and had difficulty in reading or writing, he then went on to become student of the year and was invited to downing street to meet the prime minister Tony Blair.

What did he do to deserve a punishment like that?

[Skodaboy1983]

to meet Tony Ken?

[KenONeill]

Exactly.

[Skodaboy1983]

something to do with students with disabilty's cherie blair was involved in soemthing like that IIRC

[KenONeill]

I was only suggesting that meeting Tory Blur might be viewed as a punishment; Meeting Cherie as well certainly is!

[heresmo]

Originally Posted by Skodaboy1983

I always wonder why this was not picked up at school where he could have got the help he would need to live a normal life instead of picking it up in college at the age of about 19.

It took schools something like 40 years to realise that some kids sitting at the back of a classroom didn't do as well as others simply because they couldn't see the blackboard, or had hearing problems... Some "modern ailments" weren't even known about, let alone a means of diagnosing them in idividuals until recently; let alone discovering the potential impact of them - and sure as heck let alone waiting for that info to filter down to every school in the land...

Glad to hear that your friend "did good" I suspect some of his success was because no-one told him that he "couldn't do it because..." so it's debatable whether learning / being told one has a disadvantage is a good or a bad thing.

Regards
Mo

[lozgti]

As an aside,I liked the Newsreader error this morning re Tanker Strike

"Gordon Brown has told everyone to panic".

Sometimes missing words does make a difference

[mrgregm]

lol,

i have been screened at college for dyslexia and came out positive, and its fantastic, its made my life easier, they gave me a latop type thingy to take notes on, everyone else has to copy things off the power points, i get given it on paper at then end of lessons, sheets are printed on what ever colour paper i desire, i get yellow, for some reason dyslexia sufferers (probably the wrong word to use cuz im not exactly suffering, im not in any pain lol) read easier on differant coloured paper, yellow for me. and i get 25% extra time in my exams and get to sit in a seperate room for them instead of the large stuffy exam hall that smells of fart with everyone else.

schools and colleges have their own screening processes and supply support but you can get a proper pyscological assesment from a pyscologist then they give you a certificate thingy that you can show employers, also this entitles me to extra benefits at uni for stuff like a laptop and special software that reads my work to me n stuff, also i get free audio books at the library

hehe, im not heavily dislexic but am reeping the benefits

people who are dislexic often dont like reading, its more of a chour than a passtime, it doesnt affect typing more spelling, also dislexic people can have trouble speaking quickly or using big words, they have to slow down to say them, when i was assesed they picked up on the littlest things, like me putting my finger under the word/line i was reading so i wouldnt loose it, if i dont i have a habit of missing a line or reading the same line two times, also stuttering or repeating words they asked me to read, they pick up on alsorts after that, there is also other things bundled with dislexia i didnt know about like bad time keeping lol, i am pretty bad at it but didnt know that was why.

another bloody essay from me, i couldnt have done this by hand, it would have taken me 4 times as long to write, have more mistakes, and id probably have not even bothered come to think of it, heh

[skodagirl1985]

In my last temp job at the bank. They thought I could be dyslexic because I really struggled with reading the cheques not because I couldn't see but because I couldn't physically read what it said on the cheques. They knew and I knew the job wasn't for me but it was only a 7 week temp contract. They told me to try the online test which I did in my lunch break which said I was dyslexic but it said it would be expensive to do other test.
The reason I started the thread was cos my manager pulled me up for my slow learning and my poor read and was wondering if I was finding the job hard, but the main thing to me is that I enjoy the job and feel that I can do it fine.

[anewman]

Employers are not supposed to discriminate - but they usually do. I'll bet the figures show people with disabilities have greater difficulty getting and keeping jobs, than "normal" people (whatever normal is).

I'm somewhat shy and awkward in social situations (Asperger syndrome has been mentioned but not been diagnosed, although I suspect it is a possibility). For me job interviews go like lead balloons and I've never managed to get a job. It's quite possible I was better for the jobs than the people who got them, but because I'm not particularly good at the interviews I can't get it across - so people who have the gift of the gab get jobs and I don't.

People seem to expect perfection.

Sorry if I'm being a bit negative, but feeling like a bit of a failure because I've never managed to get a job doesn't help my point of view of the world.