INTRODUCTION
For a variety of reasons, it is predicted that people with disabilities will enter the work force in record numbers in the 1990's. Increased job opportunities for people with disabilities will result from anticipated labor market shortages and the enforcement of civil rights laws. For example, the recently enacted Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, including those with learning disabilities. Disabled people are more likely now than ever before to take advantage of these opportunities: a recent survey found that the majority of people with disabilities who are able to work, want to work. Employers have found that the first step to a successful record in hiring people with disabilities is to gather basic information about different types of disabilities. This brochure gives employers an overview of a group of related conditions known as learning disabilities.
Because learning disabilities are invisible, the presence of learning disabled workers in the labor force is not obvious. Nonetheless, there are over five million adults with learning disabilities in the US labor force. They hold a wide variety of jobs, from entry-level to upper management. Many employees with learning disabilities prefer to keep their conditions confidential, making their own adjustments to the way work is performed. Others may disclose their learning disabilities to the employer and request that reasonable accommodation be made--a right they have under the law. Whether adjustments are made by the employee or by the employer, a study has shown that learning disabled workers are successful with appropriate accommodations.
FACTS ABOUT LEARNING DISABILITIES
A learning disability causes a marked discrepancy between intellect and performance in terms of acquisition or expression of information. Learning disabled adults have average or above-average intelligence but their abilities in various areas are disparate. For instance, an articulate person with an excellent vocabulary who is learning disabled may have difficulty spelling some simple words on an application form. Another learning disabled adult who easily grasps complicated concepts or instructions the first time he or she hears them may be a slow reader and have difficulty reading personnel or instruction manuals quickly and accurately.
These striking contrasts in abilities and learning styles have been evident in many people, some of whom have been famous. Albert Einstein, for example, was a brilliant scientist but had great difficulty with writing. Having a wide range of talents, along with an extremely high level of motivation, many individuals with learning disabilities have the potential to make outstanding contributions to their field or profession, if given a chance. For example, Nelson Rockefeller, former governor of New York, was dyslexic as is Stephen Cannell, noted author of television scripts. Individuals with learning disabilities are teachers, professors, doctors, dentists, lawyers, and executives.
The primary effect of a learning disability is a limitation in the way information is received or expressed. In some cases, however, learning disabled adults have problems with social interaction, organization, and management of time.
Learning disabilities are often confused with other invisible handicapping conditions, such as mild mental retardation or emotional illness. A learning disability is not synonymous with the following problems:
Mental Retardation: Learning disabled adults are not mentally retarded. They have average to above-average intelligence. In fact, it is believed that Thomas Edison had a learning disability.
Emotional Illness: Learning disabled adults do not suffer from emotional illness such as schizophrenia. In some cases the stress from living with a learning disability may manifest itself in emotional problems that can be treated.
English as a second language: People who have difficulty with English because it is not their native language are not learning disabled.
TYPES OF LEARNING DISABILITIES
There are many types of learning disabilities that can be categorized as visual, auditory, and motor deficits. The characteristics and limitations posed by one form of learning disability can differ greatly form another. Of course, there also individual differences in the degree of the problem posed by a given learning disability.
Visual. People with visual perception and memory problems have difficulty receiving, integrating, and retaining visual information despite normal vision. They frequently confuse letters that look alike, such as b, p, and q. They may read very slowly and omit ends of words or ignore punctuation marks or spaces between words. These problems can also affect spelling and writing. They may misspell multi-syllable words, leave off endings, omit whole words, transpose words, and make punctuation error s.
Auditory. People with auditory perception and memory problems do not have hearing impairments. Rather, they have problems with accurate perception, interpretation, and retention of information, acquired auditorially. They may have difficulty differentiating between similar sounds or retrieving words, names, and dates. People with these problems may have great difficulty taking accurate telephone messages. They may be distracted easily by background noise and have difficulty understanding and remembering directions accurately, if, for example, they work near a window overlooking a noisy street. Some people with auditory perception problems cannot interpret tone of voice or inflection. Thus, they may react inappropriately to jokes or kidding by fellow employees.
