Dyslexia and Commercial (or PPL) flying
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Dyslexia and Commercial (or PPL) flying
Does anyone have any experience of any pilot who has been dyslexic or have any information on whether or not this is likely to hold a person back from going all the way to a commercial pilot or indeed just going for a PPL in the UK?
I suffer from Dyslexia, however I have 2 A's in Physics and Electronics at A level and a B in English Language at A Level, so have no trouble academically.
The question is never asked on application forms, and I see no reason why it would affect me, but I have often wondered if there are many dyslexic commercial pilots...
I suffer from Dyslexia, however I have 2 A's in Physics and Electronics at A level and a B in English Language at A Level, so have no trouble academically.
The question is never asked on application forms, and I see no reason why it would affect me, but I have often wondered if there are many dyslexic commercial pilots...
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The question is never asked on application forms, and I see no reason why it would affect me, but I have often wondered if there are many dyslexic commercial pilots...
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Ok, i'll try.
You clearly can read and write well enough to get by in daily life. Since you can read and write sufficiently to get an A level in English, I would hazard a guess that you would be able to both learn the theory and pass the written multiple choice tests.
And since you don't mention you can't, I am also assuming you can read well (and fast) enough to drive a car without getting lost for want of being able to read road signs or use a GPS.
The only thing you will have to really read and understand in flight are checklists and approach charts when everything is going well, and reference material such as the QRH if things go wrong; both of which you will be familiar with.
I can't really see why a PPL and the CPL should be any problem at all. For the instrument rating and later jet type ratings, reading and comprehension speed might become an issue, though.
Another problem might be routine entry tests done by airlines when selecting candidates, since they might specifically include reading/writing/comprehension with time limits, and you will probably score poorly on these.
You clearly can read and write well enough to get by in daily life. Since you can read and write sufficiently to get an A level in English, I would hazard a guess that you would be able to both learn the theory and pass the written multiple choice tests.
And since you don't mention you can't, I am also assuming you can read well (and fast) enough to drive a car without getting lost for want of being able to read road signs or use a GPS.
The only thing you will have to really read and understand in flight are checklists and approach charts when everything is going well, and reference material such as the QRH if things go wrong; both of which you will be familiar with.
I can't really see why a PPL and the CPL should be any problem at all. For the instrument rating and later jet type ratings, reading and comprehension speed might become an issue, though.
Another problem might be routine entry tests done by airlines when selecting candidates, since they might specifically include reading/writing/comprehension with time limits, and you will probably score poorly on these.
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I suffer from Dyslexia, however I have 2 A's in Physics and Electronics at A level and a B in English Language at A Level, so have no trouble academically.
It's a lot more about spacial awareness, the ability to look at the six (or three) instruments in front of you and picture where you are in three dimensional space. If you can do this, you will have the ability to become a pilot, the rest you can study and take time over. Not sure if the CAA allow extra time for exams as you get at school, but I see no real reason why it should hold you back.
I don't have any real answer to the question but just would like to thank Tshan1 for their post. If a diagnosed dyslexic can write such a clear and well written post, so now can everybody else. All excuses for poor writing, at least from native English speakers, are now removed.
Oh, and very best of luck with your training as well.
Oh, and very best of luck with your training as well.
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It should not be a problem at all. I don't think employers are allowed to ask the question ( discrimination laws), but i would not mention it pre employment.
It makes "management" types jumpy in case they have to get rid of you in the future.
That's just my experience.
It makes "management" types jumpy in case they have to get rid of you in the future.
That's just my experience.
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Thank you all for your replies, they were exactly what I wanted to hear. Just wanted some re-enforcement!
For the record Cobalt no I have no issues driving, I regularly drive from Liverpool in the UK across Europe, so far I have been to France, Germany, Holland and even Spain and managed to find my way back
I believe my sticking point might come with mental arithmetic, believe it or not dyslexia can really affect your ability to process sums (reading things incorrectly is actually a small side effect of dyslexia that is not that common apparently). But I am sure that hours of practice of this would alleviate the problem, as this has always been my solution to anything else I have struggled with.
Happy flying all, many thanks for the replies.
For the record Cobalt no I have no issues driving, I regularly drive from Liverpool in the UK across Europe, so far I have been to France, Germany, Holland and even Spain and managed to find my way back
I believe my sticking point might come with mental arithmetic, believe it or not dyslexia can really affect your ability to process sums (reading things incorrectly is actually a small side effect of dyslexia that is not that common apparently). But I am sure that hours of practice of this would alleviate the problem, as this has always been my solution to anything else I have struggled with.
Happy flying all, many thanks for the replies.
Some observations from my own experience of mild dyslexia..and teaching dyslexic students.
I have no problem reading but writing is tricky... This post will have been corrected many times before posting!
