The Importance of Making Reasonable Adjustments for Adult Learners with Dyslexia and Learning Needs
In today’s fast-paced, knowledge-driven world, lifelong learning is more critical than ever. For adult learners, continuing education can be a pathway to career progression, personal growth, and increased confidence. However, for those with dyslexia and other learning needs, traditional educational environments can present significant challenges. Ensuring these learners have the support they need through reasonable adjustments is not only a matter of equality but also a legal and moral imperative.
Understanding Dyslexia and Learning Needs in Adults
Dyslexia is a neurodiverse condition that affects reading, writing, and spelling abilities. While it is most commonly diagnosed in childhood, many adults are undiagnosed or may have developed coping strategies that mask the extent of their challenges. Dyslexia is not indicative of low intelligence; many individuals with dyslexia are highly creative and capable, but find their own ways of adapting to the way they learn.
Learning needs, in a broader sense, encompass a range of conditions that affect how individuals process information. These can include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), dyscalculia (difficulty with maths), and other cognitive processing disorders. For adults, these conditions can significantly impact their ability to engage with educational content in conventional and traditional ways.
Ikigai - What that means to me
I’ve been asked the same question over the last , well, almost 3 years since I started studying the GDL - Graduate Diploma in Law in 2018. Why are you studying something so complicated at your AGE? The reply was often a jumbled response - because I can, because I’m a life-long learner, because, because,because. It wasn’t until I actually graduated, that I realised studying, learning new skills, research was part of my DNA.
Studying the GDL and now the LPC became my way of perfecting the quasi rustic knowledge I had gained over 14 years as a trainer- advisor, in order to formalise not only what I had learnt but be trained in a very formal way. It was tough especially when the Pandemic hit and it meant that I would not see the inside of a lecture theatre for just over a year. Whilst I am a self-motivated learner, I regale in the engagement that takes place in a training room, classroom or lectures- not only is the camaraderie great, the psychological aspects assist with the learning process - bouncing ideas off one another, Q& A without interruption or tech issues, relating to lecturers who provide a much more convincing performance in person than they do online.
From Trainer to Student - Susie Crolla's Point of View
It has been said that there is nothing worse than a teacher or trainer sitting in on a training session but wearing a different hat, that of a learner. There's a feeling that a trainer can often approach being in a classroom with an air of arrogance - of knowing it all, yet being on the receiving end of learning is quite rewarding and most definitely very relaxing.
Over the last 2 and a half years, after 30 years of delivering training, I decided to venture back into formal education - first to complete the GDL and then in January of this year to start the LPC.
I remember being very excited when I received formal offers to the universities I applied to and even more excited when I ventured back into the lecture rooms for the very first time. I had of course been on training courses in a wide range of different subjects, but I had not studied a qualification since the early 90s.
I am formally trained and traditionally taught, therefore, I have witnessed a huge amount of change in education - from delivering very to the psychological aspects of both teaching/training to learning, so my approach to both has evolved dramatically. So being in the classroom is a privilege and quite extraordinary for someone who talks for a living and is required to deliver results, inspire, motivate and encourage.
What’s the Point of Being Qualified?
Most of the blogs on our site are written in the third person with no specific personal reference in mind. This blog is different as it comes from a place where personal experience and a background in education is brought to the fore. Training/teaching the delivery of - is as a natural as breathing for me. It’s been part of my adult life for a little over 30 years. From being a newly qualified teacher working with 11 to 18 year olds in a secondary school to leaving the profession as a Head of Sixth Form and the challenging transition into the private rented sector, my place of Zen has always been the classroom. Creating a safe, comfortable and fun environment for people to learn in, interact and want to come back to, is really not like hard work.