Testimonial: Employee, Barclays

I was diagnosed with dyslexia while at senior school in the late 90’s and while within school and further leaving into the world or work I have experienced a number of forms of support to help with my dyslexia from a range of companies. I can say without hesitation that D&A has been by far the best experience in supporting me as an individual with my learning disability.

I found that previous companies I had used to be extremely structured as if they had a set learning objective which was based around what they thought dyslexia sufferers required not my individual need. D&A has been the first one where I felt I had experienced support on an individual basis not just down to my dyslexic quirks but what also worked best in the environment I worked in, my role and within the parameters of the company I work for.

I felt very understood by Tim who has been providing my support and wasn’t aware he also has dyslexia. Knowing that Tim is in the same boat as me acutely made me feel more confident and more relaxed in talking about what I struggle with. I don’t feel like I’m learning how to cope with my dyslexia with the session I have had it feel like I’m learning hints and tips to make working easier.

I have a bad experience with a previous employer around my Dyslexia whereby I was made to feel like the weak link. I didn’t initially come forwarded within Barclays saying I had dyslexia for fear of being misunderstood, but I did find Barclays to have a very inclusive culture and a supportive manager at the time who wanted me to have the tools to be the best I could be. Even with this support I didn’t actively go around telling people I had dyslexia especially if I made errors because of my disability.

D&A changed that.

I’m not great with names and tend to forget them or miss say them. I had a recent experience why I’d been calling someone Leann rather than Leanna and she was irritated by me getting it wrong – maybe she thought I wasn’t paying attention and being rude at not remembering her name – normally I would have just said sorry and moved on but I felt like I had built up confidence to share that the reason I had got it wrong was due to my disability not for any other reason. This immediately changed the situation and mitigated that irritation as she now knew I wasn’t making the mistake intentionally. I wouldn’t have done this before not without the support I have had through D&A. That confidence makes me feel like I have the option to be better understood within my workplace and its changed the way I think about my own disability as actually working for me in my new job role rather than against me.

So I would just like to say thank you.