Impact of Learning Disabilities on the Workforce
How To Help Your Employees Help You Stay Competitive
by Tina Raimo, Executive Director,
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, Boston Unit

There is a growing body of reliable data that indicates that learning disabilities in adults are a widespread problem. A recent US Department of Labor observation estimates that up to 80 percent of employees reading below the 7th grade level may have a learning disability. These forms of disability in the workplace generally relate to: reading and understanding printed material, effectively understanding verbal instructions, understanding the amount of time required to complete a task and following directions. When we couple these individual employee challenges with the new learning requirements brought about by the explosion of technology in the workplace, it’s easy to see why education is quickly becoming everyone’s business.

The workplace is changing in ways beyond just learning skills. It is now a place where teamwork is essential, where productivity demands are always increasing and where everyone must develop new methods of operation and new ways to communicate. Demands on employees and employers are increasing exponentially. Employers that don’t find ways to help their employees master the required skills and successfully adapt to the new communication realities are quickly becoming uncompetitive.

In most cases, employees with learning disabilities are bright, dedicated, capable and often gifted. But, usually, they need to find different ways to learn a required skill or a work-related accommodation to improve their on the job performance.

Passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 helped bring more attention to the challenges faced by Americans with learning disabilities. Initially, this landmark legislation brought about the expansion of services and facilities provided for students with learning disabilities in primary and secondary schools. It also significantly changed how fiscal resources were allocated in the American education system, particularly in special education. To date, the act has had far less impact on people with learning disabilities
in the American work place.

Loring Brinckerhoff, Ph.D., a disability consultant and the former director of learning disabilities support services at Boston University, explains why, "Initial implementation of the act largely focused on individuals with physical disabilities. But, this is now changing as the implementation process progresses and matures. I expect to see the American workplace expand efforts to assist employees with learning disabilities as the implementation focus shifts to the workplace and as employers begin to see the significant productivity gains possible. "

What can you as an employer do to address employee learning disability challenges in your organization and stay competitive? If an employee identifies his or her learning disability, there are a number of resources that can provide support. Here are a few suggestions:

* Use the Resources Available:
There is a lot of private and public help now at your fingertips. For New England employers, here are some good places to start:

Learning Disabilities On-line Resource, visit www.ldonline.org
This website is the central Internet resource for learning disability information and help.

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, call 617.577.1111 or visit www.rfbd.org
RFB&D is the largest producer of audio textbooks in the world and is a valuable resource for your employees who have a documented learning disability and who may be returning to school or taking classes to improve skills and knowledge. The organization is now converting to digital recording, which means that in the future, its audio textbooks will be available on CDs that can be navigated by page, chapter or heading. RFB&D has membership programs that provide your employees and their children (learning disabilities often run in families) with professional services and support.

Job Accommodation Network, call 800-526-7234 or visit www.jan.wvu.edu
JAN provides free consulting information on equipment, methods and modifications for employees with learning disabilities to help improve their work environment and productivity.

Mass. Assistive Technology Partnership, call 617-355-7153 or visit www.matp.org
MATP Center provides information about assistive technology products and services. It also can provide referrals for funding resources.

*Tailor Support to Individual Employee Needs:
Develop a plan of support that profiles each employee’s strengths and weaknesses and seeks to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. It’s critical that each assisted employee play an active role in setting goals for themselves and in developing and implementing the plan designed to help them attain these goals.

* Give Employees Greater Control:
Control is the key to success in helping employees with learning disabilities. The more control an employer can give an employee with a learning disability in adapting the physical environment of their workplace and flexibility in work time scheduling the greater the probability of success. Almost all workplace accommodations require extra time on the part of the employee to achieve the required goal. Where that time comes from, arriving early or leaving late, is most effectively left to the employee to decide if possible.

*Make Sure Forms of Support Are Available to All Employees:
Here are some examples of different forms of support that employers may want to consider in assisting employees with learning disabilities:

Visual Perception Problems – talk to employees rather than giving written instructions, allow use of taped materials, put training manuals on tape, use graphic presentations, provide computers with voice output or set up co-worker buddy systems.

Auditory Perceptual Problems - write down instructions, allow employees to take notes, provide tape recorded instructions for play backs, demonstrate requirements and have employees then show you.

Short Term Memory Problems – use acronyms for memory sequences, have diagrams and cheat sheets readily available, provide watches with beepers, develop drills and practice exercises.

In the long run, employers will find that the time, effort and expense they invest in helping employees with learning disabilities be more productive on the job will pay handsome dividends in improved company moral and profit margins.

For more information, contact Christina Raimo at Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (617) 577-1111 ext. 11 or visit the website www.rfbd.org.