Constant criticism from Boss

[Dinoswearunderpants]

After so much negative feedback from my Boss, I paid for a private dyslexic assessment and they confirmed I am dyslexic.

I could write 100 things correctly but as soon as I write one thing wrong, my Boss brings it to my attention.

Today's one, I sent an email to him and his Boss and it had a name in the title spelt incorrectly (think Clark instead of Clarke). Internal document, no one other than Boss/his Boss will see it.

He's belittled me before saying I should know basic English/grammar etc. HR are aware and have supported me and I use things such as read aloud to help.

The title of the document was a classic dyslexic moment of reading something so many times, it looks correct.

Other than these (in my mind) trivial mistakes, I am good at my job and receive good feedback from others.

It's just my boss who seems to have an issue. I'm just at my wits end with it. It genuinely feels like bullying.

I'm in two minds whether to speak with HR again. I am not trying to use my dyslexia as an excuse but equally I feel like there should be some give here.

I will do now.

Talk to ACAS and get the best advice on how to handle this.
Create a paper trail with HR about it, specifically your request for the software and their "advice" on how best to handle this issue with your boss, which you cannot help, but is causing you anxiety and distress

Your boss sounds like a complete prick.

Honestly he sadly isn't the best.

Are your colleagues not peed that he never does 1-2-1s or training?

How recently did you get the diagnosis?

Don’t get Grammarly. It’s wrong as often as it’s right.

Just use Word’s spellchecker.

Could you get another member of staff to read over important letters before you send them? It’s very hard to spot errors in your own work!

July 2025.

It's a difficult one. They're younger than me and I think they just think it's normal.

Thanks for the info. So they've refused Grammarly anyway saying it won't be allowed by IT.

It's not so much the spelling but the actual words. I use read aloud which helps me spot issues.

How much do you want to work there? I think sometimes we hold on for too long before making a change. It clearly isn’t a very nice environment, so look for something else rather than waste more time in an unhappy work environment.

Can’t see any alternative options other than raising a concern with HR about manager or just carrying on as you are, being bullied at work.

Is this the right job for you @Dinoswearunderpants.

They have to make adjustments if they can be supported operationally. They should allow you up to 20% extra time and if not they have to demonstrate they can't operationally and legitimately do so.

Have you considered making an Access to Work application? They will pay towards reasonable adjustments.

If your role includes drafting then you need to work on quality. Could templates be better utilised? Is your manager unreasonably pedantic? Could you be redeployed to a different role?

I need to get away from my Manager as he is having such a negative impact on me however I don't think it's as easy as it used to be to get a job. I certainly can not just leave so I will start actively looking for other roles.

How big is your company? “IT sez no” could well be “IT can’t be arsed to support ad hoc software on the standard desktop”. What is their normal process for managing non standard software (if they don’t have one, that is a failing in itself)? If you are flagged under the act (it sounds like you are) then cost is less likely to be an issue.

Ask for the specific reason for its rejection (so that you can take it up with the provider to see if more suitable versions are available). It is not unusual for messages to be mixed between teams and the disability aid aspect is lost, with the rejection coming back due to a policy on data/AI use. Ask for this to be clarified so that if needed an exception can be raised.

What do need training in if you’ve been doing the job for 3 years and as you said can do the job except for spelling?

1:1s I can see wanting, although it sort of depends on the job. I’ve had employees want them and ones that hated them so I’d need more info to give an opinion.

He's belittled me before saying I should know basic English/grammar etc.

Do you have additional examples? Also how often is he having to correct mistakes? What else have you tried to proofread yourself (reading backwards for example)?

Honestly I’m not getting the feeling from your writing here that there is a huge issue (I noticed one mistake that could have been an autocorrect). From your example Clarke vs. Clark looks more like a going to fast error and/or not proofing close enough.

That is what happens only in badly run organisations where HR are useless.

The OP's dyslexia probably qualifies as a disability, so she is likely to be protected by the Equality Act. Her boss is harassing her potentially due to a protected characteristic which would be unlawful. If her employer
tolerate her boss's behaviour they may be in legal trouble. Any decent HR professional will understand the risks he is exposing them to.

I suggest following up with HR, they need to ensure that this dinosaur of a boss is dealt with. Together with following up on the reasonable adjustments to support her condition which they are obliged to provide

If you only got a diagnosis in summer 2025, how did you used to explain mistake pre diagnosis to your boss?

It was never much of an issue before.

So pre diagnosis (July 2025) never made mistakes and so your boss never pulled you up on it?

So what propelled you getting an assessment then?

And you’re saying that you’ve only started making mistakes and your boss pulling you up on it after the diagnosis?

This doesn’t make sense @Dinoswearunderpants

I would send an email to your boss saying just to confirm our discussions and bullet:

• I am diagnosed with dyslexia
• the main consequence for my work is spelling errors
• this is a protected charqcteristic so reasonable adjustments must be made
• you have spoken to me about my spelling on x number of occasions in the past quarter / month etc
• I have asked for a reasonable adjustment of x IT program. This has been refused because ...
• This email is to confirm that I am requesting this formally as a reasonable adjustment under the disability act. (I'd check what the act says here and quote eg the act says that a business must make reasonable adjustments or provide a valid reason why adjustments can't be made)
• this is the best way for my spelling errors to be spotted before my work is submitted.
• please could you re submit the request including the reason and reference to the equality act, if this information wasn't included previously
• if the request is still denied please could you confirm what reasonable adjustments the business could support to help with my spelling. Options include x y z eg someone checking my work for errors

I look forward to working on a solution to improve this aspect of my work which I'd like to reiterate is caused by my disability

Sorry I was having a few mistakes but the level of 'pulling up' was minimal. He was harsh one day and I thought somethings not right here so went down a google rabbit hole and it pointed to dyslexia so I did the assessment.

Was this a private assessment with a professional? Or an online form?

So the boss did criticise pre diagnosis, for a couple of years? And how did you explain it away? Or have the number of mistakes been increasing?

Is disability awareness a bit too "woke" for you? Not to mention any kind of dignity at work policy?

The OP has taken it through HR and listed as disabled under the act. Good luck doing that with an online questionnaire - it would normally require documentation from both the professional doing the assessment and an OH review.