Dyslexia Alert Cards
By Aurora Betony
Dyslexia Scotland is piloting the Dyslexia Alert Card shown below

Images used with (marblerestorationco) permission from Dyslexia Scotland
I think it will:
- help dyslexic people to ask for the help they need
- help dyslexic people and others communicate successfully with each other
- raise dyslexia awareness
What does the card say on it?
- that you have dyslexia
- some things you might need help with
- that the person reading it should ask you how to help you
- details of Dyslexia Scotland’s helpline and website.
How I use the card
- 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.
- If I use it when I first start talking to a person then it can help prevent problems developing.
- 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
- I know I can show the card whenever I need. That makes me feel more confident and less stressed about coping with situations.
- It is produced by a registered lasix national charity, so people take it seriously when I show it to them
- If I get flustered, I can just hand it over without having to think or talk
- To communicate both with people I know and people I’ve not met before
- In face-to-face communication as well as over the phone.
How this idea can be used by other disabled people
- I think an alert card is helpful for any hidden disability, because it ‘unhides’ the disability.
- 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
- Dyslexia Scotland’s alert card
- For printing or keeping an electronic copy e.g. on your mobile phone. Free to download: http://www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/become-member
- To buy a card (printed on stiff plastic). £1, while stocks last.Tel. 01786 44 66 50 / email info@dyslexiascotland.org.uk.
- You can give feedback on the card to Katie Carmichael, Employment Adviser at Dyslexia Scotland katie@dyslexiascotland.org.uk / tel. 01786 435 128
- Another alert card
- Developed by the British Dyslexia Association, Dyslexia Action, Widgit Software and the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre
- Free to download: http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/about/projects/youth-offending-teams
- 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
- Dyspraxia Keyring Card (an alert card for dyspraxia)
- May be of interest to some dyslexic people because there is overlap between dyslexia and dyspraxia, and some people have both.
- Available to buy for £2 from stickmancommunications.co.uk and the Dyspraxia Foundation
- 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