by: Jo Lacy (Pronouns: They/Them)
Acoustics Consultant, Cundall
It’s Dyslexia awareness week and there are a few things you should be aware of when it comes to dyslexia because there’s more to it than you may realise.
Dyslexia isn’t as simple as problems with reading, writing and spelling. For some people these aren’t the problem at all, they’re just the visible symptoms of the struggles really being experienced e.g. struggles with spatial awareness, auditory and visual processing, working memory or handwriting for example.
Maybe there’s no difficulty with reading, writing or spelling but struggling with spatial awareness might mean that writing by hand leaves uneven spaces between words and lines. This lack of neatness is then more difficult to read than a “perfect” typed word and this then taxes the working memory while you have to work through letters in the words individually to make sense of the complete word.
These problems manifest as difficulty in reading, writing and spelling, which may not be a problem at all if using a word-processor to keep the letters tidy on the page.
Complete gibberish can also be very meaningful because the dyslexic brain knows what was meant when making the notes, even if it struggles to detect “errors” in the note taking. However, as long as the person making the notes understands their own notes, it is hardly different to note-taking in a separate language. A colleague of mine shared this example when discussing difficulties with dyslexia:
“Difficultie with understsnG \berba Institute”
With a minute or two to think you could probably reach a conclusion that this should read:
“Difficulty with understanding verbal instructions”
It made complete sense to them, because it was a note they made for themselves to try and keep track of the difficulties they experience with dyslexia. Dyslexia isn’t just negative though. While there are struggles in some areas, there tend to be strengths in other areas.
Dyslexic people are often good at seeing the big picture and finding creative solutions to problems that are difficult to resolve with traditional interpretations. While some dyslexic people struggle with spatial awareness, others are very strong in 3D visualisation and many dyslexic people are highly emotionally intelligent and empathic.
Did you know about the strengths and struggles associated with dyslexia? Are you dyslexic and have other experiences that haven’t been discussed? Please let us know your experience, anonymously if you wish, so that we can help to shape the industry to be more forward thinking and inclusive.
You can contact the author directly: j.lacy at cundall.com or email: diversity
ioa.org.uk (diversity[at]ioa[dot]org[dot]uk)
