Dyslexia and Occupational Therapy – This chat will be hosted by Sharon Hardman @SharonOTUClan
During my Occupational Therapy (OT) pre-registration training I was diagnosed with specific learning difficulties, more commonly known as dyslexia, 3 days before the UK went into the first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. This was a huge shock to me as I had already achieved 10 GCSEs, 3 A levels, BA (Hons) degree and Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and no one has noticed my dyslexia.
According to Dyslexia Association (2022) “dyslexia is a lifelong condition, which has a substantial effect on an individual’s day to day activities and is classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. Dyslexia varies from person to person and no two people will have the same set of strengths and weaknesses. Dyslexic individuals often have difficulties processing and remembering information, for example:
- a tendency to read inaccurately and without adequate comprehension.
- inconsistent spelling.
- difficulty with planning and writing essays.
- difficulty getting started and completing work.
- a tendency to get ‘tied up’ using long words, e.g. preliminary, philosophical.
- a tendency to confuse verbal instructions, places, times and dates.
- greater difficulty in learning a foreign language.
- low self-esteem.
- Frustration leading to behavioural or emotional difficulties.
- disorganised.
- difficulty with map reading.
- difficulty filling in forms and writing reports.
- tendency to miss and confuse appointment times.
- low opinion of capabilities.
- constantly loses and forgets items and information.”
I wanted to create an #OTalk that enabled the OT community to share their experiences of dyslexia and promote further discussion in this area.
Dyslexia Association (2022) Available at https://www.dyslexia.uk.net/what-is-dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/
The 5 questions that I would like you to consider are:
- Dyslexia requires reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. What are your experiences of reasonable adjustments for dyslexia?
- How do you feel about your dyslexia diagnosis today?
- Do you use any assistive technology such as speech recognition software, text to speech software eg read and write gold, mind mapping, scanning software and hand reading pens, spellcheckers, apps, computer software, tablets, smart mobile phone, electronic diary, WhatsApp, computer learning programmes and voice assisted devices like Alexia?
- What dyslexia strategies do you use for work? Consider clinical assessment and note taking.
- What would you like to see the occupational therapy profession do in the future to address dyslexia needs and preferences?
Sharon
OTalk 