Superintendent Ross Campbell of Warwickshire Police shares his experiences as a dyslexic police officer and wants people to know that having dyslexia is not a barrier to success

I’ve been a police officer for 22 years. I joined the service when I was 18. I struggled at school – there was no awareness of dyslexia then, and though my teachers said that I had potential, they mistakenly thought I was a daydreamer and that I didn’t try hard enough. I left school with average GCSE grades. I failed my A-levels, so university was not an option. I had always liked the idea of joining the police service – I reached out to my local Force, who were very supportive and encouraged me to apply. I applied and was successful.

I enjoyed being a police constable, but there were aspects of my role I struggled with, including the paperwork and taking statements. I knew I wanted to progress and I aspired to a leadership role. Unfortunately I failed my first attempt at the sergeants’ exam. I failed part two of the OSPRE exam four times! It was perseverance that kept me going. Each time I failed, I was able to learn from the experience and apply that learning to each new attempt. I was successful in the end, after five attempts.

I didn’t know I had dyslexia then, but I knew there was something that wasn’t quite right. My reading speed was slow and I often found words confusing. I’d never read a book from cover to cover. I also had problems with direction and found it challenging to distinguish left from right. These are traits that I now know are common to dyslexia, but I didn’t have this understanding until the time came for me to pursue promotion to Inspector. On my second attempt at the promotion board, my memory went blank and I lost track of everything I had wanted to share. I just sat there staring into space and I had no idea I was doing it. At that point, I had been a temporary inspector for four years, acting up in the role for that time as there had been no promotion boards. I had a wealth of skills, abilities and experience that I knew would make me an effective inspector, as I had proved that in doing the role for so long. It was incredibly frustrating to be experiencing working memory difficulties at such a crucial time.

Fortunately, the chair of the panel was aware of dyslexia having supported a relative with the condition. On their advice, I looked into the possibility that I might be dyslexic.
My journey accessing formal diagnosis was unfortunately very difficult. Initial screening tools offered by the Force gave contradictory results. I was eventually able to have a clinical assessment, which confirmed my diagnosis. Getting the diagnosis was a very emotional experience. On the one hand, I was thrilled to get the clarity that a diagnosis can give you. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but feel regret over the opportunities I’d missed and how my experiences might have differed, if only I’d known about my dyslexia sooner. I had lived my life and my policing career thinking I was not good enough, and I saw others around me flourish when I struggled. At times, every day was a battle with my own mind.

At that time, policing had little awareness or experience of supporting people with dyslexia. There was disagreement in my Force over accountability for support between Occupational Health and Human Resources (HR). An Access to Work assessment made a number of adjustment recommendations to help remove barriers at work, but there were no policies in place for adjustments for dyslexia. Questions arose around budgeting and there were technical difficulties around assistive software compatibility with Force systems. It was clear from the outset that there was a distinct lack of organisational understanding of dyslexia and how to support dyslexic colleagues.

Talking to colleagues nationally through networks I had begun to build, I identified that this was not an isolated issue. It took 18 months for my adjustments to be put in place. It was a stressful and difficult time, and I wanted to ensure that no one else would encounter the same challenges. I started to get involved in supporting Force awareness and capability around dyslexia inclusion. I took an active role in developing dyslexia policy, processes and practices, and I began a neurodiversity network. I presented my own academic research and workforce survey results to HR leads and to the Assistant Chief Constable, making recommendations around adjustments and processes, and the Force was very supportive. Thanks to their pragmatism, we now have effective policies in place to support officers and staff with dyslexia. Initiatives include using work-based assessors and implementing QuickScan and QuickScreen screening tests, as well as interview adjustments.

“Having access to adjustments was key to my successful promotion to Chief Inspector”

Supt Ross Campbell

I was able to access adjustments for my next Chief Inspector promotion board. It was quite surreal to personally experience the adjustments that I had been able to put in place to support others. The process highlighted how important it is that an organisation works with the individual to consider what adjustments might be helpful and that any potential adjustment should be agreed by the individual affected. Implementing an adjustment without that collaboration and with no consideration of a person’s needs is unhelpful and counterproductive. I worked with HR to introduce appropriate adjustments: I agreed to have three minutes per question during the interview to review the question and consider my answer. It was an option to have the questions beforehand with time to consider them, but I wanted to do that one by one in the interview. I was listened to and supported around my needs. The adjustment removed the need for immediate recall that the traditional interview format demands and gave me the time I needed to consider my answer. Having access to adjustments was key to my successful promotion to Chief Inspector.