Most dyslexic people think in pictures rather than words and have very good spatial orientation, however, tell me to turn right and I have to visualise it first, in my case from dancing lessons as a child, right foot always first, I used to imagine I am about to do the polka and then get a tingling in that foot. No point doing the "make an "L" with finger and thumb on that hand because to me the it is an "L" whichever hand you use! However I always know where North is and I always know what time it is and once I have been somewhere once can always find it again. Decoding things and working out the next number in a sequence, a doddle. Seeing a picture of a flattened cube and then picking what it will look like as a cube, never understood why some people find that hard.
Now I remember "the instructor is always right" and I'm sitting on that side. East and west, I have to visualise a map of Britain with W for Wales and E for East Anglia. I also cannot make any sense of a chart unless North is at the top. Some instructors insist on flying "up the map" and this is really hard for a dyslexic person.
Similarly, instrument approach charts made little sense to me, particularly entries into holding patterns as I think in 3D but they don't represent 3D as I see it, I learned to compensate by turning it into a 3D picture in my head. You learn it as if it is a movie and when you have mastered it you can play it backwards and forwards in your head but if someone is barking at you to drag a needle left or right around a dial it makes little sense. It's a shame some instructors aren't taught that a percentage of the population see and learn things in a different way, some instructors are very inflexible, even when your own method gets the result. I can't explain how I do it, I just do it!
The only time this has affected me in aviation is when I got to final stages of selection for ATC. Spatial orientation, visualising where all the aircraft where, how fast they were going, ETAs and dealing with distractions, no problem, but telling an aircraft which way to turn...not fast enough with the split second needed to get the tingle in my foot!
Good luck!
I have no problem reading but writing is tricky... This post will have been corrected many times before posting!
Most dyslexic people think in pictures rather than words and have very good spatial orientation, however, tell me to turn right and I have to visualise it first, in my case from dancing lessons as a child, right foot always first, I used to imagine I am about to do the polka and then get a tingling in that foot. No point doing the "make an "L" with finger and thumb on that hand because to me the it is an "L" whichever hand you use! However I always know where North is and I always know what time it is and once I have been somewhere once can always find it again. Decoding things and working out the next number in a sequence, a doddle. Seeing a picture of a flattened cube and then picking what it will look like as a cube, never understood why some people find that hard.
Now I remember "the instructor is always right" and I'm sitting on that side. East and west, I have to visualise a map of Britain with W for Wales and E for East Anglia. I also cannot make any sense of a chart unless North is at the top. Some instructors insist on flying "up the map" and this is really hard for a dyslexic person.
Similarly, instrument approach charts made little sense to me, particularly entries into holding patterns as I think in 3D but they don't represent 3D as I see it, I learned to compensate by turning it into a 3D picture in my head. You learn it as if it is a movie and when you have mastered it you can play it backwards and forwards in your head but if someone is barking at you to drag a needle left or right around a dial it makes little sense. It's a shame some instructors aren't taught that a percentage of the population see and learn things in a different way, some instructors are very inflexible, even when your own method gets the result. I can't explain how I do it, I just do it!
The only time this has affected me in aviation is when I got to final stages of selection for ATC. Spatial orientation, visualising where all the aircraft where, how fast they were going, ETAs and dealing with distractions, no problem, but telling an aircraft which way to turn...not fast enough with the split second needed to get the tingle in my foot!
Good luck!
Last edited by Clare Prop; 6th Jan 2014 at 13:06.
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Hi Clare,
Thanks for your comments, very interesting to hear from a fellow 'sufferer' (it's not much of a thing to suffer from, some of the best brains ever have been dyslexic).
Personally I have spend a lot of time studying maps and then orienting myself as I drive around. So in my case I know that Liverpool airport as runway 09 to the east and 27 to the west, and I know where that is at all times compared to my starting point, so I continually adjust my mental orientation as I drive to keep my sense of bearings sharp. That seems to work for me.
Personally I have never suffered with issues with left and right, thankfully, however my numerical skills will need to improve. Multi-tasking doesn't seem to be an issue, hopefully this will show when I undergo my aptitude testing.
Thanks for your comments, very interesting to hear from a fellow 'sufferer' (it's not much of a thing to suffer from, some of the best brains ever have been dyslexic).
Personally I have spend a lot of time studying maps and then orienting myself as I drive around. So in my case I know that Liverpool airport as runway 09 to the east and 27 to the west, and I know where that is at all times compared to my starting point, so I continually adjust my mental orientation as I drive to keep my sense of bearings sharp. That seems to work for me.
Personally I have never suffered with issues with left and right, thankfully, however my numerical skills will need to improve. Multi-tasking doesn't seem to be an issue, hopefully this will show when I undergo my aptitude testing.
