Dyslexia Alert Cards

By Aurora Betony

Dyslexia Scotland is piloting the Dyslexia Alert Card shown below

I think it will:

1. help dyslexic people to ask for the help they need
2. help dyslexic people and others communicate successfully with each other
3. raise dyslexia awareness

What does the card say on it?

1. that you have dyslexia
2. some things you might need help with
3. that the person reading it should ask you how to help you
4. details of Dyslexia Scotland’s helpline and website.

How I use the card

1. The card is the size of a credit card so I carry it around with me wherever I go. Whenever I am in a situation where I think it will help the person I am talking to, I take the card out and show it to them.
2. If I use it when I first start talking to a person then it can help prevent problems developing.
3. It’s difficult to predict whether I’ll need to show it or not. If I don’t think I’ll need it, I don’t show it at the outset. But then if problems come up, I use it.

How the card helps me

1. I know I can show the card whenever I need. That makes me feel more confident and less stressed about coping with situations.
2. It is produced by a registered lasix national charity, so people take it seriously when I show it to them
3. If I get flustered, I can just hand it over without having to think or talk
4. To communicate both with people I know and people I’ve not met before
5. In face-to-face communication as well as over the phone.

How this idea can be used by other disabled people

1. I think an alert card is helpful for any hidden disability, because it ‘unhides’ the disability.
2. It’s also an idea that any disability group or individual can adopt if they don’t already have their own equivalent.

Where you can find a Dyslexia Alert Card

1. Dyslexia Scotland’s alert card
   1. For printing or keeping an electronic copy e.g. on your mobile phone. Free to download: http://www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/become-member
   2. To buy a card (printed on stiff plastic). £1, while stocks last.Tel. 01786 44 66 50 / email info@dyslexiascotland.org.uk.
   3. You can give feedback on the card to Katie Carmichael, Employment Adviser at Dyslexia Scotland katie@dyslexiascotland.org.uk / tel. 01786 435 128
2. Another alert card
   1. Developed by the British Dyslexia Association, Dyslexia Action, Widgit Software and the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre
   2. Free to download: http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/about/projects/youth-offending-teams
   3. Here is what the last page of it looks like:

Widgit Symbols (c) Widgit Software 2002-2016 www.widgit.com

Image used with permission from the British Dyslexia Association, Widgit Software, Dyslexia Action, and the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre

1. Dyspraxia Keyring Card (an alert card for dyspraxia)
   1. May be of interest to some dyslexic people because there is overlap between dyslexia and dyspraxia, and some people have both.
   2. Available to buy for £2 from stickmancommunications.co.uk and the Dyspraxia Foundation
   3. One side is blank for you Cytotec to add your individual needs and things that might help you. Here is what the other side looks like:

Image used with permission from Hannah Ensor