My career has gone from strength to strength since my diagnosis. I have obtained qualifications in leadership and management, business administration, and coaching and mentoring. I enrolled to study part-time for a distance learning degree in policing. I graduated with first class honours in 2018. In 2019, I was awarded a College of Policing bursary and have just completed my master’s degree in criminal psychology. This complements my role as a hostage and crisis negotiator. I am now a Superintendent and Head of Digital Services at Warwickshire Police.

Adjustments allowed me to work to my strengths and helped to remove barriers to my success. Feeling listened to, valued, supported and understood also had a massive impact on my confidence. Dyslexic officers and staff have made – and will continue to make – an invaluable contribution to policing. This is something that should be celebrated, due to our out-of-the-box thinking and our natural attention to detail. It’s important to have an inclusive work environment and effective policies that allow dyslexic officers and staff to make this contribution and to unlock their potential.

I had never been successful on the first attempt in any process I had gone through. To date, I have sat eight promotion boards for four ranks. Resilience and perseverance have got me to where I am today. Hopefully, the advances in awareness and support – and in particular, workplace adjustments – will mean that these challenging experiences will be a thing of the past. ∎

Superintendent Campbell is an active campaigner for dyslexia awareness and inclusion. You can follow him on Twitter at @dyslexic_cop

This blog was originally published as part of the College of Policing Workplace Adjustments Toolkit – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author

by Daley Jones
Co-Chair/Co-Founder | Metropolitan Police ADHD Alliance

I am writing this blog following a conversation with my ADHD coach. I was telling her how I have often struggled to quantify the positive effects my ADHD and dyspraxia diagnoses have had on my life, and the ‘assistance’ that has followed. What flowed from that conversation is effectively what I am writing.

I’d like to be clear on a couple of points. Although I am talking about my diagnoses for neurodivergent conditions, the positive effects I mention could easily apply to any diagnosis, disability or condition.

I should also add: as always, I can only talk about my own personal experiences. Everyone reacts differently, and feels differently following that moment where someone says, “You have x”.

Diagnosis
The day I was diagnosed was, no exaggeration, one of the best days of my life. At age 36 I was told I had combined ADHD. At 37 I was told that I was also dyspraxic.

Throughout my life I have struggled – be this in school, university, work, or even in my social and leisure activities. In my previous blog I described those struggles in a bit more detail. However, the struggles themselves have caused me to have very poor self-esteem, and a very poor view of my self-worth. In most situations in life, my default position has always been a variation of “You cannot do this thing, you are incapable” which invariably leads to “You are an idiot/lazy/stupid/selfish/don’t care”.

When I realised that there was a reason for these struggles – a reason I was born with, that is a part of me, that is inherent in how my brain operates… it was liberating. I could finally say “It’s not your fault” which leads to “You are not (insert negative word here)”.

In turn, I now think, “OK, how can this situation be explained/demonstrated differently in order for my mind to understand it”. The more I have learned about both my conditions, the more I have been able to create understanding, strategies and coping mechanisms to help me.

Being able to explain why I struggle has also allowed me to explain this to my loved ones, friends, colleagues and bosses. If they understand, they will be in a better and more informed place to ultimately help me.

From a professional, almost HR perspective, being able to point to a diagnosis means that – God forbid I ever got into trouble at work – I would be able to point to my diagnosis and the protections I am afforded under the Equality Act.

You have a right to not disclose a condition to your employer. But think long and hard about this, and ask yourself: will my employer support me fully if they don’t know about my condition?

Accessing help – I will split this into sections:

Medication
I appreciate for many this is almost a ‘dirty word’ – I think society has created an unfair picture that to be ‘on pills’ is a bad thing. I think of it differently: if you had a serious muscular injury, you would go and seek help from a physiotherapist or osteopath. Therefore why should your brain be any different?

Many people point to the side effects of medication. Whilst all drugs will have side effects, I’d argue so does caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. I urge you to look at the potential side effects of paracetamol next time you pop one with a headache – it’s quite the list!

My ADHD medication has helped me immeasurably: it allows me to focus and get things done, and it brings clarity to my day-to-day life. My partner tells me it has made me “more thoughtful” – I think I was always thoughtful. The issue was engaging the right thoughts at the right time!

To get to the point I am at now with medication, I went through a lengthy process called ‘titration’. Titration is quite simply the process used to determine that I was on the right medication and the right dosage. Throughout the process, I was in regular contact with a nurse who got me to give feedback on how the medication was affecting me. I had to regularly record my blood pressure (I was sent a free monitor) and also give my weight. At any time if I was unhappy with the medication, I could have dropped my dosage or even tried a different type of drug. My point here is that it is well worth trying medication, and if one particular drug doesn’t work for you, be mindful there are others, with different dosages and different methods of use. (I take one pill daily, every morning – you can take a split dose, i.e. one pill in the morning, and one in the afternoon.)

