Just been diagnose....

[Louise23]

I am 30 and have been struggling at work for a few year and have been diagnose today with dyslexia. Now I have to learn how to spell it! I reallt dont know how to take in all the information I have been given and feel.alone in some ways. Just wondering how others fekt and how you got on at work

[Hidden]

hello welcome to a great club you have not changed due to having dyslexia you just know why you have spelling and writing reading issues ..

good news your not stupid .. wonderful and smart .. If you want to do collage or uni you will get lots of help and you can scream dysablitly rights in work ... big smiles .. depend on what you need ??

[RATTER15]

I discovered I was Dyslexic last year at 53 years of age. Suddenly all of my life fell into place and so many things had now been explained.

If you are having difficulties at work, talk to your manager or however, and maybe write down your key issues and where and why you may be struggling and hand this info to them.

You now have rights, discuss the problems and the great folk on here will help you no end.

Good luck.

Ian

[RubyLou]

I was diagnosed by my optician when I was in my late 40's. He got me to do a Wilkins reading thingy. I was all over the place with it - never been so embarrassed in my life - lol!

I now wear tinted reading glasses - life is soooo much easier

[JessieKing]

Hi

I realised when my daughter was diagnosed, I read all I could find on dyslexia to help her, then the penny dropped, I wasn't a complete numb scull I was dyslexic also. I find that the jobs I get are generally boring with in weeks and hardly test my intellegence at all, so there has been a lot of them but I am confident I will find my place to fit sometime soon.

[mathewlisett]

my response may sound counter productive in its actions but you may understand why.

theres really no point in telling your boss unless they know what dyslexia is. you could just ask them first off, "hi are you guys informed about dyslexia" if the reply is no. then i ie YOU should read about it yourself, get some support from dyslexia action and maybe get them to send communication to your work so that the right sort of help starts the ball rolling.

im 33, i did a write up as a response and guide to somebody that got in touch with me directly on twitter about their child, that write up is here scribd.com/doc/97539169/Dys.... take your time taking bits in when you can handle it, and even ask a friend to help you through it as it could very well help them to understand what you and many like us go through.

so yeah i did the write up when i was 32, and i was diagnosed during a time when literally nobody knew or acknowledged dyslexia was real back in the mid 80's

Now one of the reasons i said theres no point talking to your boss, was because if neither of you know about the subject you go to them about, the conversation doesn't go anywhere and you may feel deflated and defeated and they may not even know who to contact to gain information about dyslexia. so its always a good idea to have some knowledge about it to hep it along

[christinak]

Hi I am 30 years old. I worked for a company for 10 years and despite my constant inaccurances and F ups i remained in the company. My VERY frustrated employer made a point of listing out my flaws on a daily basis but I remained employed as I designed all their marketing materials to a very high standard. I stayed because I didnt think I would get another job although I never got a pay rise and, looking back, I was very unhappy.

Clearly thoughout this time I constantly asked myself WHY I was like this!??!? I hated myself because noone was there to tell me to see someone or to tell me why I was (in my mind) stupid. I spent most days crying and feeling very alone. I knew it was not normal but I tucked it away in the back of my head and carried on messing up and ignoring the fundamental flaws until eventually I couldnt take it anymore. I bleamed colleagues for being touchy and being very patronising towards me as obviously they were aware of my shady work methods.

I felt like I had to get better. I had to have more qualifications I needed to constantly prove that I could be 'normal' and not stupid. Every year since leaving school I have ALWAYS worked a full time job and two part time courses. I didnt want to be stupid anymore. I spent most nights working late just to read work over and over and OVER agin until it was right but mistakes always came up. I volunteerd myself for redundancy about a year ago and moved away. Closing that part of my life off completely.

Since then I became a Marketing assistant for a pharmaceutical company as a temp (because of head count) shortly after I moved. I loved it! It ws a new start to me. No one knew my flawed past and no one was aware of my stupidity. I was vey well like and came accross very intellegent and a great addition to the team. Not long after the initial training and to my horror flaws stated to be obvious. After a while I discovered I may have dyslexia and being a believer that honesty was the best policy two months ago I explained to my boss that I had dyslexia in an attempt to explain flaws that I could not hide anymore. I regret doing this. I am a temp and therefore have no rights. I have been given two weeks to get better or I will be sacked.

1 in 10 people have dyslexia - You are not alone.

[Louise23]

Thank you.alll for.your comments and feedback. feel so.much better about things and I have a positive view on things.

[winniewimp]

Hi! I too have dyslexia and have known all my life, nearly 50 now, i am slow to type and spell and sing songs in my head constantly to help me spell! Bosses don't see it as a learning disability but more like an excuse for failings and shortcomings.....frustrating grrrr!.

I have a degree, 2 diplomas and can write a mean report on a tight deadline, but i used to have to ask for a bit more time to get the report done, good time management is essential,

Ask for a blue screen cover for your pc or change the settings so that the glare is off, orchange backgrounds to pale yellow, pale blue etc (which colour you read off best) this stops things floating. I like to read off yellow or pale blue and I am better with a white letter on black keyboard.

I ask for the radio to be turned down or moved closer to people who can concentrate and work while it is on.

I photocopy my notes and minutes/agendas onto yellow paper so i could keep up and read things a bit faster and not get left behind in meetings.

Ask for admin support if things are piling up, my admin support was a whizz at typing stuff fast and loved helping me.

Keep things colour coded in your diary and electronic diary as this sections things off and you can quickly see what is a meeting, or a play session or a supervision etc at a glance.

oh and while i am at it this website is trickier to read for us dyxsies because it is black on pale, but i suppose we should be thankful that it is on grey and not white!!!

Just be honest and stand your ground and do say that it is a disability/learning disorder and that you can do the job but it might not be the exact same way as how someone else would do it.

Interestingly enough my ex boss only truly understood my situation when he returned to work after recovering from a stroke, he found some of my tactics and methods of working useful to manage his short term memory loss and he became much more sensitive to it too !

Hope this helps any x <3 x winnie x