Guidance On Understanding Dyslexia - Section 5: Telling other people

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Section 5: Telling other people

Other people will often have the same questions you had or have about dyslexia. They may know very little about it.

Please click on one of the following links, or scroll down this page to find the relevant paragraph.

Tutors

You will need to be able to communicate about your difficulties. Even if you informed your institution that you are dyslexic on your application form you will need to speak to someone about what your support needs are. These are also likely to change as you progress through your course. It is very important to think about informing people as more than a 'one off' event.

It is helpful to think in terms of creating and maintaining a dialogue between yourself and the people that can help you, particularly your course tutors. A dialogue will help to ensure that you are treated as a person not a label (see also: Section 11: Information and resources and Ways that other people can help).

These are some ideas about doing this:

Make an appointment in advance and tell your tutor what you want to talk about so that they can be prepared.
Ask your Disability Co-ordinator or Dyslexia Co-ordinator to meet with you and your tutor. This can be especially helpful if you are just learning about dyslexia too.
Tell your tutor what you are finding difficult in the context of your course. This is quite different from just announcing that you are dyslexic.
If possible have some ideas about what would help you, how your tutor may be able to help.
Ask for help when you need it - find out what you can reasonably expect.
Use your tutorials to keep your tutor informed about how things are going.

Parents, partners and family

If you were assessed before entering Higher Education your family will know that you are dyslexic and know what this means for you. In this situation they are usually a source of strength and support when you need some encouragement or someone to talk to!

If you have been assessed whilst at college or university it might be just as much a surprise to your family as it has been to you. You will all need time to think about the issues and discuss them.

Things to consider:

Your parents may feel responsible for not having 'spotted' your dyslexia at an earlier age - you must all remind yourselves that it can often be quite difficult to identify dyslexia in individuals whose hard work at school often 'covers up' their difficulties.
You and your family may feel anger towards your school for not having recognised that, although you may have been doing well, you were having to work harder to compensate for your dyslexia - there is no easy way to deal with this feeling. However, talking with each other about how you feel is very important.
Dyslexia is currently thought of as being genetic in origin - this does not mean that one or both of your parents will be dyslexic as well, but it is likely. You may also have brothers and sisters who might be dyslexic. You must handle this idea with care - if you have only just found out about your dyslexia, at such a late stage in your education, consider how it will affect others.
You may want to use some or all of the information about dyslexia on this site to help your family understand what it means.
Parents sometimes need to talk with someone about what your assessment means. They may have concerns or fears about you. You might want to give your permission for the educational psychologist who did your assessment or your Disability Co-ordinator to talk with them.

Friends

You will of course want to talk to your close friends about being dyslexic. For most of us this will be a positive experience. Friends are people we can trust and rely upon. However, some 'friends' will find it hard to understand, for all kinds of reasons which may not be obvious to you at the time.

You may find that some people you know will think that you are using dyslexia as an excuse, whether you are doing well on your course or not. Others may be understanding, but will annoy you with jokes about being dyslexic and other people might over-react as if you have told them you have a "terrible illness"! Most of these reactions are based on ignorance. Sometimes, however, a friend might have a strong reaction because they might well have suspected that they themselves are dyslexic, but have never had the courage or opportunity to find out.

Why you might keep the findings of your report confidential

There are many issues about the disclosure of personal information which go beyond telling other people that you are dyslexic. Even though you might tell some people that you are dyslexic, you may not want to let them read your report. You will have taken time to understand it, whereas they may find that it confuses the issue for them.

There might be situations where it is beneficial for you not to disclose yourself as ] being a dyslexic person. This should not be the case when you are telling people who should be able to advise you and offer support. However, it is important that you find out if the wider disclosure of your dyslexia could be a barrier to you achieving your professional aims in the subject area in which you are studying. Talk this over with your Disability Co-ordinator or Careers Adviser.

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