We were delighted be one of the supporters of the Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group’s (GDSG) Diversity & Inclusion Seminar on Tuesday 24 September. His Excellency the Governor, Lieutenant General Ed Davis CB CBE, Kate Griggs, Founder and CEO of Made By Dyslexia and Ben Cooke, Senior Strategy Consultant at EY London spoke about their personal experiences as dyslexics and gave informative, insightful and inspiring talks about the positive impact and value of dyslexia in the workplace.
His Excellency the Governor of Gibraltar commented that “This ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ Seminar could not be more timely as global businesses grapple with the challenge of accommodating the increasing digitally-driven automation of the workplace. Astute and innovative businesses will, therefore, be working out ways to harness the innate ability of Dyslexics to excel in such an environment.”
Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference that affects around 5-10% of the population. It affects the organisation in the brain that controls the ability to process the way language is heard, spoken, read, or spelled. People with dyslexia are not lacking in motivation or intelligence, in fact they are typically average to above average in intelligence and often have visual, auditory and personality strengths that can be an asset in any workplace such as; excellent communicators and inter-personal skills, visualising in 3D from every angle, fast reflexes, dexterity and physical endurance levels, as well as intuitive, creative and with an ability to ‘think outside the box.’
Stuart Byrne the Chairperson of the GDSG said: “We believe in making Gibraltar a Dyslexia friendly place to live and work. To do that we need to raise the awareness of the strengths of dyslexia not only in the schools but in the workplace also. This seminar backed by the Value of Dyslexia EY report has helped to do that and start the conversation amongst the community. We are very grateful to the Kusuma Trust’s support in this and all the rest of our sponsors. A special thank you has to go to the GFSB, Made By Dyslexia and all our speakers, particularly His Excellency the Governor who opened up about his life as a dyslexic in an amazing way.”
Watch a recording of the event here.
Read more about our support for the Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group here.