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Jake, who has dyslexia, joined the force in April 2020 and works out of Cambridge.
I was first diagnosed with dyslexia when I was about six. I always found that during class discussions I understood what was being talked about and was able to keep up. However, as soon as I had to write down my answers, in exams or homework, I really struggled.
I was drawn to policing for two reasons. One was I loved helping people. My old career had been a mix of roles, and I found I was massively more motivated when helping people. The other was a love for variety and excitement, day to day.
I was nervous about the role as I had heard it was quite paperwork intensive.
I was able to work around this by discussing with my line managers who have been very supportive. They were happy to sit down and set up clearer structures for forms for me, which made it a lot easier to structure what they were looking for. I also had a workplace assessment which found out I reacted better to a yellow screen. This also provided me a report which I was able to send to my supervisors to make them aware of my requirements.
I have always viewed my dyslexia as neither a superpower or a disability, but a different way of working that I just have to be aware of. Like many dyslexics I learnt early to ask for help when I struggled with something, and my colleagues have always been incredibly supportive. This has varied from reminding me about things due to my shocking short-term memory, to help building case files, which requires a lot of writing.
I wish people understood dyslexia a little bit more but, that said, every person with dyslexia seems to be different. The main thing is people being open to discussing it, which people in the police always have been.
I would totally recommend a career in policing to anyone with a disability or condition. Life experience is absolutely fundamental in this job and, for me, a combination of my own experience of having dyslexia, and also having a brother with profound learning difficulties, has been invaluable and made me a much better officer.