Employers Guide - Dyspraxia Foundation

Dyspraxia Foundation Guide For Employers
Case Study: Joseph
Joseph was a trained tool maker. He had
developed his skills over a formal
apprenticeship and was proud of his
experience. However as the industry declined
with more and more manufacture being
shipped offshore, Joe was made redundant.
He could not find another job that matched
his skills but he did however work for a local
charity with young children on a voluntary
basis. When a paid job became vacant, Joe
applied for it and was successful. It was at a
much lower salary than he had received in
his last job, but he enjoyed working with the
youngsters. He got on with most of them, but
found some to be arrogant and because of
their inexperience, quite scathing about Joe’s
role in a ‘dead end job’. The principals of the
charity treated Joe in contrasting ways, some
as an equal, others took a superior role.
It came to a head when Joe’s reading and
writing problems became public. He had
been sent a note regarding rearranging an
event and he hadn’t taken any notice. Joe
arrived with a minibus full of young people to
an event that did not exist – all because he
had not read the note.
Some of the charity board wanted to dismiss
Joe, others could see that he had a positive
influence on many of the young people and
were keener to give him a second chance.
Joe was aware of his difficulties, but could not
see a way through them. He began taking
the paperwork home with him and spending
hours working at it. His efforts were criticised,
but no one knew how long he had taken to
complete what he had done.
Overnight, Joe became sick. His doctor was
called and Joe was off work for two months.
He couldn’t face going back to work and at
the same time couldn’t face staying away as
his whole life was there.
Joe was placed on a recovery programme
with a therapist and he also went onto a
specialist dyslexia spelling and reading
programme. It took a long time, but his self
esteem grew enough to get him back to work,
initially part time.
The biggest difference was the comments
made by the committee members who
had covered for his absence. They made
comments such as, “We didn’t realise how
much you did”. Joe was respected for what
he could do, not just criticised for what he
couldn’t do.
Produced by Key 4 Learning Ltd