Dyslexic Friendly Workplace

I run a call centre (along with lots of other things).
I had a lovely new girl start on Monday.  She had great phone manner, really polite and a fantastic voice.
One of my experienced staff came to see me about half an hour into her training and told me the  new girl was in tears in the bathroom.

 I asked what had happened and she told me that she wanted the script to be on the screen not on paper.  The experienced staff member told her that she had to have a paper script.  Thats when she started crying.

I called the new girl into  my office.  Got her some water and tissues.  She was sobbing.

"Tell me, what is it that is making you so upset?  I'm sure we can sort out whatever it is", I said.

"No, you cant", she said.  "I've worked in lots of call centres but I get fired from the ones that use paper scripts because I cant read off paper.  I can read ok on the screen but not off paper."

She then went on to describe how the words run together and move.
I said "Please stop worrying.  You could not have landed in a better workplace.  Are you dyslexic?"

Her head went down.  She nodded.

"I'm sure I can help."

I retyped her script in Open Dyslexic font and printed it on blue paper. As soon as she saw the new script, she said it was so much easier.   I bought a stand to angle the script at the right height and made sure there was no glare on the page.

AFter just a few days, she is now working without a script and speaking with such fantastic confidence that she is selling at a great rate.

I get sad when I think about all the places she has worked that could have easily helped with her dyslexia instead of just firing her.  It's not that hard.

OpenDyslexic font is available free of charge thank you so much to the amazing creater Abelardo Gonzalez.

http://opendyslexic.org/

Why dont you try it in your workplace on posters, induction forms etc and see if you find people might feel more comfortable.  You never know who may be dyslexic and struggling because they are often extremely good at hiding their problem with reading.

Dyslexia in workplace

So much of the world revolves around reading.  People who have no trouble reading, don't even notice it.  A flyer on the wall of the post office, political brochures, newspapers, instructions, menu's...the list is endless. 
One thing I hadn't thought of before was all the paperwork when you start a new job.
As much as starting a job can be daunting for anybody, imagine sitting down to read and sign all the policies, OHS documents and tax forms that come with starting a new position.

For many jobs, dyslexia isn't a problem, in fact, the skills and thought processes of a dyslexic person can be a huge asset for many organisations.  And yet, in the formal induction or training, we still sit people down with paperwork. 

Companies who hire apprentices for trades frustrate me the most.  Many kids excel at trades and working with their hands, but don't do well at school.  Whether they are dyslexic or just have learning difficulties is irrelevant.  Still, those companies simply sit those kids in front of a computer to do an online induction or hand them booklets of policy and OHS documents and tell them to read, complete and sign. 

Imagine for a moment that you are a 16 year old boy, who has always struggled to read.  You are lucky enough to get an apprenticeship and you turn up for you first day, already nervous.  Your boss walks in and hands you a large document, plus a tax form and says "get this read and signed before you can start". 
You look at the document.   It looks very important and formal.  A contract.  The words are long and you can't read them.  The more you look the harder it gets to understand them.  You feel your stomach in knots and your breathing becomes shallow.  Your head starts to pound and you begin to wonder if you are going to be able to do this job at all if you can't even do the first thing they ask of you.  Your mind begins to think of just taking off out the door and never coming back.   Fear is a terrible thing. 
Just then, your boss walks back in.  "Geez, that should have only taken a minute, what they hell have you been doing?".  
You hurridly sign the documents and hand them over.   You look out into the workshop, already feeling that you don't fit here.  Too stupid. 

Organisations need to think about having appropriate induction processes which build confidence, not destroy it.  Motivate and encourage rather than scare.   People who are motivated to do well, achieve more than people who are scared to do poorly. 

Consider learning styles when designing induction programs. Just because someone has a problem with reading, doens't reflect on their intelligence.  Often people with reading difficulties are more resilient, dedicated and motivated than others that everything comes easy to.