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The Employers Discrimination (Not Today - Thankyou)

Dyscalculia

By Jonathan TownendPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
7
The Disturbing Truth Behind A Majora Stigma

Ok from the start, it is important that everyone knows just what this is all about. The subject of Dyscalculia is not as widely out there as it should be. particularly not out there with employers (given the advancements in technological leaps) and the support that these technologies can provide in ways of supporting people with this disability. This disability can actively intrude upon all aspects of a sufferer's daily life involving anything to do with the cognitive functioning surrounding mathematically-based concepts – such as 'telling the time', 'counting money', & whilst 'performing mental calculations.' (The latter one causing the most destructive feature) An everyday working example of this is 'knowing how much change to expect from the shopkeeper when paying with cash.' A person with this disability can easily be short-changed; either accidentally or on purpose.

Dyscalculia is a learning disability that makes mathematics wholly challenging to both the processing and to the understanding within the range of the entire topic at large - a lot of people may relate to this on a larger known scale termed more commonly as 'number dyslexia.'

It can occur within:

-- Roughly 1 in 20 children (Dyscalculia newsletter) (Nessy UK) (Aug. 13th, 2019)

Unfortunately for some unknown rationale, there is a total absence of ratio research & survey at this point in time for data affecting adults. Giving a limited understanding and recognition of dyscalculia that occurs in the adult population in the UK alone; as a result of this limitation - many people go undiagnosed. This by itself leads to the discrimination and the stigma affecting many adults (as, due to the lack of data currently, these sufferers go completely untreated & alone.) However, there is hope, as research into this area is in its infancy at this point in time. That may be comforting for the future, but what of now and the many affected by it each & every day?

Well, I met a beautiful caring young woman back as far as 1998. And to cut it short (leaving out the private 'dating' pieces too hot for social media: don't want the kids reading those parts!!) and we later married in the summer of 1999.

For as long as I've had the joy of living together with my wife, it took a very long period of time before she started to tell me that she had Dyscalculia and that she had been plagued with it throughout her own childhood & schooling. This is exactly what I was talking about earlier within this text - no data on adults with Dyscalculia, but where was the excuse for this not being assessed in childhood? - well, data was limited back in the 1980's too for children, but is that really a reason for neglecting the needs of a child in the school system? I have been right by her side in trying to provide the support, reassurance, patience and, compassion, that a disability such as this definitely requires; and not simply as a token gesture but for all the time. But I am not perfect and still working on it even now.

Dyslexia which does actually encompass Dyscalculia is covered under The Equality Act 2010 saying that, employers hold a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabilities in the workplace. And in addition, is not a protected exemption from the Act that employers think they can hide behind when going through short-listing through to onboarding any candidate.

My wife has for many years gone now, suffered from just that, the 'employer hiding behind' theory - even to this day. Technology has advanced to a major point now that any one person applying for any position should be in a position to apply for a role, without fear of at least getting one successful interview. My wife has been through the interview process time & time again with this. It creates humiliation and a 'what is wrong with me?' feeling. Employers still to this day, hide behind the protected exemptions, but they do so incorrectly. They create more discrimination to employing disabled people (with hidden disabilities) that cannot outwardly be seen.

As I touched upon earlier, technology should have greatly reduced this discrimination, Point of Sale (POS) systems (which I will be writing about in a further article) supports doing the calculations for you; informing you of exactly what change to give to the customer. Okay, before a reader of this says to me 'but what about the complexity of understanding, and recognizing, change given out?' Well let me cover that... it is quite simple. Cast your mind to a blind or partially sighted person. They use braille to read the information & the change due to data (either by that braille reading or by voice-activated dictation.)

Or as next:

Why is it hard for an employer to not assign a 'work buddy' assigned to help the Dyscalculia sufferer? Many reputable employers do indeed make use of these 'work buddies' to support the difficulties that come with Dyscalculia. I have been a designated work buddy in my posts as a registered mental health nurse over the past years. There is absolutely nothing bad or wrong in helping out our fellow human beings is there?

Instead of employers coming out with 'Not Today - Thankyou', and turning the other cheek, so to speak.

My lovely wife has regained her composure and does not let Dyscalculia affect her much now in her life; or as much as it did use to. After I needed to resign at 50 years old due to physical ill-health earlier this year from contracting Covid-19 in 2020, I have my caring and compassionate wife to pin my recovery securely onto - she supported me through the hard decision to leave my career; and to help me recognize that, actually, my health matters more than a job... simple"!! Carol Townend has been a Vocal+ member for many years now and, she has fully encouraged me to start writing once, a passion I used to love doing in my early days of nursing. I cannot thank her enough to have got me writing all over again. I am writing articles on Vocal+ (thanks to Carol now) and have picked up writing a science fiction book once more.

There are two morals (my own) to come out of this:

-- If nobody else cares when you cannot heal yourself, count on your committed partner to get you along that long, dark & lonely road ahead safely to the light at the end.

-- Writing articles gives you the satisfaction needed to continue in earnest, the 'goggle box' just pulls you further down.

And for those NOT old enough to remember... the goggle box was a television!!

My Vocal access is https://vocal.media/authors/jonathan-townend

My wife's Vocal access is https://vocal.media/authors/carol-townend

stigma
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About the Creator

Jonathan Townend

I love writing articles & fictional stories. They give me scope to express myself and free my mind. After working as a mental health nurse for 30 years, writing allows an effective emotional release, one which I hope you will join me on.

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