However, if medication isn’t for you, there are alternatives.

Reasonable (workplace) adjustments
It is important at this stage to add that you do not need a formal diagnosis to ask for reasonable adjustments at work. If you are awaiting a diagnosis, or simply believe there is something work can put in place to assist you, you have every right to ask for assistance in the form of ‘reasonable adjustments’.

However, if you are diagnosed with a condition, the likelihood is that you will be legally entitled to reasonable adjustments at work under the Equality Act. This powerful piece of legislation states that it is an employer’s legal obligation to make these adjustments to allow you to do your job.

As I stated at the start of this article, I am diagnosed with ADHD. Under the Equality Act this is covered under the definition of a ‘disability’. Do I feel disabled? No. Do I believe that in the eyes of the law I am disabled? Yes. I found this definition which explains my answer:

“A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).”

This accurately sums up my feelings: much like ‘medication’, I am acutely aware of the negative connotations that arise from the word ‘disabled’. But I have made the decision to embrace my disability. The main reason being, it is not my fault I am disabled. I was born with my neurodivergent conditions, and was born into a world with structures that do not cater for the way my brain works – school, higher education, work and public perception.

I am more than capable of achieving the same levels of work and productivity as my ‘non-disabled’ colleagues – I just need things in place to ‘even the playing field’. I urge others, no matter what their disability is to think the same. I am going to endeavour to embrace my condition, and the advantages it gives me over my colleagues. Diagnosis, and the understanding it has brought me, allows me to do this. I now see that I am a round peg, who has spent his life trying to insert himself in square holes. I am now aiming for round holes, even if it will need adjustments to make the hole a bit more rounded.

Reasonable adjustments start with a conversation between an employee and their manager. The manager should ask themselves “how can I make my employee’s working life easier” in order for the employee to achieve their best at work. Although employees can have assistive software and hardware, it is often the little changes that can be made at work that have the greatest effect.

Each person’s condition is unique, and will affect them differently. This is why it is hard to produce a universal list of reasonable adjustments. However, a common example of a reasonable adjustment a line manager could action is to allow a staff member with ADHD time to focus on a task their mind finds ‘boring’. If you wanted a staff member to write up a case file, could they be allowed to complete this task working from home, or in a quieter area of the office? Whilst they are doing this task, could the manager try and limit the amount of calls, emails and other requests they receive? It’s a simple example, but these adjustments are potentially a massive help to a neurodivergent staff member.

Beyond these ‘line manager to staff member’ adjustments, hardware and software can be requested following consultation with Occupational Health and the Workplace Adjustments team. Reasonable adjustments can also be requested for exams (e.g. NIE, promotion) and for interviews for a new role. I received reasonable adjustments for both my Sergeant’s exam and a recent job interview I had.

Access to Work
Diagnosis also allows me to receive support via the Access to Work scheme. This is a Government initiative run by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP): after applying, a workplace assessment will be carried out. From this, a report is generated with recommendations around how an employee can be supported in the workplace. A list of recommendations is drawn up, along with the various different companies and groups that provide them. The cost of these various things is shared between the DWP and the employer.

I have personally received funding for 24 hours of ‘workplace coaching’ with a qualified ADHD coach/counsellor. I have an hour-long session every week with my coach, in which we discuss strategies and mechanisms to help me with the work I have. As my coach is also a qualified counsellor, she has also helped me to change my negative mindset around situations at work and in life. I cannot begin to tell you how immensely helpful this has been for me.

I also have funding for various pieces of assistive software. As it happens the MPS has licences for many of these already.

Access to Work can also provide grants for ‘hardware’, e.g. special chairs and desks to help you work in comfort, and equipment such as noise-cancelling headphones. They can even help fund means of transport to get you into work.

You have no obligation to disclose your condition to work (unless it potentially endangers your or a colleague’s wellbeing), and there are still negative connotations and stigma attached to ‘disability’, ‘medication’ and many of the various illnesses and conditions that exist.

But I implore you: get diagnosed, first and foremost for yourself. Fight for your rights and fight for fair conditions at work. You are not seeking an advantage over others. You are simply asking for a level and fair playing field. ∎

This blog was originally published on the Metropolitan Police Service intranet – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author

by Damon Williams
Detective Superintendent | Metropolitan Police Service

Many of you will have read the blog by Suzanne Burke – from the comments so far on the Met Police intranet, it struck a chord with a lot of people. And, as Suzanne’s line manager for the last 18 months or so, I find myself entirely unjustifiably proud of her for writing it!

