Dyslexia is a learning difficulty which causes problems with things like reading, writing, and spelling. Unlike a learning disability, intelligence is not affected, and there are actually many benefits such as greater creativity, empathy, leadership, and outside the box thinking. Despite this, nobody had managed to reframe dyslexia as a skill that companies should actively be seeking out until our creative strategy allowed us to shift focus and drive structural change which led to over 10,000 registering ‘+Dyslexic Thinker’ as a skill on LinkedIn and companies including Facebook and HSBC actively recruiting for dyslexia.

Despite 1 in 5 people worldwide being affected by dyslexia, 97% of the population still view it negatively. This is because the current definition is outdated, classifying dyslexia as a “learning disability,” an “impairment,” or a “medical disorder.” But in fact, recent research has shown that those with dyslexia outperform other people at a wide variety of skills such as creativity, empathy, leadership, and outside the box thinking - skills that are especially valuable in the workplace. This is also proven by the number of incredibly successful businesspeople, creators, inventors, and actors who all have dyslexia – people like Sir Richard Branson, Agatha Christie, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and hundreds of others. The conversation around dyslexia needs to change, and employers need to recognize all the things people with dyslexia CAN do as opposed to focusing on what they can’t do.

The traditional approach to dyslexia in the workplace is directed at the remediation of dyslexic challenges. This organisational effort is well intended, but often does not direct the efforts towards the whole dyslexic profile or leverage strong competencies that are increasingly relevant. For decades dyslexic individuals have been expected to ‘fit in’, measured and benchmarked for the very skills they find challenging. Now, technology is replacing the need for these skills.

'Made by Dyslexia’ recognises that dyslexia offers 'in demand' skills in this changing world of work. Put simply, the workforce of today and tomorrow needs dyslexic thinking, and dyslexic individuals should no longer be expected to ‘fit in’ but ‘stand out’ and focus on their strengths. Businesses, and educators must lean in and adapt their organisations and systems to embrace this change, and fast, if we are to truly build the workforce of tomorrow.

Campaigns about dyslexia had overwhelmingly focused on encouraging the 1 in 5 people with dyslexia to change the way that they felt about themselves and to empower them to embrace their difference. Working in association with EY on ‘The Value of Dyslexia’ report, our research showed that although this had some impact, the real barriers were systemic and that we needed to push for structural and cultural change. This breakthrough allowed us to shift our focus to changing the minds of cultural institutions, the business sector and business leaders. We recognized that if they could redefine dyslexia and encourage people to accept dyslexia as a skill, this would have a domino effect of making businesses actively promote it as a benefit in the workplace, which in turn would embolden people with dyslexia to come forward.

The term “Dyslexic Thinking” fundamentally changed the way the world views dyslexia. The word “dyslexia” itself has an outdated stigma and negative perception - particularly in the workplace. But many highly successful people are dyslexic, including Sir Richard Branson. So Virgin partnered with Made by Dyslexia, LinkedIn, and Dictionary.com to shift focus to the term “Dyslexic Thinking” - a phrase that highlights all the positive skills people with dyslexia possess. To raise awareness, LinkedIn changed its platform to feature Dyslexic Thinking as an official skill available for the 810 million users to add to their profiles. Dictionary.com then vetted it through their rigorous accreditation process and added it to their dictionary. By recognizing dyslexic thinking in such high-profile ways, we were finally able to begin shifting people’s perceptions.

The campaign was immediately taken up by international media outlets, gaining coverage from over 250 major global publications including the BBC, the Independent, Business Insider and Bloomberg with an opportunity to see of 150 million and an earned media value of £1.5M+. Tracking public sentiment across social media, we saw positive mentions about dyslexia increase by 1562%, while negative mentions decreased by 4450% from pre-campaign levels. A clear indication that the campaign was resonating and starting to change the perception of dyslexia. Within 30 days, 13,000 HR and recruitment leaders had also viewed the film explaining how Dyslexic Thinkers could help take their company to the next level. Finally, and most importantly, over 10,000 people had added “Dyslexic Thinking” as a skill on LinkedIn, a number which continues to grow to this day, and which global companies including Facebook, EY, HSBC, and Microsoft are already seeking out in their recruitment.