Dyslexia adjustments

[WatersByTheSea]

Wonder if anyone can help me. I've had a dyslexia diagnosis for many years but never declared it at work.

A situation where I effectively "failed" my review has meant my manager forced/asked me to declare it as it would mean "reasonable adjustments would be made". Fine. But now everyone one from occupational health to HR to my manager keeps asking me what needs to be put in place to improve my performance.

Frankly the reason my dyslexia symptoms have gotten so bad is that I'm very anxious at work due to some bullying behaviour that I can't prove! I can't declare my stress and anxiety and now I need to come up with "adjustments" for HR to look over.

I have no idea what to say to them. Anyone out there dyslexic and their work has made reasonable adjustment for them? Or any advice at what to say at this bloody meeting would be very appreciated.

You need to address the bullying issue. From what you say, you have a dyslexia diagnosis but this hasn't actually impacted on your work per se; it's the bullying which is the primary problem and causing you or not be as effective as you need to be. It's pointless casting around for possible adjustments that could be made for dyslexia because the core problem will remain. You have an opportunity here to raise the issue with your employer and it's only fair to them to do so

Thanks @Babbitywabbit but it's not possible to address it. It's a situation and that comes and goes and the person who I feel is detrimental is a senior manager who has just used the performance review to get rid of someone who he was threatened by. The same is happening to me.

HR have already dismissed the bullying claims and there is really nothing I can do. I'm using this process with the dyslexia effectiveness meeting to try and cover myself a bit for when I'm told I'm not performing.

I am trying to leave but in the meantime I need to engage with this process so am looking for ways to do that.

If the stress makes your dyslexia worse, there may still be adjustments that could be made to help you manage the dyslexia symptoms so there is less impact on your performance. Contact OH and ask them what kind of support they can offer.

It really depends what issues the dyslexia causes. I have a different type of diary allowing me to do my time management in a particular way that works, I have someone check letters/ press releases etc. for words missing etc. Really without knowing how it impacts your work it is impossible to make suggestions.

I'm using this process with the dyslexia effectiveness meeting to try and cover myself a bit for when I'm told I'm not performing

It's horrible to feel so stressed that you make errrors.

Do you really believe your dyslexic is the root case - as it sounds like you've brought it into this situation very late in the day to expect them to have been aware of your challenge?

I would think carefully about using it as a reason, unless you can offer specific suggestions about how they can support you - which could include giving you a bit more time to proofread your work or getting support from a trusted colleague.

Be careful the manager doesnt try to tie you up in knots about it.

Can you give some examples of how the stress, specifically affects your work?

I feel quite childish saying this but he scares me. He's said some horrible things and now when he emails me/ I need to send him my work work I get upset and my heart beats too fast.

My direct line manager has started this process because she knew I was about to fail my review. I think she's trying to help me but it's hard as I'm not meeting anyone's expectations which upsets me as I care about my work and care about doing well. I struggle with failure and rejection and have CBT for it but it's not a magic pill. The more I'm clearly not doing well the more upset I get and then the more mistakes I make.

So clearly it's the bullying which is the issue. From what you say, this bully would have a detrimental effect on any employee, and indeed would still make you feel incompetent regardless of the dyslexia.

I think you're in danger of looking as though you are pulling out the dyslexia card and casting around for ideas but the root problem will still remain. This could backfire on you if the company seem to be listening to you, making some adjustments and
Then you are still unable to work effectively because of bullying

Yes @Babbitywabbit I fear that is how it could look which is why I'm trying my best to engage with this process. But I didn't start this process and there's no way to stop now even if I wished to.

My preference is to leave for a new role but as you can imagine my confidence isn't great right now. I keep being turned down for interviews which isn't helping.

Im thinking of quitting regardless of a new job as you are right it's the atmosphere isn't conducive to me being productive. Other members of the team don't mind him/the tension but it's been affecting me for over a year.

Have you managers been clear with you where you need to improve, e.g. A performance improvement plan, and have you got clearly defined role objectives. Sometimes having a clear action plan to focus on and to be able to measure improvements can be helpful.

It sounds like your line manager wants to help you get back on track, so take all the help and guidance you can from them.

Sorry you're going through a tough time atm. Remember nobody is perfect, try not to be too hard on yourself. CBT is quite helpful but I absolutely agree, it isn't a magic wand!

People will always say that X person "isn't bad, I get on with them fine" when they aren't personally affected by the bullying.

In fact, to some people it's their badge of honour that somehow they must be "speshul" because the bully isn't giving them shit. Um no, they are just turning their attention onto some other poor person!

Just a thought, could they offer you an alternative position internally?

It really grates on me that a bully will be in the wrong but they get to keep their job, and the poor person being bullied has to sacrifice their livelihood and job security.

If possible please think carefully about leaving, stick around, you don't deserve to be treated like that!

Is there a local dyslexia support group? They could suggest ideas for practical support. If your dyslexia is recognised and recorded, it should give you more protection because of equalities legislation.
My DP is dyslexic. Some of the steps/measures he implemented were : use of text-to-speech software; services of a scribe; extended deadlines; more frequent screen/concentration breaks.

Thanks @daisychain01. Seeing what happened to my colleague means I know what would happen. Unfortunately no other internal roles as my team is pretty specialised.

My HR meeting went ok, so suggestions were made and I need to trial out a few things like text to voice softwares. Any recommendations of good ones?

Great! Good that you have turned things around for yourself .

www.capterra.com/speech-recognition-software/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&users=&sort_options=Highest+Rated

Smart Action voice to text, it's cloud based and Artificial Intelligence - so you will need to take time to "train" it to recognise whoever will use it. I hope they give you other aspects support not just the software though!