Is dyslexia a disability

I'm mildly dyslexic and no i don't consider it a disability. It's a learning difficulty.

Again, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia are not learning disabilities.

Learning Disability Nurse Specialist/BST. I do not assess people with Dyslexia or Dyspraxia. This is my point. When I receive a referral for people with either of these I cannot accept them.
You are confusing learning disabilities with learning difficulties. I'm not saying that these are not classed as a disability off their own merits, but they are not classed as learning disabilities.
This is based on having an IQ of below 70 and is usually a chromosomal or genetic anomaly.
The NICE guidelines clearly state this.
The NHS site also states that Dyslexia is a learning difficulty and not a learning disability.
As a previous poster said, you have been looking on American Internet pages which uses different terminology.

As far as I know dyslexia is assessed as someone who has a literacy (reading, writing, processing) ability significantly below their potential. For example my son is 10. His vocabulary and understanding is at age 11/12. His reading is age 7, writing age 6. The vast gap is what leads to dyslexia diagnosis. However if his understanding was also significantly below his age this would indicate a learning disability not dyslexia.

Is it disabling? Absolutley, although probably less than his other neurodevelopmental issues.

I think with work if you don't choose to disclose your disability you can't then demand reasonable adjustments or complain you aren't being properly supported in connection to these. So arguing you don't have a disability would presumably mean they don't have to take into account any needs you have. If you have issues processing information then it sounds like you are in some way disabled by your dyslexia.

@Dramatic I'm the same and couldn't agree with you more.

I'm technically disabled but I don't consider myself to be at all. My life is not altered by it in any way and to me it's daft that it's considered a disability but there we go, I wouldn't be arguing about it with an employer though

Would you like to read hs many reports and EHCP? His diagnosis from the Nuffield hospital is severe dyspraxia with associated leaning disabilities- his Ed psych report is severe dyslexia-

@Auburngal
I'm sorry about your experiences.
Just to be clear though:

• dyslexia and dyspraxia are not the same thing, and dyspraxia is not a subset of dyslexia, as you seem to imply. They are related and often people have both, but are different.
• Dyslexia is not a learning disability. It is a learning difficulty which can also be a disability, and it certainly seems that way in your case. Learning disability in the UK (not US) is strictly about low IQ only, although of course, people often have other conditions too.

This does not make much sense. You need to understand the difference between learning difficulty (which may still be a disability) and learning disability - avoid US usage which is different.

Also having an IQ of over 70 does not make you "very clever". Whether you are dyslexic or not does not affect this - not least because dyslexia does not affect intelligence and is therefore not a learning disability.

I think you may have been spending time on US internet sites. Read my previous posts.

I’m clever. Last time I had IQ measured it was 130-something.

This does not reflect my grades at GCSE. Exams are my weakest point, even with 25% extra time

Im a dyslexic. Everyone has different things which they find difficult. Each dyslexic person is different.

Its a learning disability.

My dyslexia affects thinking before speaking. My dyslexia is more towards the motor side of the body. It’s usually referred as dyspraxia. So unable to ride a bike or swim.

My previous manager took advantage of my dyslexia and made me upset, cause MH issues. Raised grievances about him and it didn’t go beyond the meeting with a store manager from a store 20 miles away. It shows that my previous employer think managers chumminess with each other is more important than employees’ MH.

I got fed up of crying and this is why I left my job earlier this month

My son is severely dyslexic and has associated learning disabilities along with verbal dyspraxia however is very bright.
he attends a private school for dyslexic children with associated disabilities and a lot of them are very clever also. As in above 70 IQ.

How hard is this for you?

It is their default position, and rightly so, to include dyslexia as a disability.

That means they're equipped to handle an employees needs should they be disabled by dyslexia.

If they have an employee who is dyslexic but does not have an extra needs, does not consider themselves disabled by it... then nothing need happen, no one does anything, all is fine.

If it were the other way round, can you not follow that some people would struggle, their needs would not be met and they may be prevented from doing their job properly?

We're talking difficulties not not disability, and educational not social or disability classification.

No it isn't true, dyslexia/ learning difficulties are no respectors of IQ. It's a condition which affects all individuals on the Intelligence Quotient Scale. Below 70 may be indicative of a disability but you're wording is mixed up and as I said earlier you're mixing two different concepts and saying others are wrong for holding their view. That's not right or fair.

The phrase learning difficulty is a an educational classification and just means dyslexia. Both words/ phrases can be problematic.

You've just contradicted your self there I think. And as for assessing how dyslexics experience their disabilities I do not believe you are qualified...

What kind of specialist please?

You're comparing educational classifications with social classifications and they are very different. No one is down playing disabilities , many of us have them. But we are not prejudicing the case of a person with learning difficulties either. All have their needs and have their own aetiologies. Just stop attacking people, everyone speaks from their own area of understanding and most of us declare that. It's a Broad Church here. Securing the Fort....

Here is a link to the NICE guidelines
cks.nice.org.uk/topics/learning-disabilities/#:~:text=Learning%20disabilities%3A%20Summary,functioning%2C%20and%20onset%20in%20childhood.

Yes it is, I assess people with learning disabilities for a living and a specialist in the field.

@Sammyspurs Yes it is. 70 IQ is the cut off for learning disability (ie intellectual impairment). Incidentally you can't be diagnosed with dyslexia if you have a learning disability.

That’s not true

@housethatbuiltme You are aware that difficulty and disability mean the same right? No they are not! The difficulty has to be sufficiently long term and substantial. We are have difficulties with some things, but we are not all disabled. That is a disservice to those who really have disabilities.

@Mrsttcno1 @Jessie1259 It is not the case that dyslexia "is" a disability in law. It can be. It depends. The employers are erring on the side of caution and ensuring they help those with dyslexia, without they are in fact disabled or not.