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The proportion of people with learning disabilities is much higher in the justice system than in the general population. Some estimate as high 40%.

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Socially naive
Always late
Avoids reading
Mispronounces words
Really bad handwriting
Slow reader

Behaviour

Sometimes a person may appear very naive in social situations. They may respond with strange patterns, be too friendly or too remote. This may make them hard or even stressful to communicate with.

Difficulty

Social awkwardness is often a symptom of autism. People with autism have difficulty internalizing social norms and have to learn how to interact with people by rote.

Strategies

The key strategy here is patience and understanding. A person struggling with social interactions are not trying to be difficult. 

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Behaviour

Your client is always late for meetings no matter how important.

Difficulty

Your client may have problems with reading notes, sequencing, understanding time or following instructions.

Strategies

There are many strategies you can use. Not all of them will work with all people. 

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Behaviour

Your client seems to do everything possible to avoid reading. They will want to take any text away to avoid reading it in front of you. 

Difficulty

Reading difficulties such as dyslexia don't just make reading hard, they make it really stressful. A person with dyslexia is often embarrassed of their difficulty because reading is incorrectly linked to intelligence. 

Strategies

Many people who struggle with reading will improve greatly after specialist literacy teaching. But for many others literacy will be a lifelong struggle because of their dyslexia or other difficulty.

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Behaviour

Your client seems to randomly mispronounce some words. This does not seem to be because of a speech impediment. It is not because they are sloppy because most of their speech is fine and at a normal speed.

Difficulty

Dealing with unknown or unusual words is one of many possible symptoms of dyslexia. Because dyslexic people have trouble discriminating individual sounds, they cannot help themselves by splitting words into easy smaller chunks.

Strategies

In daily interactions, this behaviour does not require correction. You should be aware of it and not get impatient with the dyslexic person when they mispronounce common things. It only rarely results in misunderstanding, and when it does it is easy to...

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Behaviour

Handwriting that is almost impossible to read and jumps all over the page.

Difficulty

Bad handwriting could be a sign of dyspraxia. This could mean that this person also has other difficulties with coordination, spatial awareness and a sense of direction.

Strategies

Avoid giving this person tasks that require very fine motor control. Don't ask them to write by hand and create very clear and concise forms for them to fill out. 

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Behaviour

Your client seems to take a really long time to read even short texts. It may almost seem that they are dragging it out. 

Difficulty

One of the things that affects the speed of reading is dyslexia. Because individual letters and words take a long time to process, reading a long text is difficult. Sometimes a dyslexic person will have even trouble reading signs in the street unless they stop and concentrate.

Strategies

There are two things you should do to help a dyslexic person with reading: 1. Give them more time and be patient; and 2. Give them text that is formatted in an accessible way with lots of space and headings.

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Helplines

 

Autism Helpline

0808 800 4104 

Available 10 am - 4 pm, Monday to Friday (free from landlines and most mobiles). Operated by The National Autistic Society.

Dyslexia Helpline

0333 405 4567 

Available 10 am – 12.30 and 1 pm - 4 pm Monday to Friday (Closed Wednesday afternoons) Operated by The British Dyslexia Association.

 

Ask and Share

The Ask and Share section is a place where you can find out more about the best practices as well as ask questions and share. You can:

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Easy Read

Easy Read’ documents present information using simple words and pictures making it easier to understand. The use of Easy Read is common in health and social care organizations, as well as other areas.

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About this site

This website was designed and built by a consortium of three charities:

     Dyslexia Action   NAS

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