The ‘Dys in Education, Professional Life and Work project’ (DysinEduProWork) is an Erasmus + project which is co-funded by the European Union and brings together five European countries: Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Italy, and Estonia. The Ballymun Job Centre is leading this project and is very excited to share all the materials developed by the hard work of all our partners.
SLD’s (Specific Learning Difficulties) or ‘Dys’ disorders are sets of characteristics and difficulties affecting various academic skills. People with Specific Learning Difficulties will face problems in 1 or more of the 4 major activities in the learning process; reading, writing, organisation and apprehension of numbers. Types of Dys difficulties include dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia.
The DysinEduProWork project’s overall goal is to bridge the gap of inclusion for students with SLDs between completing their VET (Vocational Education and Training) courses and entering the world of work and professional life. We aim to achieve this by providing VET graduates with SLDs tools and knowledge to help fight the barriers that can prevent them from succeeding in their working lives and attaining sustainable employment.
Awareness about SLD and necessary adaptations has been gradually improving in education and professional domains. However, many adults with SLD still lack adequate support to thrive in their careers. This lack of support leads to employment and mental health issues, particularly affecting self-esteem and career choices.
The project’s key objectives are to:
- Empower individuals who have Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) in their professional life and work,
- Equip employers with tools to combat stigma and misinformation about SLDs and neurodiversity in general in the workplace,
- Enhance work stability and career development for young adults and VET graduates with SLDs transitioning from vocational education to the workforce.
Project Partners in Vicenza, Italy April 2025
How did we achieve our goals and objectives so far?
For Worker’s:
We achieved our goal and objectives by firstly conducting research and analysis of the EU labour market and identifying key challenges in the inclusion of workers with SLD’s and identify where individuals can find support in each partner country. This resulted in national and cross-national research documents as well as a digital booklet. Available here: https://dysineduprowork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DYS-Booklet-Ireland.pdf
Secondly, through the design and testing of this comprehensive Workers’ support guide and tool. The support guide includes e-learning modules as well as templates, and integrated tools to support the job search, finding a suitable job, sharing and discussing their disabilities in an online community which is available to sign up to for free here: https://edukacio.com/courses/dysineduprowork/ .
We created a digital toolbox, a self-assessment tool for job searching and a job selection & progress tool. See the links below:
- Digital Toolbox: https://dysineduprowork.eu/toolbox/
- Self-assessment tool for job searching: https://dysineduprowork.eu/self-assessment-tool/
- Job Selection and Progress Tool: https://dysineduprowork.eu/job-search-tool/
For Employers:
Finally, for employers we created a comprehensive guide with resources on neurodiversity and support material for hiring neurodiverse staff available here: https://dysineduprowork.eu/employers-guide/
A task blueprint module created to help with job processes overall, and employers will have access to templates online that apply to their situation as well as information on each learning disorder and its characteristics using fiches:
- Task Blueprint: https://dysineduprowork.eu/task-blueprint-module/
- Learning difficulties in the workplace: https://dysineduprowork.eu/fiches-about-learning-disorders-in-the-workplace/
A support directory designed for employers in each country is under construction.
For more information about the project, the project partners involved, and updates visit our website: https://dysineduprowork.eu/ . We regularly post articles on related topics for further information: https://dysineduprowork.eu/news/
Our latest newsletter is here: https://dysineduprowork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/EN-2.pdf