Motor. Gross and fine motor coordination problems can pose difficulties in movement. People with poor coordination of large muscles (gross motor problems) may appear clumsy. Fine motor problems (poor coordination of small muscles) make writing especially difficult. People who have this problem might not be able to read their own notes. They may submit messy reports or take phone messages that are illegible.
EFFECTS OF LEARNING DISABILITIES
Auditory, visual, and motor processing deficits affect a variety of abilities and skills including basis skills (e.g., reading, math, and written language) and social skills.
Basic Skills. Learning disabilities can also be classified by the basic academic skills that are affected. Dyslexia, a severe reading disorder, is the one most commonly known. Olympic decathlon winner Bruce Jenner, who is dyslexic, has written o f his tremendous embarrassment over his extreme difficulty in reading. Other academic learning disabilities include dyscalculia, a severe problem with mathematics, and dysgraphia, a marked problem with handwriting.
Social Skills. Some learning disabilities interfere with social skills rather than academics. People who misinterpret tone of voice and inflection may not understand a sarcastic remark. Some learning disabled individuals are not aware they are interrupting a conversation. People with visual perceptual problems may be unaware of subtle information conveyed by body language or facial expressions. They may not see the difference between a forced smile and a genuine one. Other individuals cause social discomfort because they do not maintain appropriate eye contact. They may not be able to judge how near or far to sit or stand from co-workers or supervisors. Some may mistake a friendly pat on the shoulder as being aggressive and become angry or defensive.
AN EMPLOYER'S LEGAL DUTY
Under federal and state civil rights laws, employers must provide equal opportunity to qualified applicants and employees with learning disabilities. If a person with a learning disability is able to perform essential duties of a job once reasonable accommodation has been made, an employer may not base employment decisions (hiring, firing, promotions, compensation, etc.) upon the person's disability. Reasonable accommodation means a modification to the job application, work study, work schedule, or work process that would enable a person with a disability to perform a given job.
Forms of accommodation that may be appropriate for a learning disabled employee include job restructuring, reassignment to a vacant position, and access to equipment. Job restructuring involves replacement of job duties a disabled employee cannot perform with duties he or she can perform. For example, a sales person who has difficulty with math would take on additional accounts in return for a co-worker's or supervisor's help with billing. Examples of equipment include word processors, calculators, and dictaphones.
An applicant or employee with a learning disability must disclose his or her condition to be entitled to a reasonable accommodation, unless the need for accommodation is obvious. Employers are not required to provide accommodations that would pose an undue hardship (significant difficulty or expense) upon them.
INTERVIEWING AND TESTING APPLICANTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
Learning disabled applicants may be the most qualified people for the jobs in question, but many cannot become eligible for employment because of the barriers posed by the employment application, test, or interview.
A learning disability can affect a person's ability to read an application quickly and accurately or spell correctly when filling it out. Applicants can request assistance when filling out a written application. Alternatively, questions on an application could be tape recorded, and the learning disabled applicant could dictate answers.
If a company requires applicants to take entry-level tests, employers need to be concerned with both the test content and the administration procedures. If the content of a test screens out a learning disabled applicant, the employer must be able to show that the skills measured by the test are job-related. Some applicants with learning disabilities may have difficulty taking employment tests because of the type of administration. People with dyslexia would experience problems with written employment tests; those with auditory perceptual problems would have difficulty with oral tests. A reader could be provided to read the employment test to a dyslexic applicant, just as a reader would be provided for a blind applicant. An oral test could be reformed as a written test to accommodate applicants with auditory perceptual problems. Performance tests may be preferable to written or oral tests. Accommodation in testing may be needed for promotional examinations as well as for entry-level tests. Employer s should consider these forms of accommodation before a person with a learning disability applies; however, an applicant who needs accommodation in testing should request it.
Federal non-discrimination law prohibits pre-employment inquiries regarding the nature or severity of an applicant's disability. An interviewer is permitted to ask applicants job-related questions, such as past job experience, educational achievements, and licensure. However, if an applicant discloses his or her learning disability during an interview, the employer may want to discuss reasonable accommodation at that time. The interviewer could identify various job duties and ask the applicant whether h e or she could perform them given reasonable accommodation. The applicant might then describe how he or she performed similar tasks in the past.
