Dyslexia is a neurological difference which affects the way people process information, so dyslexic people may have problems processing and remembering information that they see and hear.   Dyslexia primarily affects the skills involved in reading and spelling accurately and fluently, and can also have an impact on other areas, such as organisational abilities.  There is more than one kind of dyslexia, it occurs across the range of intellectual abilities and is best thought of as a continuum. It presents differently in different people and can vary from mild to severe. Dyslexia can often run in families, with some people born with it and others developing it later in life, sometimes as a result of damage to the brain. People with dyslexia can find things such as phonological awareness (recognising and working with sounds in spoken language), verbal memory and verbal processing speed more difficult. Around one in ten people have a form of dyslexia.

Strengths and Talents	Other traits:	Misconceptions:
Being especially approachable, compassionate, understanding, empathetic to what’s going on for others and taking time to understand different points of view	Spell or read words incorrectly, or don’t identify when something has been autocorrected to a different word	You have to be younger to have dyslexia
Relating well to other people and fostering strong relationships	Sometimes struggle to think of the right words to say or write to express themselves	Why are you unable to understand this concept? It's really simple, look
Taking more time and being much more thorough at reading or writing notes or documents, often spotting things that others haven’t	Find it difficult to take in lots of instructions without breaking it down	You can’t spell
Thinking about things differently and problem solving, being able to see the bigger picture	Lack confidence in their abilities, especially anything perceived to be academic	Just because we have difficulty with words and directions - it does not mean we are stupid, slow or comical
Being able to visualise something and articulate it verbally in a way that’s understood, helping people engage with ideas or concepts	May have poor organisational skills e.g. prioritising tasks, meeting deadlines
Being organised and creating order
Creativity, innovation and being hands-on, working flexibly and adaptably