Having dyslexia as an adult can be challenging. You may find yourself unable to keep up with your colleagues at work or struggling to process large chunks of complex text (e.g., research literature).
It may even affect your personal relationships!
On top of all that, there aren’t many proper support systems in Singapore to accommodate the needs of adult dyslexics.
If you’ve come here looking for answers, don’t worry. There are good solutions available even in Singapore. First, however, we need to talk about why adult dyslexia is such a big problem (IMO).
Why adult dyslexia can be hard to remediate
The biggest problem with having dyslexia as an adult is that it is not often talked about, compared to dyslexia in kids and even teenagers. The older one gets, the fewer accommodations there are to help with dyslexia-based difficulties, and the lower the tolerance one gets for making mistakes. You either sink or swim; eat or be eaten. In such cases, it’s difficult to seek the understanding of peers or superiors (see this CNA article, for example).
Worse still, those who did not go through intervention during their childhood or teenage years will also have a harder time dealing with its challenges. After all, working a job 5 days a week with only 14 to 21 days of leave per year means that there’s little time for one to learn the skills needed to overcome their literacy challenges.
And how about adults who are struggling with literacy, but are unaware of this learning challenge? For them, they must feel like Sisyphus, the mythological Greek chap forced to roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it come rolling back down upon him at the summit. One can only imagine the frustration of undiagnosed dyslexics who are in fast-paced work environments or tertiary institutions, wondering if there’s something wrong with them.
Finally, the brain’s neuroplasticity is at its strongest during our formative years. That’s not to say adults are incapable of learning new things. However, they will certainly need more dedication and consistency to “re-wire” their brains, compared to younger minds that still have plenty of room for making new neural connections.
So yes, adult dyslexia can be a challenge, especially in a meritocratic, fast-paced society like Singapore. However, as mentioned earlier, there are things one can do to circumvent it…
…starting with knowing if you actually have it.
How to know if you have dyslexia: a rough checklist
If you’re one of the adults who are unsure as to whether or not they have dyslexia, then answer the questions from the following checklist:
- Do you frequently confuse similar-looking words like “causal” and “casual”, or “clam” and “calm”?
- Does reading long chunks of text (e.g., research literature) wear you out easily, more so than your peers?
- Do you skip lines when reading long chunks of text?
- Do you struggle to memorise instructions, written or verbal?
- Do you find it difficult to organise the sequence of events after reading a story?
If you find yourself answering “yes” to most of the above questions, then you might have dyslexia.
However, as with most screening tests, the above checklist only provides a rough guide based on common symptoms of dyslexia, and is not meant to be used to confirm a diagnosis. For that, you need to undergo a formal psycho-educational assessment.
Getting assessed for dyslexia as an adult
While there are many places that assess children and teens for dyslexia, those that do so for adults are much fewer. One of the reasons is that test kits for children are different compared to those for adults.
This means if you’re looking to get tested for dyslexia as an adult, there aren’t many suitable places to go to.
Nevertheless, there are still a few good, reliable options you can consider:
- Dyslexia Association of Singapore: Without a doubt, the DAS is the biggest dyslexia organisation in Singapore, and one of the few places that does assessments for adults.
- Firm Foundation Psychological Practice: Firm Foundation is comprised of ex-DAS psychologists who have contributed much to the research of dyslexia in Singapore. Currently they only cater to children and teens, but they plan to open up assessment services to adults too by the end of the year.
- Bloom Child Psychology: Headed by Dr Vivien Yang, Bloom’s psychologists—many of whom used to be with the Ministry of Education—are trained to assess not just kids, but also adults. They are some of the friendliest and most passionate people whom I’ve had the privilege to work with, and they produce detailed reports that are easy to read.
Assessments don’t come cheap, but they will give you peace of mind and help you understand your condition better. Hence, once you know yourself better, it’s easier to figure out what you need to do to overcome dyslexia’s limitations.
“Treatments” for adult dyslexia
Finding a place in Singapore that offers therapy for adult dyslexia is even harder. To my knowledge, there are only two places that are able to help dyslexic adults beyond just providing literacy support.
Dyslexia Association of Singapore
The first is the DAS with its iStudySmart programme. This is a 1o-week programme that covers areas beyond literacy, like executive functioning and presentation skills. Its target audience is students from post-secondary institutions, such as ITEs, polytechnics, and even universities.
Swords & Stationery
The second is the Swords & Stationery programme. As of 2025, we have expanded our educational therapy and specialist tutoring programme to also cater to clients in post-secondary institutions AND the workforce. This part of our programme is headed by Teacher Ros, the creator of the aforementioned iStudySmart programme, who left the DAS to join us in 2025. While we still provide literacy support for these clients (should they request for it), we’ve also included modules in our curriculum that target executive functioning, communication, self-discovery, and workplace skills.
Literacy support
If literacy support is all that you need, then there are a few more options available:
Skills and values that you need to help you navigate around dyslexia as an adult
Even with support and intervention, dyslexia does not completely go away with age. You’ll likely run into problems every once in a while.
Thus, it is important to know how to circumvent the challenges brought about by dyslexia.
For that, you’ll need certain skills and values.
Skills
One of the most important skills is communication. Good communication skills are useful when asking for accommodations at work, getting help from peers or colleagues, voicing concerns when doing group projects, etc. It is crucial to self-advocacy, to make your voice heard so that others will know when you’ve reached your limitations. This also prevents misunderstandings from happening.
Similar to the above, it is also important to know how to socialise and network. Many dyslexics are entrepreneurs and it’s likely because they’re better at being around people outside of the academic setting. Even if you’re not planning to run a business, it’s good to expand your network so that you can land bigger, better opportunities in the future.
The third important skill is that of building emotional resilience. As adults, the more we age, the more susceptible we are to negative emotions and thoughts; too many of these can lead to mental health issues. Stress levels can quickly escalate when your workload is piled on in the workplace, or when you don’t understand what your lecturer has been saying for the last four lectures. Knowing how to build up emotional resilience can help you to think more clearly, find meaningful solutions, and keep going.
Values
This part is a bit more personal and subjective. To me, I strongly believe in two important values (which I try to instill in my students) that will help one to navigate around the workplace.
The first is to have a growth mindset. Understand that every bit of effort counts towards your personal growth, while failure is only a temporary setback that provides you with a learning experience. And while not everyone will recognise your efforts, those that do will be the ones whom you can trust and develop meaningful relationships with. This is the way to go if you want to leverage on your areas of expertise while sharpening your weak areas.
The second value is to practise intellectual humility. Don’t be too proud to ask for help if you need it. When in doubt, ask for clarification politely. Some people may think poorly of you, especially if they’re the impatient sort, but that’s on them, not you. If you’re still unsure, watch the following video by author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek:
Of course, do exercise some discretion on when’s the best time to ask. You don’t want to hold your colleagues or tutorial mates back from lunchtime!
Concluding thoughts
Dyslexia is a lifelong condition that does not 100% go away. It’s not something that can be outgrown. Children with dyslexia will grow up to be adults with dyslexia. In other words, many of dyslexia’s challenges will persist throughout one’s lifetime, just to varying degrees.
However, it is possible to manage it. Get formally assessed by a psychologist first, then talk to intervention service providers to see how they can help. Is it just literacy support that you need, or do you also need help with executive functioning skills? These are questions that only you know best. Just remember, with the right skills and values, you can circumvent dyslexia’s challenges and keep up with your colleagues or peers.