Are allowances made for people with dyslexia to obtain a drivers licence?

Question:

To whom it may concern, I am 32 and have dyslexia.Could you possible advice me on where to go to obtain my learners licence? I do know that over sees allowances are made in terms of either taking the test orally or in america the test can be written electronically, on a touch screen in the form a multi choice picture selection.

Please advice. I would really love to become mobile.

Answer:

We would like to share the answer also previously shared on the Car Insurance Blog:

Yes the National Road Traffic Act makes provision for the application of an oral test to can be conducted. The applicant needs to make an application at any Driving Licence Testing Centre, who will forward the application to the MEC of the province concerned.

A person may only do an oral test for a learner’s licence if he or she is illiterate and if the MEC has given permission.

Electronic learner’s licence test may also be used to examine a person for a learner’s licence.

I don’t see a definition of the word illiterate in the list if definitions in the Regulations.

Here are dictionary definitions:

illiterate adj 1: unable to read and write. (http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk)

dyslexia noun: psychol, medicine 1 a disorder characterized by difficulty in reading and writing, and in spelling correctly, although individual letters can be recognized, and other intellectual abilities are unimpaired. 2 popularly a term used for difficulties in reading and writing. (http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk)

I’m not sure how Regulation 104 is interpreted by the authorities in a case such as this. If the candidate can read and understand the printed questions, then the answers are multiple-choice options of which the correct answer must be selected. No writing is required. However, perhaps special oral testing can be arranged as noted above.

Gavin Hoole

The New K53 Manual
For Learner’s & Driver’s Licence Test Preparation