An international spokesman on the needs of adults with dyslexia and former top ranking U.S. government official stopped off in Birmingham to present certificates to Remploy staff who completed a pioneering dyslexia awareness training course.

Glenn Young, who advised the federal government until 1994 but is now retired and works as a learning disabilities consultant, visited Remploy’s Birmingham branch in Newhall Street during a research tour of the country.

Remploy, a provider of employment services for disabled people, last year found 5,200 jobs in mainstream employment for people with disabilities and health conditions. Remploy’s nationwide team of specialist employment advisors work with disabled job seekers providing a range of services including confidence boosting, vocational training and job coaching.

Mr Young was on hand to present Btec Level 3 certificates in “Dyslexia Awareness – Recognition and Analysis”. The course, designed to enable people to recognise dyslexia traits in adults, is the first accredited one of its kind in the country and was completed successfully by Remploy employment advisors Harry McPhillimy, Paula Swanwick, Rhian George and Stephen O’Boyle.

Remploy’s development services manager Mark Burrett said: “The aim of the project is to support  many more adult job seekers who have struggled with reading and writing but historically have had restricted access to find out about dyslexia and if they have dyslexia traits.

“With Remploy’s forthcoming job entry target of 20,000 by 2012, this project will be able to assess  those candidates for dyslexia traits and identify suitable vocational areas as well as what reasonable adjustments they may need in the workplace to ensure that sustainable employment is achieved, as 10 per cent of the population has some form of dyslexia traits.”
 
The four employment advisors are the first to undergo the specialist course at Remploy  – although a further 15 are also set for training in October – and are now qualified to assess whether the job seekers referred to them exhibit dyslexia traits and so decide whether they should be referred for a formal psychological assessment.

Image: Stephen O'Boyle receives his certificate from Glenn Young.

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