What helps people with dyslexia to learn and work?

Earlier this year we asked people with dyslexia about support and adjustments that help them in education and work. Their responses explained what helps with difficulties in reading, memory, processing information, concentrating, spelling and other issues. Here’s what we learned.

Key insights

Most people said they had greatest difficulty with spelling, memory and processing information – so that’s where they typically looked for support.
Lots of respondents have overlapping difficulties, so feel you need all-round support or adjustments, not necessarily for one challenge or another.
Personalised adjustments tailored to individual needs make the biggest difference.
The right ‘tool’ for the job isn’t always a practical tool – it can mean kindness, support, listening and helpful people.

Extra time

Lots of people said that having a bit more time for these things really helps:

reading documents
completing a task
sitting exams
learning new things
responding to questions.

Information presented visually

With memory as one of the biggest challenges, lots of people said that these are helpful for recalling, organising, understanding and visualising information:

checklists
flowcharts
visual timetables
marker boards.

Assistive technology

Lots of people find tech essential for reading, writing and organisation, especially:

speech-to-text and text-to-speech
spell checking software
digital note-taking apps
voice recording rather than written notes
electronic diaries with reminders and alerts.

Clear communication

Lots of people said that clear, simple communication lowers anxiety. Things that help include:

short sentences in plain English
a clear brief for a project
written and verbal instructions
priority lists
bullet points, not paragraphs.

Chunking

Large amounts of any information can feel overwhelming. Lots of people said they need it broken down into smaller chunks. For example:

one instruction at a time, or in a clear step-by-step outline
documents chunked into sections.

What else helps?

A common theme that emerged was kindness and understanding – often, the best tool for the job is a supportive mentor, manager or teacher who believes in you and shows support