Dyslexia & possible victimisation :(

piglet25

My daughter started her first job last week in the hotel industry as a waitress. She has quite severe dyslexia and this was explained to them at the interview and the big manager said they would do all they could to support her.

Tonight she has had a meeting with the restaurant manager who asked her if she could read the till ( electronic ordering system) and she said she could read some of it but not all, and the woman wrote down that my daughter is 96% dyslexic, told her she would have another meeting with her in two weeks to see if the dyslexia had got resolved and referred her to the medical team, not OH - medical.

My daughter explained that its not going to resolve as she has had it for 17 years and it isn't a medical condition, to be honest my daughter is quite upset by the sheer lack of understanding and I am just gob smacked. Its seems highly unprofessional and ignorant of dyslexia, which is quite a common condition and I am trying to work out the best way she should approach this.

There have been other issues with the other younger staff too, which the manager has been made aware of ( comments, victimisation etc ) but has told my daughter to ignore, rather than speak to the other staff - apparently they are well known for treating new people this way and the turn over of newcomers is quite high, and a fellow waitress chucked her a menu and told her to read it when she asked her a question ( knowing about her dyslexia).

This is a massive company and I am amazed at the managers attitude towards her disability, any advice on the best approach for my daughter?

CFC

How do you think the company could reasonably support her? (key word is 'reasonably')

piglet25

She asked for a copy of the menu when she started so she could learn the dishes and is still waiting, she has asked for a notepad to write them down and they said they have run out. i think the cheapest way for them to support her would be for her to write her orders down and someone else to input them into the till, otherwise they could spend some time actually helping her to use the till.
The manager is obviously ignorant of the condition to state that she will see if its resolved in two weeks time, and to refer her to the medical team as if she can get some sort of medication to help her. Occupational health would have been slightly better.
This company employs thousands of people all over the country and I think the chances of them never having dealt with dyslexia before are quite remote.

Annisele

I suspect her best approach is to cooperate with the medical team. I appreciate dyslexia isn't a medical condition - but the medical team will know that, and (despite not being OH) might be able to advise something sensible.

As to the notebook and the copy of the menu, is it possible for your daughter to be a little more proactive - for example, could she buy a notebook herself? Is there another way to get a copy of the menu - download from the internet, borrow one to copy, smartphone photograph of the menu outside on the wall?

She probably knows about the British Dyslexia Assocation already, but they might be able to suggest reasonable adjustments she could put to her employer.

<Mind still boggling over the idea of dyslexia resolving itself in a fortnight...>

piglet25

She has a copy of the menu downloaded, and she has no problems buying a notebook, the issue is that they aren't letting her take any orders and she has spent all her week drying dishes, whereas the other people who started the same time as her have all been taught the till and are taking orders and receiving tips. Its seems that she is being treated differently to them, through either ignorance or on purpose.
Even the educational specialists cant put a percentage on dyslexia after a few minutes, so I am wondering how this manager has the ability to do so? 96% unable to read would make her virtually illiterate, and she is certainly not that.

ILW

Possibly waiting is not for her.

piglet25

ILW would you like to suggest alternatives which don't have any reading involved? Which have vacancies and are willing to even give her an interview, as this is the first company to interview her in nearly two years of applying for jobs, or maybe some constructive advice would have been helpful? Such as solutions to the problems she is facing.
Maybe she should give up and spend her days on the dole instead of making an effort.

Rottensocks

Hi there;

Managers can't be medical experts as well, and so it is possible that during a working life you'll have to explain the ins and outs of a condistion to an employer (I know I have!).......But in your daughters case, they have referred her to medical dept - which means they are taking her condition seriously, or at least are making moves in the right direction.
You say the manager expects the issue to be "resolved" in 2 weeks: is it possible that what this means is not that your daughters' dyslexia will have resolved in 2 weeks, but that the liaison with medical dept will have produced some kind of plan so that she and the company can move forward together?

Its not ideal, but please bear in mind that catering and hotel industries are notorious for high throughput of staff, long/unsociable working hours, and poor pay & conditions.... This doesn't excuse any poor treatment, but it is likely you will encounter this in many catering environments. Consider also that a Manager at a chain restaurant is *very* unlikely to be a business graduate on a super wage: they are likely to have worked their way up within the same company, on a low ish wage themselves, and therefore often their only outlook on things like disability etc will be based on the procedural handbook of the company itself.

I notice in your later replies you say that your daughter has been applying for jobs for two years unsuccessfully? If that's true, I wonder if the best approach would be skilling her up in terms of CV and interview technique, as dyslexia in itself shouldn't be putting employers off to this degree... It is possible she needs to "market" herself in a different way? What skills/qualifications does she have, and what area would she like to work in??

piglet25

Thank you for the reply. She has applied for all types of jobs, and she has no qualifications as she attended a special school due to her dyslexia and they don't sit them, I think its a mix of those two issues which has stopped her from gaining interviews.
The two weeks the manager refered to is the resolution of her dyslexia, I was amazed at this but have to consider that the manager may not have dealt with the condition before so is at least doing something, even if its not the right route. The manager will have worked her way up as they recruit senior staff internally, but they aren't a chain in the usual sense of the phrase.
I was wondering whether to go in and speak to the manager and explain the ways they could help her but I don't know if they would see it in the constructive way it would be ment or if they would think I was some crazy mother turning up.
Interestingly their handbook has a section on disabilities and mentions dyslexia and states that they will not tolerate any sufferer of any disability being treated any differently to the other staff which is absolutely right, I just wish that the manager would seek proper advice instead of self - diagnosing the severity of her dyslexia as its nowhere near her random 96%, and I didn't think that was fair of her to do that.
She is taking her notepad and pen today and is going to ask the manager if she would be allowed to write the orders down and verbally tell a second member of staff what to order through the till as she will learn from watching them press the screen in relation to what she is saying if that makes any sense.

As a sidenote, which trawling the internet last night I came across the Disney site which has restaurant screen tills which actually have pictures of the food on instead of writing - pat on the back to them

Tenyearstogo

The problem here is that the manager had to ask your daughter if she could read the till. I assume they did that because she had not told them she couldn't read all of it.

Had your daughter brought the subject up herself then they may have been more sympathetic.

The cheapest way would not to have her right down the orders and someone else input them, it would be to have someone else doing the whole job. If they need someone to wash dishes then if makes sense for her to do that.

Her employers seem to be making some attempts to accommodate her. You cannot expect everyone to understand dyslexia in the way you and your daughter do.

piglet25

They were fully aware of her dyslexia before offering her the job because I personally told them that she suffered from severe dyslexia and would be unable to sit any aptitude tests if they were required.
The inputting of the orders is a small part of the job by all accounts, it is a high quality restaurant where the emphasis is on service and being available to people, and the general well being of the guests. The other staff take literally seconds to input an order, so it wouldn't stop them from doing their jobs in any way.
I don't expect everyone to understand dyslexia, I don't have it and therefore I can't 'see' things the way others who have it do, but it is very common (10% of the population) and I am sure there are people out there who have come up with learning stratagies to help in this type of situation, which is what I was asking for.
She shouldn't have to spend her life doing low paid repetitive work simply because of this condition when it only takes a little bit of time and a small amount of understanding to make a huge difference.