Any apps to help my colleague with dyslexia?

[ThisJustMauveMember]

I have a team member who states she has dyslexia and her writing is poor. Doesn't use the correct their/there/they're etc which is quite common but also uses the incorrect spelling or spells words how they are said. Examples include finely instead of finally. Pours instead of pores. Her writing is generally poor.

She hasn't said shes dyslexia but she has come over from a big organisation and it was in her bio for some charity work she does.

We work for a small charity organisation and a few clients have picked up her writing style/mistakes.

I'm wondering if there are any apps etc to help her?

Run the stuff she writes through Chat GPT before sending it out.

I'd imagine there are but I'd recommend proof reading as an adaption and just get on with your day.

She will likely be brilliant in other ways - more brilliant than you. So, be kind, and just proof read if it matters.

It's not possible to proof read. That would add to someone's work load.

Weird passive aggressive comment....

I use Dragon, which is dictation software and has its issues.

Some colleagues use Grammarly, although I haven’t tried it myself.

If she’s come from a larger organisation she might have had some software there.

Well, for important documents make sure it is proof read by a colleague / manager.
For day to day, does it really matter? I think people are generally very understanding.
And the bar for spelling and grammar is pretty low in the UK.
I wouldn't over think it.

Side note, look at her strengths. People with dyslexia tend to be very strong creatively or with strategy and bigger picture stuff. Perhaps help her develop in her role in those ways.

You can install grammarly on her device, it will check her typing and make suggestions for corrections. The paid version is probably better if she struggles a lot.

It does matter because the information goes out to business, organisations, the press and those with disabilities. So it's important correct English is used.

I don't think it's very low, but you also need to be able to understand written text....

Thanks.

This is going to have to be approached as she's not ticked the disability box/reasonable adjustments.

What is she using for communications?

If she is using a laptop can't she use a spellchecker on her her work?

Goblin tools. It's brilliant. It's got 4 or 5 tools in one easy to use app.

That's a point ... not sure why it's not picking up those words! Perhaps she's got it turned off?

Can she use built in software to have her work read back up her and listen for errors. Also obviously try to correct stuff picked up by a spell checker. Annoying however, neither will help with homophones I think.

I don't know how dyslexia works, if she can hear for errors as she's not seeing them? I don't know where to go as she hasn't told us directly but we found out online.

Grammarly and Dragon. A normal spell checker won't catch Dyslexic mistakes.

There are many different facets to dyslexia. So what her issues are won't be the same as others.

My DS sees every letter twice, they move, but they don't move in unison. The smaller the text the more it looks like a jiggly qwerty code.

This is why he struggles to read, even in his mid 20s and writes phonetically. Because he's learned differently- he has had to. In fact, I'm surprised he ever learned at all!

Others will have different issues leading to a simular result

Grammarly is what my DH uses, he says it works well. Would that be in budget?

Yes. If you read her writing you would think she had a poor understanding of the English language, their/there/they're etc is passable but other words she's mixing up and she sends me messages and it's a bit like drunk texting. But we have seen her bio online and she is dyslexic, just wish she put it on the intake form.

Yes we would have to find the money for something to help her ... It's just she's not come forward and stated she has a learning difficulty so it couldn't be put in place at the start.

You can't really blame her for not mentioning it at the start. She didn't know if you were an understanding sort of person who would arrange help or a person who would go "Learning difficulty? Oh we can't hire them, they must be a total idiot."

Or it might have not been something which she thought would cause an issue.

In any case you don't need any kind of official disclosure to put support in place. You could just say something like "I've noticed sometimes you struggle with this so this may help"

I'm dyslexic MS Word modern versions have a speech function. Poor spelling and grammar isn't always a symptom of dyslexia. Just because someone says somewhere that they are dyslexic doesn't mean they are, some self diagnose. Some are right of course, some have other issues that are similar in their outcomes.

Dyslexia is a kind of umbrella term it takes people differently but there are similarities. Dyslexics don't learn phonetics in the same way or speed as non-dyslexics for example, it is one of the hallmarks of dyslexia.

The dyslexic brain in research has shown itself to work nearly 5 times harder in language tasks. It is literally exhausting to process language when your brain is dyslexic, does her work involving language deteriorate throughout the day?

Are you her manager?

I'm dyslexic. I don't say anything at interview either. I am not stupid, nor do I have a superpower! I don't know that a prospective employer will appreciate that though.

I do you speech to text to draft things and vice versa to check important docs before they go out. Outlook and word generally pick up grammar errors if a misspelling is a genuine word, or i hear i when it's spoken back. I don't listen to everything as it would take forever, but if it's important I definitely do. ChatGPT is also a life saver, for anything non confidential/personal of course.

I think it's fine to address the quality issue without minding why it might have come about.

I am dyslexic myself and 2 of my daughters are. We all use different methods to support us.

Grammarly is my choice

Dd2 uses overlay in pink and dragon
Dd3 uses a proof reading programme (I dont know the name she got it at uni)

Dd2 will misspell things like hole instead of whole and many programmes will not pick this up

Dd3 is more about her ability to get the words she like a other posters son find the letters moves but has not found anything to support that aids her yet. (Hence the read out loud programme)

I would speak with her about her dyslexia. Whst can help her? Has she got a diagnosis report? If so what does this recommend? If not can your company support her in getting one and finding her support.

We have a form new starts complete where we ask if there are any disabilities, reasonable adjustments, medical issues, adaptations etc.

This is way after the offer letter/contract has been signed.

It's so that we can get things organized for staff such as height adjustable desks, flex working requests etc

She needs to state she has dyslexia. First her poor Grammer/spelling will need addressing. Hoping she states the dyslexia.

My partner thinks she's lying.