Dyslexia – a personal view from a solicitor
The purpose of this article is attempt to give the reader the concept of what Dyslexia means to the sufferer and the way it impacts on the job of a solicitor.
To put this into perspective how would you the reader explain to another human being what it is feels like to be burnt? For it is only from the experience of suffering a burn that one knows. You can now imagine the difficulty describing in a meaningful way what it is like to be disabled. To assist the reader there follows a simple exercise to demonstrate the fallibility of the human brain.
The next sentence contains a certain number of the letter “f”. Read the sentence and count the number of times the letter “f” appears. (The answer appears later in this article marked “The Answer”).
Frank walked into a shop and asked the shop assistant for a small, brown
loaf and a packet of butter. He stood there trying to remember what he should buy next and then realised when he lifted a jar of jam off the counter.
Now go to “The Answer” at the bottom of the article…
This example is not an optical illusion or a conjurer’s trick but a straightforward English sentence, yet parts remained unrecognised. Please look again at “The Answer” Did you notice that word “the” has been repeated?.
Whilst the not noticing the letter “f” in “of”; or the fact that the word “the” has been repeated will cause no consequences on the context of the sentence it is a different matter for persons with Dyslexia. The best way to describe the effects is by using the non-medical name for Dyslexia which is “word blindness”. Now imagine what it must be like to cope where the brain cannot process all the data read and whole sections are missed.
Unfortunately Dyslexia is not just restricted to word blindness but the disability produces a range of impairments on the sufferer from time organisational difficulties to short term memory problems and learning to cope with these is itself a Battle Royal.
It must be pointed out that being dyslexic does not mean that a person has a diminished or inferior intelligence; far from it for a person to cope with dyslexia and be successful they have to have an above average IQ.
For further information on Dyslexia please look on the following web sites, there are also many others that deal with Dyslexia:
http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk
There is an article by Dr Rob Hicks on BBC Health
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/dyslexia1.shtml
The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) has produced a book for employers to assist them in dealing with employees who suffer from dyslexia.
http://www.thebdashop.org.uk/
A solicitor may have around 160-400 live files creating an environment of great pressure. Any mechanical engineer will verify that a fault when put under strain will exacerbate the fault possibly causing the fault to fail. It is contended that a mental fault under stress will suffer the same result.
History has shown that these disabilities can be overcome with patience, training and IT. However, how many solicitors’ practices have purchased the book issued by the British Dyslexia Association about dyslexia in the workplace, let alone modified their working practices to accommodate?
The Law Society has an obligation under European Law to be pro-active towards people suffering from disabilities and provide a “level playing field”. When the Law Society conducts audits on member firms, do they incorporate a section for staff disability awareness in their report? Is it not time for the Law Society to take the lead and amend their rules?
The human brain, as demonstrated, is not infallible at the best of times yet a disabled person has to cope with impairment when finding meaningful employment as a solicitor.
The Answer
Did you manage to count 6 then look again there are in fact 8. For some reason the the brain ignores the “f” in “of”.
Anonymous