The biggest effect dyslexia has on me day to day is radio frequencies. When you are having to read back a frequency like 126.465 it's easy to get the digits mixed up. You learn the correct frequencies after a while in a particular area, but I normally try to make a mildly humorous apology to the controller as I know it frustrates them.
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We have 5 out of 44 pilots with it. Only ever came out one afternoon in the pub. When one of them screwed up writing something. And I said shut your eyes and count ten then open one eye without thinking.
I just got stared at by the other 3 and then it all came out.
There is more than likely more out there than most realise flying planes.
My advice is don`t tell if they don`t ask.
I just got stared at by the other 3 and then it all came out.
There is more than likely more out there than most realise flying planes.
My advice is don`t tell if they don`t ask.
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Just to add a slightly different perspective. Mil Fast Jet pilot and dyslexic, diagnosed at school, and I managed to make it through. Yes its had an impact (I was generally at the bottom of my ground-school class, but at or near the top when it came to flying) but it in no way should stop you.
It runs in my family, and my father (744 Trg Capt) has it as does my Brother. I have no problem with left/right, although I do sometimes have to take a moment when it comes to east/west.
Best of luck!
It runs in my family, and my father (744 Trg Capt) has it as does my Brother. I have no problem with left/right, although I do sometimes have to take a moment when it comes to east/west.
Best of luck!
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Jwscud, mad_jock, AutoBit, thank you all for your respective views on this. I had a feeling the frequencies would be an issue also, so I do try and practice memorising things. In my current job I work a lot with long order numbers that I get over the phone then have to enter into our system to review, I don't write these down but force myself to memorise them, and even after a couple of weeks of doing this it has made a big difference. I find I can make my mind do anything as long as I train it to think in that way, which is a bonus.
Great to hear that Military pilots, 737 pilots, prop pilots AND 747 pilots all have it, I feel inspired. No real reason now at all why this should ever hold be back, and I hope it does make me better at piloting even if groundschool may be a struggle. I know the accusation always flies about (excuse the pun) that pilots are button pushers but ultimately flying is the skill that sets pilots apart.
Many thanks all.
Great to hear that Military pilots, 737 pilots, prop pilots AND 747 pilots all have it, I feel inspired. No real reason now at all why this should ever hold be back, and I hope it does make me better at piloting even if groundschool may be a struggle. I know the accusation always flies about (excuse the pun) that pilots are button pushers but ultimately flying is the skill that sets pilots apart.
Many thanks all.
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If you speak to pilots that have it they will say that there isn't a problem.
If you speak to pilots that don't have it they really don't understand what it means or how it works. They will come out with all sorts of rubbish why it should mean you fail your medical and other such nonsense.
Go for it don't mention it unless your asked about it. And don't ask for any specials if you have it. Your either up to standard with it or not.
If you speak to pilots that don't have it they really don't understand what it means or how it works. They will come out with all sorts of rubbish why it should mean you fail your medical and other such nonsense.
Go for it don't mention it unless your asked about it. And don't ask for any specials if you have it. Your either up to standard with it or not.
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mad_jock - thanks for that advice. I agree, standards are standards with or without it and I certainly want any special treatment because I have it. It hasn't held me back in any other part of life, no reason why it should here.
No reason at all. Think of dyslexic (and Aspergers) people as the next stage of evolution. 
Certainly not something anyone "suffers" unless being used as an excuse. plenty of proof out there that dyslexic people have only ever been limited in what they can do by old fashioned, inflexible teachers and people who can't deal with people that are different to them so like to label them with a "disorder" that needs lots of expensive drugs to "cure" in order to try and force square pegs into society's round hole.
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Certainly not something anyone "suffers" unless being used as an excuse. plenty of proof out there that dyslexic people have only ever been limited in what they can do by old fashioned, inflexible teachers and people who can't deal with people that are different to them so like to label them with a "disorder" that needs lots of expensive drugs to "cure" in order to try and force square pegs into society's round hole.
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I might add the 5 of us that do have rather different situational awareness to the others.
To us it seems normal to be able to know where other aircraft are just by listening on the RT and to up date the position in our heads along with time.
ie we listen to RT vectors and will come out with "he will get his turn onto the ILS in 5 seconds and we will get base in 30 seconds" don't know where it comes from or how our minds work it out we just know.
It seems to be a more 4D SA which updates itself as time progresses with little calculation on our part.
All of us are B+/A's on recurrent checks.
To us it seems normal to be able to know where other aircraft are just by listening on the RT and to up date the position in our heads along with time.
ie we listen to RT vectors and will come out with "he will get his turn onto the ILS in 5 seconds and we will get base in 30 seconds" don't know where it comes from or how our minds work it out we just know.
It seems to be a more 4D SA which updates itself as time progresses with little calculation on our part.
All of us are B+/A's on recurrent checks.
