Sir Richard Branson has talked openly about being dyslexic for decades, and he has become one of the best-known voices arguing that dyslexia is a different way of thinking rather than a defect. In September 2024 he went a step further, launching DyslexicU with the charity Made By Dyslexia: a free online “university of dyslexic thinking”. This post looks at what DyslexicU actually is, why Branson backs it, and what employers can take from it.
Branson and dyslexia
Branson left school at 16 and went on to build the Virgin Group. He has said that when he was young, people “definitely didn’t celebrate being dyslexic or having a dyslexic child”, and that the word dyslexia only came into common use after he had left school. In other words, he grew up without a label, without support and with plenty of adults who assumed he wouldn’t amount to much.
His view now is that dyslexic children tend to be creative problem solvers, and that many have had a hard time in conventional education, which has made them more resilient. Whether or not you agree with every part of that, the point stands: the barriers he met were in the school system, not in his ability to think.
Dyslexic people often bring real strengths to the workplace, such as big-picture thinking, pattern spotting and clear verbal communication. Not every dyslexic person has the same profile, and it is worth reading up on how the dyslexic brain processes information differently before making assumptions either way.
What is DyslexicU?
DyslexicU was launched in New York on 24 September 2024, timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly. It was created by Made By Dyslexia, the charity founded by Kate Griggs, with Branson as a key contributor.
It is not a university in the traditional sense. It is a set of free, on-demand online courses hosted on The Open University’s OpenLearn Create platform. According to The Open University’s announcement, the aim is to help people understand how dyslexic thinking works.
Who the courses are for
The courses are aimed at two groups. Dyslexic people can use them to understand their own thinking skills, and non-dyslexic people can use them to learn what dyslexic thinking looks like and why it matters. At launch, the first courses covered entrepreneurship and start-up mentality, and changemakers and activism, with more planned. Branson described it at the launch as “a very small start”.
The wider campaign for dyslexic thinking
DyslexicU builds on years of campaigning by Made By Dyslexia, which Branson has supported for a long time. One of its best-known wins was persuading LinkedIn to add “Dyslexic Thinking” as a skill people can list on their profiles. That small change matters, because it moves dyslexia from something people hide on a CV to something they can name as an asset.
It also reflects a shift we see in our own work with employers. Organisations are starting to ask how they can get the best from dyslexic staff, rather than only how to “accommodate” them. Practical tools help here, from adjusted written communication to resources such as our dyslexia-friendly style guide.
What employers can take from this
You don’t need to be Richard Branson to make use of dyslexic thinking. You do need to remove the barriers that stop dyslexic people showing what they can do. In most workplaces those barriers are predictable: dense written job adverts, timed written tests in recruitment, long text-heavy documents, and managers who judge spelling instead of ideas.
Fixing these is usually cheap. Offer information in more than one format, allow assistive software, give extra time where written tasks matter, and train managers to focus on the outcome rather than the method. Our guide to dyslexia in the workplace covers the common adjustments in more detail.
How Enna can help
If DyslexicU has you wondering how well your organisation supports dyslexic employees, we can help you find out. Our Neurodiversity 101 workshop gives teams a grounded understanding of dyslexia and other forms of neurodivergence, and our workplace needs assessments identify the specific adjustments an individual needs to do their best work.
For a wider view of where your organisation stands, try our free neuroinclusion maturity assessment or book a call with our team. If you are dyslexic and looking for an employer that values how you think, browse the roles on our neuroinclusive jobs board.
