Scotland's fab Baby Box

 

Hello every one, hope you are all fab.

I am so proud of Scotland for many reasons. Here is one reason why. Scotland's free to all mum's Baby box: 

Scotland's baby box

What do you think about this fab baby box?

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

Why it makes business sense to be dyslexia and disability friendly

 

Hi blog readers hope you are all well

Well every business in the county is well aware that budgets are tight for all businesses. But every business benefits from an inclusive, healthy and motivated staff.

Healthy and happy staff are more productive, less likely to take time off due to illness and stress and be far more motivated. 

A business that can also serve its dyslexic / disabled / neuro diverse customers more effectively by being dyslexia and disability friendly makes sound business sense.

Remember one happy and satisfied disabled or dyslexic customer, indeed any customer will tell their friends and give positive feedback on social media and in turn will come and buy from your business and / use your services. Every business in the country benefits from returning customers. 

Whilst I do not see dyslexia as a disability it is recognised as a disability under the disability discrimination act. Employers are required under this legislation to support disable and dyslexic staff by making reasonable adjustments.

There is support available for employers to support dyslexic / disabled staff through the government Access to Work scheme. They can provide funds to buy assistive tech software if it required for dyslexic and disabled staff. Last time I worked with Access to Work they were able to provide 90% of the costs towards equipment for dyslexic / disabled staff.

Businesses, training organisations and charities have to remember that 20% of the uk population is disabled, around 10% are dyslexic. Meeting their needs effecitvely can increase business turnover and enhance corporate image and create a more productive workforce. So it makes sound business sense to be dyslexia / disablity friendly.

Disability and dyslexia friendly solutions can benefit non dyslexic staff. Speech to text software is a far more effective and efficient way to input text into a computer.

There are also many ways to enable dyslexic and disabled staff to use the computer more effecivley.  For example many dyslexics can benefit from using different colour background colours on computers.  This could also help non dyslxic staff avoid eyestrain. This is a simple and free solution and there are many others.

Dyslexia Pathways CIC run regular dyslexia awareness training sessions which can be run for whole organisations or in groups with people from other organisations. This is probably the first step in raising awarness of dyslexia.

Then its about providing a safe environment where staff can discuss any dyslexia / disability disclose they are dyslexic / disabled. Maybe have a named person in HR where people feel able and comfortable to disclose.

I know it is not easy for small organisation to do this but the benefits from supporting disabled and dyslexic staff far outweigh any possible perceived negatives.

http://www.uniquedyslexic.com/

http://www.dyslexiapathways.com/

Many thanks for taking the time to read my blog

#PeaceLoveGroovyness from me

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

Working on my allotment and garden lol.

 

Allotment from last year.

Hello everyone, 

Bit of a change from my usual dyslexia posts. My allotment is my place to go to relax, to get away from my dyslexia work, to clear my head. Good for my mental health. I think its important for all dyslexics and get involved in an activity to help with our mental health and develop our confidence and self-esteem.

Slowly getting back into visiting my allotment again. No excuse really, I have been procrastinating a lot. Then there has been my dyslexia work keeping me busy. Also the weather, rain, rain and more rain up until about a month ago.

The allotment is hmmm overgrown, just a tad lol, Well, I saw Tarzan swinging from weed to weed last week lol. My allotment is divided into 4 smaller plots. I cleared one plot of weeds got a couple rows or potatoes in yesterday. I have started the second plot couple days ago. Going to put in cauliflower, brussels, swede there etc.

Next will be clearing the other side of the allotment. Not sure what I will put there. Maybe onions and garlic.

Will put a photos up tomorrow.

Oops, forgot to mention front and back gardens lol. Growing a pear and plum tree there, both have fruit on them. Have potatoes growing in a couple of sacks and finally, 3 tomato plants with fruit on them.

#PeaceLoveGroovyness to you all.

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

Societal barriers to employment for dyslexic and neuro diverse communities

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing away out there,

 Research by the Westminster Achievability Commission 2017 WAC, 

“Many neuro divergent people, this includes dyslexics, are ready and willing to work but find themselves faced with insurmountable barriers, WAC 2017.

A few of the key findings from the report:

·       There is a lack of awareness of what we can do

·       Disclosure can often lead to bullying and discrimination in the         work place

·       Government measures including Access to Work are inadequate

·       The Equalities Act is being implemented inadequately

Here are a couple questions for you:

1  What barriers to work have you experienced? 

2  What support have you had access to?

Thanks for visiting my blog

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

The dreaded big red cross for fail

 

Years ago I had an idea for a Facebook page. It was going to be for cynical humour.. I invented the character called Cynic the Hedgehog for the page. Picture by my good friend Kathy Thompson'

Hello all, hope life is treating you all well

When I was at school, it was all about showing my working it out on paper. My working out? sheesh. I could do equations and algebra in my head, but ask me to put it down on paper it became a big mess. Teacher would take one look at the mess I made on the page and give me the BIG RED F for fail. 

I stopped going to school 14. When I did my Access to Learning Certificate many years later. I was able to use a computer keyboard, it was a revelation. I passed the certificate, including math GCSE with flying colours. This is one of the reasons I became a dyslexia and inclusion specialist.

Do you have any memories of school you would like to share on my blog? Just e mail me at steve_mccue@hotmail.com

#PeaceLoveGrooveyness to you all

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue

Why the social model of dyslexia?

My summer office

Hello there all,

Dr Ross Cooper 2006 wrote, “We challenge the deficit models of dyslexia in favour of a social model that maintains that we are not ‘disabled’ by our dyslexia, but by the expectations of the world we live in.  There is nothing ‘wrong’ with being dyslexic per se". 

We would argue that dyslexia is an experience that arises out of natural human diversity on the one hand and a world on the other where the early learning of literacy, and good personal organisation and working memory is mistakenly used as a marker of ‘intelligence’. The problem here is seeing difference incorrectly as ‘deficit’.

Put in practical terms, for example, it is disabling to expect that everyone:

• thinks in the same way as each other, when dyslexic people are more likely to think visually than verbally (or laterally than logically, or intuitively than deductively….)
• learns to read in the same way; reading is about accessing meaning, the rest is merely strategy and there is always more than one way to learn anything.
• makes sense of information in the same way (they don’t, which is why multi-sensory information is easier for everyone to understand).
• can take in multiple instructions.
• can learn to take notes while trying to listen.”

Ta for reading:

Steve #UniqueDyslexic McCue