Dyslexia Scotland – Empowering people with dyslexia to reach their full potential

Dyslexia Scotland is a national charity whose aim is to help children and adults with dyslexia reach their full potential. 1 in 10 people in Scotland is dyslexic. Most assume that dyslexia is just about reading, writing and spelling but it can also affect things such as organisation, following instructions and short term memory difficulties. As well as the difficulties dyslexia can present, we also focus on the positives of dyslexia such as creativity, out of the box thinking and strong problem solving skills.

We do this through our network of volunteer led branches and Adult Networks, Education conference for teachers, tailored training for workplaces and providing information and advice through our Helpline which anyone can contact: 0344 800 84 84. Often, what helps people with dyslexia can be beneficial to a wider group. This applies in classrooms where use of coloured paper or overlays on screen, clear text font and thoughtful layout of a document can help not just those with dyslexia.  One of the simplest things that can help is not using black text on a white background as this can make it difficult for people with visual stress to read.  Dyslexia Scotland uses buff coloured paper and blue text on all of our publications. Assistive technology has made a huge positive benefit towards making information more accessible. There are myriad free/low cost apps and programmes that can easily convert text to speech, speech to text and help people find the right spelling word.

Identification of dyslexia has improved hugely and many children are now identified early in school and the appropriate support is put in place, allowing them to build on their strengths to overcome some of the things they find difficult.

For adults, ‘disclosing’ dyslexia in the workplace can be a fraught experience as some are worried about prejudice that still exists among some employers. Our aim is to explain to employers that their dyslexic employees can often be among some of the most creative members of the team who are a huge asset and simply putting some simple small adjustments to the workplace can make the world of difference. Find out more: www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk