High Frequency Word Fans: ‘Dyslexia and Visual Stress’ Campaign

It is estimated that 1 in 10 people have dyslexia in the UK, so we wanted to take a look at how we could help operatives who have dyslexia or suffer with visual stress. By introducing the ‘Dyslexia and Visual Stress’ Campaign, we have been able to develop several ways in which we can support our site operatives.

One way that has seemed to be very successful is the demolition and construction specific high frequency word fan. The word fan is available for all site operatives to use in the workplace as a prompt when writing emails, training or other work related uses. In addition to this, we have provided the site with:

• Line trackers – these track each line and block out others whist reading which helps to reduce visual stress.
• Coloured overlay sheets – the colour helps to break down the text and aid reading which also in turn, reduces visual stress.

After creating a presentation and toolbox talk, teaching operatives different ways in which they can manage their dyslexia and what resources are available to them, we issued the site manager with a tablet to be used as a training tool. Site operatives are now able to book in a training slot in their break times with the tablet that offers use of multiple apps that support our dyslexia campaign including the speak and translate app.