Skip to main content

Expert Q&A

How can I help an employee who exhibits signs of dyslexia but does not have a diagnosis?

One of our employees appears to have dyslexia, which manifests itself in the inability of this employee to correctly alphabetize and therefore file cases where they belong.

She is not approachable about this topic and has not been diagnosed with LD; however, I would like to be able to assist her in filing alphabetically. Any suggestions or tools to achieve this goal would be appreciated.

Dear Diana,

You should consult court administration regarding any formal action in relation to a perceived disability.

However, there are various strategies that could be suggested to assist the employee with the filing, including providing some form of alphabet grid for her to have available as a reference.

There may also be hand-held computer devices that have the capability to help to organize things in alphabetical order. Although it might involve extra work, you could implement a symbol or number system to correspond to the case names to allow for sorting that isn’t dependent on spelling.

She may benefit from formal evaluation for a learning disability. If you are her supervisor, you would need to handle this in an appropriate manner, with help from the human resources staff.

Back to Top