The gift of dyslexia

I was flagged for dyslexia at an early age and was told stories about celebrated people living with dyslexia as a form of comfort. A lot of these individuals worked in Stem, and I believed this was where I would thrive. However, as I started my career in science, dyslexia appeared to be holding me back.

After completing my undergraduate degree in chemistry and spending a year snowboarding in the Alps, I decided I wanted to move into the science sector. With no idea what type of job I wanted, I applied to anything I could find with ‘chemistry’ in the title. After an embarrassing number of rejections, I had a successful interview with a soil testing laboratory. I was told the job was mine as long as I could pass a medical. During the medical, I was asked a series of questions about my physical and mental health. At no point did I think it was relevant to mention I had dyslexia. If I had been asked if I had a specific learning disability, I believe I would have denied it for fear of ‘failing’ the medical and having my job offer withdrawn. I was going to be working with analytical instruments – who cared if I couldn’t spell the names of these instruments?

I soon found that a testing laboratory is a dyslexic person’s nightmare. Every soil batch and test has a letter and number code, and every instrument has a confusing acronym. I struggled not with running the tests but with correctly labelling the soil batches and files. I enjoyed the job and wanted to keep it, so when my monthly review was approaching and I expected my performance to be criticised, I blurted out to a senior member of staff that I had dyslexia. This set a chain of procedures off, which I was unaware of until I got called into my manager’s office. I was met with understanding and compassion, and we left with an easily implemented plan to make the lab a more accessible place for me. Her only issue with the situation was that I had not told anyone sooner. In hindsight, the medical was the perfect opportunity to share my diagnosis and discuss the appropriate accommodations that could be put in place to help me succeed.