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?

You don't mention it in an interview and neither should an employer allow you to elaborate. It wouldnt be fair on the candidate and not necessary.

Has she told us before, we could have got aids etc. We ask after the contract has been signed and part of the onboarding.

I'm managing her at the moment due to illness. Hence why I'm a bit lost. I'm not too sure when the manager will come back to work as it is sudden illness. I'm going to try and pass this to another manager (we dont have a HR team).

I did an online test for dyslexia a few years ago as I struggle with phonics, spelling and getting what's on my mind out of my mouth. Probably more depression as I think the tests online didn't screen high for dyslexia but it's painful having a conversation with me. Just something I've had to live with.

There are many potential suspects for your symptoms but you might try Auditory Processing Disorder

I live with this on top of dyslexia and that too comes out in different ways but not dissimilar to your description. I still get it and because I can't process language when it happens, I can't describe how it feels effectlvely when I can process language.

https://www.additudemag.com/what-is-auditory-processing-disorder/

Is she suitable for the role if she does have dyslexia?
Will she be comfortable/confident with her daily tasks? It sounds like the job at hand is very language&writing focused...

Numbers are not my strong point. Good for the majority of jobs out there but I wouldn't knowingly choose a role that's largerly focused on calculations, statistics, financials and distributing and presenting my calculations to the wider audience. I would need support from math-brain colleagues to have confidence in my work, innovation would suffer whilst I'm grappling with Excel formulas and I would feel immense stress day-in-day-out. How do I know it? Cause I tried it. Twice. Just to be sure...

You have an employee. Find the best way to use them. Putting a square peg into a round hole will never quite work, no matter the support systems in place.

I think first job is to make sure her email settings and word both have the spell and grammar checkers switched on.

Spell and grammer checkers don't help if you are confusing things like pores with pours because they are not intuitive and both words are spelled correctly, they're and their can be hit and miss with these things too.

They are a good basic if your spelling and grammar is a little off but not if you are making glaring mistakes which are spelled correctly.

I do state my dyslexia in any application I make. I've not found it ever hindered my getting interviews or jobs.

However if she has not you can still have the conversation with her from the point of view of. "Your spelling when writing needs some attention" that will likely be when she states it. I doubt she is lying however a therr is a chance it's self diagnosed its difficult to get support to get a diagnosis.

Well because she's not actually declared it I think you're jumping the gun actually. It could be that she's given tasks which have too little lead time to complete for all you know. You're just guessing what the cause is.

As an interim manager you need to highlight the impact of the errors on service users. Ask her how you can arrange adaptations to fix the problem. An occupational health referral might be needed.

I certainly wouldn't be happy to offload checking all her work to another employee, that's just going to dent goodwill between colleagues and impact their capacity - it's not an acceptable solution. I'm not sure why people are suggesting this. I can't imagine it being feasible in any org of any significant size at all.

You need to capture the problem for the underperforming employee, figure out what solutions exist within HR options like buying software. Ultimately if it's a heavy writing based role could she be deployed elsewhere if there's no budget to spend extra £s with special software etc.

This is a business & performance issue. Start treating it like one and follow a clear, consistent process which is applicable across employees. Not "I read online she has dyslexia so I'm off researching software on Mumsnet".

I don't have any experience but in a normal 1 to 1 I would note the positives about her work and that there are some mistakes, at that point ask, 'can I check whether you have any diagnoses such as dyslexia that you choose to disclose or want to request reasonable adjustments for?' then whatever her reply, come up with an action plan to problem solve the issues, lots of good suggestions on here.

Let her use a disclaimer on written comms

I have dyslexia, you may notice big ideas and small typos.

If you use spellchecker it only makes sure the word is spelt correctly but if you spell the word very wrong it might correct it to another word. Take your example where they tried to write finely instead of finally. The trick I use when using spell checkers is to use the similar word function to check they mean the same. Or google the word if it comes up with no suggestion.

also I’m dyslexic I had a test carried out as a teenager. However I didn’t get the official test which would have provided me with paperwork as I was told funding had been withdrawn and I would need to go private. I didn’t do this as at the time I didn’t think it would be of any benefit as there isn’t a cure and had supportive tutors and teachers which meant I learnt ways to manage it.

I use MS dictate a fair bit, and then get it to read things back to me as I find it easier to hear faults rather than see them.

“I have dyslexia, you may notice big ideas and small typos.” I bloody love this!

When I had my dyslexia tests the woman went through all kinds of tests on all areas of my intelligence and described to me that a person with dyslexia has a “spiky profile” which means that they’ll be much more “intelligent” in some areas than others so strengths and weaknesses are much more pronounced than in a person without dyslexia. Of course, some people are less intelligent than others and don’t have dyslexia.

My diagnoses was paid for by my organisation and was done by the BDA. It gave me a massive pack with suggestions and recommendations. If you’re a charity I’d expect you to have some budget for this kind of thing? Have a conversation with her and ask her if she’d like to be referred for some support as you can see she’s struggling with her literacy. It’s a fairly common conversation to have to have with an employee if they’re making mistakes.

What do mean you 'found out online'?

Let her use a disclaimer on written comms: I have dyslexia, you may notice big ideas and small typos.

Oh please don't do this nonsense. What an unprofessional idea.

The OP hasn't said what kind of business this is. It might be fine if you're running a local cat boarding house where typos don't have much impact. Or it might be in a medical setting. Or a school. Where accuracy and having a good, clear grasp of written communication is a critical part of the job.

Adding in some nonsense to every email or letter about having "big ideas and small typos" is ridiculous, because you have no idea of the impact of some of these "typos" (which are avoidable).

OP - do the professional management action here and follow a clear, HR-approved process, don't listen to silly ideas like this on how to handle it.

I manage one colleague who uses grammarly for her dyslexia. Anything really sensitive that needs to hit perfect tone she always runs by me or a team mate.

another colleague uses dragon and loves that.

She said they work for a charity.

I think the tone is perfect for a charity organisation.

"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."

I work with students with SEN needs in a college and yes it does sound like she is dyslexic. Talk to her about the mistakes she is making and tell her that her work is not up to going out because of the spelling mistakes. Ask her how she thinks you could manage it together. Spelling and Grammar check, voice typing. Also look at Access to Work funding for someone who could check what she is writing.

Access to work might be able to help

Spell check?

I agree and wouldn't encourage the idea as well, it would be funny for a personal email but anything that excuses unprofessionalism or suggests dyslexia is some kind of gift grates with me.

I understand some people get through the day with the idea it's some kind of superpower but so few people know much about dyslexia, we all get shoved in the same box. I sometimes write reports for national and global organisations, you can be damned sure it's not going out with any but the most minor mistakes and preferrably none. None of them know I am dyslexic, it wouldn't get me past the door on a contract bid if I did. I know we don't all suffer the same difficulties, but others do not know that and make judgement calls.

The organisation is a small charity, this tone is still unacceptable for a small charity, I've worked for several charities, they need to be seen as professional too. If the team members work is impacting clients then something needs to be discussed and implement support or reshape the role to target her strengths rather than one that focusses on her weaknesses.

dyslexia is a recognised disability which employers need to support. However, it isn’t up to her employer/manager to work out what she needs.
She needs to get evidence that she is dyslexic by getting a diagnostic assessment. That should come with recommendations for the workplace.
She can also ask for a workplace needs assessment which will state what needs to be put in place to support her in her place of work.

I use grammarly