Being a dyslexic engineer: 4 high-risk tasks and what works

Up to 30% of UK engineers may be dyslexic. That's three times the general population rate (IET estimate, August 2020).

You've checked that load calculation twice. You're checking it again. Here are the four tasks most likely to trip you up, and the fixes that work.

Where the 30% estimate comes from

The IET's 30% figure gets repeated a lot. But it isn't from a formal survey. No study has directly measured dyslexia rates in UK engineering.

Treat the 30% figure as an estimate, not verified data. It's still useful context.

Dyslexia links to spatial skill too. A 1987 study by Geschwind and Galaburda linked reading trouble to spatial fields like engineering. Later studies found dyslexic readers often beat others at 3D, whole-picture thinking.

That strength doesn't erase the risk here. A dyslexic engineer can read a 3D shape fast. The same person can still misread a tolerance next to it.

Reading and marking up technical drawings

CAD drawings pack tolerances, callouts, and revision notes into a small space. A misread decimal can become an expensive fix on site. That risk sits on every engineer's desk, dyslexic or not.

This applies to a structural drawing, an electrical diagram, or a piping diagram alike. The same read-aloud habit works on all three. You don't need a separate system for each type.

The same goes whether you're civil or electrical by trade. The tools differ. The reading risk doesn't.

That gap comes from reading speed, not carelessness. Read every callout and tolerance aloud before you issue a drawing. Microsoft's free Immersive Reader, built into Word and Edge, catches errors your eyes skim past.

A second-reader check, five minutes from a colleague, catches what the read-aloud pass misses. Keep a fixed legend of symbols you mix up, and pin it by your screen. Nobody else needs to see it.

So what for you: make the read-aloud pass fixed, not something you only remember after a mistake.

Specifications, calculations, and standards

Load calculations and code checks reward precision, not speed. A transposed digit stays invisible until the number is wrong downstream. Insurers list design errors and weak specs among the top causes of claims against engineers (Insure24, Sept 2026).

Checking a design against BS EN or ASME rules means flipping between documents all day. A split-screen setup, code on one side and your work on the other, removes that step from memory. It costs nothing and takes two minutes to set up.

A calculator app on your phone is not a review tool. Use one built for the job instead.

A locked spreadsheet template removes one whole kind of error. Use formulas you can't overwrite by mistake. Excel and Google Sheets both let you lock set cells while inputs stay open.

A peer check, already standard on most teams, catches what the template can't. Triple-checking a sum you've already checked twice is unpaid overtime. It counts whether or not it's on a timesheet.

A masking cost calculator on this site puts a number on what that adds up to across a year. Enter your salary and your workarounds, and it does the math for you.

How the template works

Keep two versions of every calculation sheet. One is a live working copy. The other is a locked "issued" copy nobody can edit without unlocking it on purpose.

The friction is the point. It stops a fast late-afternoon fix from reaching a contractor unchecked.

So what for you: build the check into the template once, not by hand every time.

Technical reports and inspection write-ups

A site report starts as a blank page and a list of half-remembered facts. Turning that into a clear report is a writing task, not an engineering one. That's right where dyslexia adds friction most training never covers.

Dictation turns a blank-page problem into a talking problem, which is easier for most people. Dragon Professional Anywhere costs £14.99 a month. Windows 11's free Voice Typing (Win+H) covers most reports at no cost.

Access to Work can fund the paid option in full for a UK role. A typical report needs four parts: findings, cause, action, and sign-off. Write each part as short notes first, then join them into sentences.

Getting the facts down matters more than getting the wording right first go. Fill in one section at a time, in any order. Once each part has its own fixed slot, order stops mattering.

A report that feels too big to start usually just needs a first step. The task breakdown planner turns any task into a short list of first steps, in under a minute. Type in "write the report" and work from the list it gives back.

So what for you: template the report once, then treat every write-up as filling in boxes.

Site meetings, client and contractor correspondence

A contractor emails at 4pm asking for a decision by end of day. Reading it fast and replying clearly, without sounding curt, is its own skill. Most dyslexic engineers say this beats the technical work for difficulty.

Tone is hard to judge on a page, more so when you're also fighting the words. The email tone checker flags a reply that reads short, harsh, or unclear before you hit send. That catch happens in seconds, before the contractor sees the draft.

Send a same-day written recap after every site meeting or call. Three lines is usually enough. It gives you and the contractor the same record to work from, and removes the pressure to catch everything live.

Verbal changes to a spec on site carry the biggest risk of all. Ask to record any spoken change, or ask for it in writing instead. Most site managers will text you two lines without being asked twice.

Ask for the agenda and any numbers in writing before a meeting where you can. Reading a number on a page beats hearing it once and holding it in your head. This one habit removes a lot of pressure from site meetings.

So what for you: build tone-checking and same-day recaps into your routine, not just for the risky emails.

What this means for you

None of these four fixes need you to disclose anything. A read-aloud pass, a locked template, a report template, and a same-day recap are good practice on any team. They also happen to fix your specific risk points.

Small fixes like these stack up fast. Start with one this week, not all four at once.

If you're spending unpaid evenings re-checking work you already checked at your desk, that's a signal. Ask for an adjustment now. You don't need to try harder first.

Put the request in writing. Name the specific task, not just "dyslexia" as a label. The reasonable adjustments builder turns your tasks into a plan and a draft email, in about two minutes.

It works from what happens at your desk, not a generic list. Access to Work can fund most of what comes out of that talk, software and equipment included.

The Access to Work Tech Fund pays the full software cost if you're under six weeks into a role. After that, costs are shared by employer size, capped at £69,260 for 2026-27. Either route usually covers everything in this article.

So what for you: write the request down today, name one task, and let the adjustment follow from that.