Anyway, I thought I might share some of my experience learning – or at least starting to learn – to manage an autistic staff member. I hope that my tips might be useful to those of you who do, or will one day, manage someone who is autistic.

I should start by confessing that I’ve been very lucky. I recruited Suzanne at a point when she had already been diagnosed, and she had taken the decision to be completely open about her autism. In short, she’s always been willing to teach me how to manage Suzanne!

My ‘learning journey’ (as we call it these days) began before I even met Suzanne. After she passed the recruitment paper sift, HR contacted me and told me that Suzanne was autistic and I should consider making some adjustments to the interview process. A quick Google search led me to the National Autistic Society (NAS) website and a wealth of information about the condition. This paragraph, in particular, caught my attention:

“…autistic candidates often demonstrate above-average skills in some or all of the following areas: high levels of concentration; reliability, conscientiousness and persistence; accuracy, close attention to detail and the ability to identify errors; technical ability, such as in IT; detailed factual knowledge; and an excellent memory.”

“Well”, I thought, “Who doesn’t want those attributes in their staff?” So, armed with my new-found knowledge, I was suitably equipped to consider some ‘reasonable adjustments’ and tweak the interview process to make sure Suzanne was comfortable and give her the chance to do her best. This brings me to some tips that have found particularly useful that may help others:

Tip 1: Educate yourself
A little time invested researching the condition really helped me understand which bits of a traditional interview and assessment process might be harder for someone with autism and why, meaning I could adapt to make it fair.

Suzanne (as you’ll have guessed) was most impressive in the interview and got the job. And, once she started working for me, we had a number of conversations about her autism – nothing formal, just me getting to know her and starting to work out how I could get the most out of her. This brings me to…

Tip 2: Make time to get to know your staff member
If you followed Tip 1 you’ll have found out about quite a number of typical autistic traits – but every autistic person is unique, and you need to understand them as an individual to manage them effectively.

To be honest, I think Tip 2 is my best one. It should probably be the only tip, but it would be a short blog and I like the sound of my own voice so I’m not stopping now. All the other advice I have follows from Tip 2…

Tip 3: Adapt your approach
Remember that it’s your job as a manager to adapt your style to suit the individual you’re managing to get the best out of them. If you manage everyone the same way, you’re almost certainly getting it wrong for most of them. Certainly, when you manage a person with autism, they’re likely to need something a bit different from you. If they do, it’s up to you to change, not them!

Tip 4: Set clear expectations and give clear feedback
We all find it unsettling not knowing what’s expected of us, and autistic people are certainly no exception. Many autistic people don’t pick up on hints very well, and they won’t always be able to infer your meaning from informal instructions – so, if you want something done a certain way, just say so. If you want something done differently next time, just say so. In my experience, if you’re clear, you’ll seldom have to ask twice. It’s not a matter of ‘spoon feeding’, just providing clarity.

Tip 5: Reflect
Sun Tzu’s Art of War (an odd reference I know, but bear with me) says: “If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame.” In my experience, if I don’t get what I want from Suzanne, it often means I didn’t ask for what I wanted. If you don’t get quite what you wanted, think about how you explained yourself. Did I explain my request clearly? Could you be clearer next time? This should probably be part of Tip 3, but I really wanted to get that Sun Tzu quote in…

And that’s me… I’m all out of tips. And I feel a bit of a fraud for such a paltry offering of advice.

But writing this got me thinking… and I’ve come to a conclusion I didn’t expect. I started this blog hoping to crystallise some valuable pearls of wisdom to pass on to help you manage an autistic staff member, or end up explaining how managing someone with autism is different but rewarding. But – and this is the unexpected bit – I don’t think managing a person with autism is different to managing anyone else.

Sure – you probably have to work a little bit harder sometimes. And maybe you need to give your approach a bit more thought. Perhaps you need to be a bit more receptive. But, in my experience, the rewards are worth a little bit of extra effort.

So here’s my final tip: whether you’re managing a person with autism or any other neurodivergent condition, remember that you’re managing an individual. If you take a little time to learn about them, adapt your style, set clear expectations and have honest dialogue about their work, you’ll not go far wrong. Additionally, and probably even more importantly, you’ll be helping to make the Met Police Service a more welcoming place for a wide range of talented and capable individuals who have a huge amount to give and often think a little differently. What’s not to like about that? ∎

This blog was originally published on the MPS intranet – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author