The form read three times without being understood: the card slipped into the folder teaches the CAF advisor (France's family benefits office) to explain it out loud before asking for a signature
A card slipped into the document folder, read by the advisor before opening the first form, and the quarterly declaration is explained out loud instead of being handed over with a “fill this in, I'll be right back”.
This case is about a 36-year-old dyslexic woman who reads slowly and loses the thread as soon as the boxes multiply. She created the profile herself. It is meant for the advisor at the front desk of the CAF (France's family benefits office), who sees dozens of files a day and has only a few minutes for each.
The counter, the folder, the pen
Ticket 47 lights up on a Tuesday at 9:40, at the neighbourhood CAF office. Amina steps forward with her cardboard folder under her arm: the quarterly income declaration, two payslips, a reminder letter whose first line she has read three times. The advisor hands her the form, points at the screen and says: fill in part B, I'll be back in two minutes.
The lines blur together. The amounts look alike. The pen hovers over the “net taxable income” box. Amina has no trouble understanding what is asked of her when it is said out loud; it is dense writing that slows her down, and the queue growing behind her. She smiles and says she forgot her glasses. It isn't true.
This time, the card is stuck to the first sheet of the folder. The advisor scans it before opening the file. He reads: slow reading, needs to hear instructions, never amounts to copy from memory. He turns the screen, reads part B out loud, and circles the relevant boxes with a highlighter. The declaration is signed at 9:52. Amina had nothing to confess.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR for this case
The CAF advisor does not know the person sitting across the desk, and the paper file says nothing about how she reads. The QR must therefore be seen before the first form, not after.
- Card stuck to the first sheet of the cardboard folder holding the supporting documents: it is the first thing the advisor opens.
- Card placed on the counter on arrival, along with the appointment notice or the ticket number, without saying anything.
- Sticker on the back of the benefits card, for appointments where no papers are brought.
- Link attached to the message sent from the personal account before an appointment, when the meeting is planned in advance.
To avoid: the back of the phone, which the advisor should not have to handle, and the bottom of a supporting document, which gets copied into the file and would be seen by other departments. The card stays with the person: the advisor reads it, then hands it back.
Ready-made text templates
The templates below help fill in the three sections of the profile. Rewrite them in your own words: the way it feels to be lost in a form belongs to you alone.
For the “Introduction” section
“My name is Amina, I'm 36. I'm dyslexic: I read slowly, I sometimes mix up similar numbers, and a dense form makes me lose the thread. I understand very well when things are said out loud. It is neither inattention nor lack of interest, it's simply how I read.”
For the “How to help” section
“Read the sections out loud to me before I fill them in. Circle or highlight the boxes to complete. Explain amounts in words, not only in figures. Let me reread without anyone standing behind me. Write down on a sheet what is still to be sent.”
For the “What to avoid” section
“Please don't hand me the form and tell me to fill it in alone. Please don't make me read aloud in front of the queue. Please don't make me copy long numbers from memory. Please avoid “didn't you read the letter?”: I did read it, but too slowly to remember everything.”
Disabilities covered by this case
Dyslexia is at the heart of this case. The same guidance helps people with dyspraxia or attention difficulties, for whom a dense form takes real effort, and those who read French with difficulty. A spoken explanation is often enough.
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