SUPERVISING EMPLOYEES WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
Supervisors should meet with new learning disabled employees and discuss the appropriate form of communication between supervisor and subordinate. They should also ascertain special training needs of their staff and speak to the training coordinator about satisfying those needs.
Written instructions regarding assignments may be inappropriate for dyslexic employees. Training programs with a great deal of written material may also be difficult for them. The trainer or supervisor could provide oral rather than written instructions . Instructions that an employee would need to refer to could be tape recorded. In some cases, a reduction in the amount of material on a written or typed page will accommodate learning disabled employees and allow them to concentrate on the most important information.
Oral instructions may not work well for employees with auditory perception problems. Similarly, they may not gain much from a formal training program consisting of lectures or discussions unless there is written material to refer to or simulated experiences in which to participate.
Various types of assistance can aid learning disabled employees in performing their jobs successfully. These modifications are usually worked out on the job, after the person has been hired. One example is restructuring a job so that a co-worker can proofread the reports of an employee with significant spelling problems. Some learning disabled employees may need an extension of time to be able to complete a project properly. The learning disabled employee who needs a time extension may be willing to work a longer day to complete his or her work. Employees with auditory perceptual problems may need to work in quiet surroundings. If they have private offices, the employees may prefer to keep their doors closed while working. During a meeting, an employee with this type of disability may need to take extensive notes to refer to in the future.
Employees with learning disabilities that cause social problems generally will not be able to adjust their behavior spontaneously since part of their disability is difficulty picking up subtle cues. Supervisors will need to have a direct but supportive conversation with the employee, pointing out specific behaviors that cause problems and describing appropriate changes. For example, the person who interrupts should be told that it is not appropriate to simply walk into an office where people are having a conversation, and that the employee should knock and then wait patiently until asked to enter. A timely discussion with an employee who has inappropriate social behavior will prevent accumulation of anger and resentment.
Supervisors should remember that each employee with a learning disability is an individual with specific strengths and weaknesses. Not all learning disabled employees need the same accommodation. Some will need no adjustment to the job at all. The employee should always be consulted regarding the type of accommodation needed. Most accommodations can be made at little or no expense. If a problem at work arises because of the employee's learning disability, and the supervisor and employee cannot resolve the problem, a rehabilitation counselor familiar with learning disabilities may be of assistance.
CONCLUSION
Every applicant and employee has strengths and weaknesses. A learning disabled person may be the best candidate for the job, regardless of his or her disability. Civil rights laws allow such persons to reach their full potential and give employers an opportunity to profit from the talents of these capable men and women.
ASSISTANCE
The following organizations can provide free information about employment of learning disabled adults.
The President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, 1331 F Street N.W., 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 200041107. (12023766200) (http://www.pcepd.gov)
Job Accommodation Network, (1-800-526-7234) for information about how other employers have accommodated employees with learning disabilities.
Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, 1801 L St. N.W., Washington, DC 20507. (phone: 1-800-9\669-4000 or 202-620-3660) (http://www.eeoc.gov). For a summary of the federal law (ADA) visit the EEOC's webpage at (http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/ada.html).
Illinois Department of Human Rights, 623 Stratton Building, Springfield, IL 62706 (1-217-785-5119) for information about accommodations for learning disabled employees. (http://www.state.il.us/dhr).
Learning Opportunities Program, Barat College, 700 Westleigh Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045 (1-847-234-3000) for information about learning disabled college graduates and accommodations for employees with learning disabilities.
Productive Learning Strategies , DePaul University, 2323 N. Seminary, Chicago, IL 60614 (1-773-325-4239) for information about learning disabled college graduates and accommodations for employees with learning disabilities. (http://condor.depaul.edu/~plus)
This document is a special supplement to the booklet Learning Disabilities, Graduate School, and Careers, by Pamela B. Adelman and Carol T. Wren.
LD Booklets home page (general information about the LD PERSPECTIVES booklet series)
PLuS Program home page (the "Project Learning Strategies" at DePaul University, with links to additional LD resources and other information)
E-mail to Dr. Wren: cwren@condor.depaul.edu.