One of the highlights of this year's Dyslexia Show at the NEC was a session by Matthew Head called Using Dyslexia to Engineer Cars. It was part of the Innovation Theatre strand, in addition to the usual audience, he attracted the attention ofseveral children keen to meet someone involved in the design of some of the UK's most iconic cars.
Although there is little accredited formal research on the incidence of dyslexia in engineers, the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) has estimated that 30% of the engineering workforce is dyslexic. Foothold, the IET Benevolent Fund, recognises their talents and provides support. This is 'designed to empower both aspiring and established neurodiverse engineers – and those who support them – to reach their full potential and thrive, both personally and professionally.'
Key skills for engineering
While reading, handwriting and spelling are likely to be an issue for engineers with dyslexia, there are many dyslexic traits that are ideal for a profession which involves visual-spatial reasoning, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation.
Matthew has had a varied career and is currently CAD Modelling Lead Engineer in the design department at Jaguar Land Rover. 'An engineer simply is somebody who loves to solve problems. They use creative thinking to come up with designs that help people,' he said. 'Let's take a bumper for example, it is likely to be made of plastic. Where is it going to screw to the car? You've got to talk to the rest of the team to make sure they give you mounting points for your bumper. It's also got to be soft enough that if it hits a pedestrian, it's not likely to cause serious injury but if you run over a football on the way into work, it's not going to shatter into a million pieces.'
Dyslexic employees can often:
- See patterns
- Think critically
- Visualise complex systems
- Rotate and manipulate images in their mind to test different design possibilities
- Identify novel solutions
- Show resilience
- Be adaptable
- Show a talent for finding 'hacks' when faced with apparently insurmountable challenges
Matt's educational journey
From the time he started school, he struggled and did not make the same progress as other children in his class. However, unlike many other children he had a teacher who read up on dyslexia and suggested he be assessed and statemented. Secondary was more of a battle than primary and the SENCO often took Matthew out of class for separate sessions.