Is dyslexia a disability

[Anon9898]

Have a meeting with manager tomorrow about other things but wanted to ask about dyslexia and how it's a learning difficulty not a disability.

All the websites I have looked at day it is considered as a learning disability. I don't think it is. I'm not disabled because of it I just have difficulty doing some things. That doesn't disable me.

I know people will have severe dyslexia and I'm not saying for them it isn't disabling but for me it isn't.

Am I being unreasonable to argue about it at the meeting tomorrow?

so the meeting isn’t about dyslexia but you feel the need to argue about the terminology?

what makes you feel as if it will be an argument?

I would keep tomorrow’s meeting about its purpose and you can talk about terminology in a future meeting.

have you a dyslexia diagnosis?

You’d be unreasonable to argue about it because by definition it is a disability. As it is a lifelong condition and has an impact on a person’s day to day life, it meets the criteria of a disability. As a result of this it is covered by the Equality Act.

You personally may not feel disabled by it, and that is fine, but by law it IS a disability and you cannot argue that.

What would the argument be about? If it’s how you want to describe yourself then fine, just ask your boss to talk to you how you would like to be spoken to. I can’t imagine it’s a constant source of conversation though, (i.e. your boss asking you how tasks could be amended to help with your dyslexia rather than ‘with your disability’).

Legally the Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as a condition that significantly impacts a person's ability to function in daily life and dyslexia meets this criteria. So, in the UK it is classed as a disability.

But, it’s perfectly fair to be addressed how you would like to be addressed.

I can read and spell. I'm not very good at retaining information.

So as far as I know it’s now considered a neurodivergence. As far as ND conditions go, some people see them as a disability but some people don’t. I would have thought that it’s down to personal everyday level of need. Some would consider severe dyslexia disabling, others with milder might consider it just a neurological difference. An actual learning disability would affect more areas too because with dyslexia, it’s not necessarily that the individual has a low IQ, it’s just that it’s harder for the brain to decipher visual symbols, usually in the form of letters and words.

Why do you need to argue about it with your manager? If you don't consider it to be a disability that's nobodies business but your own. I don't consider my autism a disability for me doesn't mean my cousin who is much more affected by autism is wrong for considering it a disability for him. I am certainly not feeling the need to challenge my manager about it and I am not sure why you need to involve yours if the meeting is not about reasonable adjustments.

I agree with @Mrsttcno1
You look very narrowly at the realty of life. Some disabilities are less obvious than others. E.g if a person is partially sighted it might go unnoticed in some situations but not in all.

Why has the meeting be called Op?

It’s a learning difficulty.

The meeting is just a catch up about other things but wanted to discuss the policy as it says disability but I don't view myself as disabled and just wanted to ask he companies viewpoint on it

You can have a health condition/ learning difference without having a disability.

Whether or not it causes you to be disabled is subjective and about whether you can do things that you need to do in your life.

For example you might have arthritis but function perfectly normally, do everything you want to do and not be disabled.

Or you might have arthritis and be unable to walk, or have severe pain in your daily life, and in that case you might class yourself as disabled.

"Disability" isn't linked to a specific health condition. It's about functioning in your life and what you can/ can't do.

But if causing you no problems at work whatsoever… why bother?

Technically it is a disability

as dyslexia is a lifelong condition and has a significant impact on a person's day-to-day life, it meets the criteria of a disability and is covered by The Equality Act 2010.

I would think not being able to retain information would class as a significant impact

You may not personally feel it is a disability for you, however it's not worth arguing over and you would be entitled to reasonable adjustments from it at work.

I don't personally find my asthma a disability but for the purposes of work I got reasonable adjustments of turning the aromatherapy diffusers off on days I'm there.

You have to speak in the language of the workplace so disability it is.

Why do you need to "argue" with your manager about this? If you don't consider yourself disabled then it's a non issue, surely.

It’s written this way in the policy as that’s what’s the law states. You’re welcome to view it as you would like, but companies have to adhere to the law.

Learning disability is a US term that covers dyslexia. In the UK this is a no no - learning disability hear means an intellectual impairment, and instead dyslexia is a learning difficulty ie it makes learning more difficult but does not affect intelligence. All of this is separate from whether it is a disability in law. That is a legal test. If you google ECHR or ACAS and disability you will see the test, but it does not depend on having X condition, but how you are affected. Some individuals with dyslexia will meet the criteria of disability; others will not. Only a Judge can decide. Most employers err on the side of caution and consider dyslexia to be a disability - if your manager is doing this they are following HR advice (and good HR advice). I am also dyslexic and don't consider my mild dyslexic to be a disability (legally, or generally, although I am disabled for other reasons), but I would not object to my employer formally considering it as such - this can never disadvantage you.

You already know the company's view on this as it is reflected in the policy. If you don't consider yourself disabled, the policy does not apply to you. End of conversation.
Unless you want them to change the policy. Why? Other people for whom it is disabling are protected by having this policy. I am still really not sure why you need to discuss it at all.

@elderflowerspritzer I don't want to argue with her I just want to ask why it's always classed as a disability for everyone in our workplace and not as a difficulty

@MagentaRocks @Grepes This is not the case. Whether it is a disability depends on the particular circumstances of the individual. Dyslexia is very capable of being a disability, but it is not the case that everyone with it would meet the threshold (the same is true of most conditions).

i imagine he will be somewhat perplexed Op

If…. he hasn’t noticed any issues, you don’t feel that it has remotely impacted your work, you know the companies policy

and yet you use this catch up meeting to enquire about the company’s “view point” on it

the policy is their viewpoint 🫤

Your employer is being generous here. Far better than to always challenge this, which they would be entitled to. Why not just accept that, which as a pp said, will help should you ever want any reasonable adjustments etc.

My comment was straight from the British dyslexia association. As I said in my post, if it means that the op cannot retain information surely that has an impact on day to day life.

Because it is a lifelong condition which can cause significant impairment of function and therefore is recognised as disability under the equality act.