Learning Disabilities 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health Learning Disability (LD) is a disorder that affects people's ability to interpret what they see and hear or to link information from different parts of the brain.  These limitations can show up in many ways--as specific difficulties with spoken and written language, coordination, self-control, or attention.  Such difficulties may extend to school and work, and can impact learning to read or write, or to do math.  Learning disabilities can affect a person's self-esteem, education, career, and daily living activities as well as family and social relationships.  It is estimated that between 10 and 15% of the United States population has some form of a learning disability.

LD is a pervasive life-long disability but does not have to be a lifetime disability.  Children and adults with learning disabilities can learn, they just learn differently.  They need to be taught in a way that makes it possible for them to learn so that they use their strengths and abilities to compensate for their weaknesses.  Individuals in all walks of life have succeeded in spite of their learning disability.

The workforce includes many individuals with some form and degree of learning disabilities who, with the appropriate accommodations, can be both successful and productive on the job.  These employees can bring unique skills and sensitivities that can add considerably to the quality and diversity of the workplace.  Accommodations will not always be necessary, nor will they always be effective.  As with all employees, employers need to assess the qualifications and performance of workers who have learning disabilities on an individual basis, and accommodations need to be made on a case-by-case basis, taking in to consideration each employee’s individual limitations and accommodation needs.

Types of learning disabilities

Learning Disability (LD) is the term currently used to describe a variety of difficulties that interfere with a person's ability to process, store, and retrieve or produce information.  Because of this, they may have trouble with reading, writing, math, spelling, speaking, thinking, listening and with social skills.  Learning disabilities are neurological in origin, and are not a form of mental retardation, or develop because of an emotional, visual, hearing or motor disability.  They are also not the result of environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage.  People with learning disabilities have average or above average intelligence.  An individual may have only one, or any combination of disabilities.  Learning disabilities most often occur in clusters, so individuals will most often have a combination of any of the following.

Dyslexia - the individual has average to above average intelligence, but has deficits in visual, auditory, or motor process, which interfere with reading and reading comprehension.  The individual might also have difficulties with learning to translate printed words into spoken words with ease.

Dysgraphia - the individual has average to above average intelligence, but shows deficits in writing.  These deficits may include lack of organization, clarity and unity, fragmentation of written concepts, mechanical errors, reversals, transpositions, and omissions of letters or words.  Spelling may be poor, handwriting may be illegible, and written ideas may be disorganized and incomprehensible.

Dyscalculia - the individual has average to above average intelligence, but has difficulty with numbers or remembering facts over a long period of time.  Some individuals have spatial problems and difficulty aligning numbers into proper columns.  Some individuals reverse numbers, and have difficulty in mathematical operations.

Dyspraxia - the individual has problems with messages from the brain being properly transmitted to the body; though the muscles are not paralyzed or weak, they have problems working well together.  This might cause speech problems as well as poor posture, poor sense of directions and/or difficulty with actions such as throwing and catching.

Auditory Perceptual Deficit - the individual has difficulty in receiving accurate information from their sense of hearing.  There is no problem with their hearing, just in how the brain interprets what they hear.  They might have problems with understanding and remembering oral instructions, differentiating between similar sounds, or hearing one sound over a background noise.

Visual Perceptual Deficit - the individual has difficulties receiving and /or processing accurate information from their sense of sight.  They might have a problem picking out an object from a background of other objects or seeing things in correct order.

 Accommodation Solutions

Reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities must be determined on a case-by-case basis because workplaces and jobs vary, and so do people with disabilities.  And as usual, the person with the disability will generally be our best resource for identifying potential barriers and the accommodations that eliminate them.

An employer needs to provide an accommodation that will enable an individual to perform the specific duties of the job.  In some cases, the impact of a learning disability may make it more difficult for the individual to help identify the accommodations that would be successful.  Employers may also encounter individuals who have undiagnosed learning disabilities.  Some of these individuals with undiagnosed learning disabilities may still be very aware of the impacts of their disability-related limitations, and able to identify accommodations that will be effective, while others may not.  In these circumstances it may be helpful for employers to get suggestions of possible accommodations from an outside party with experience in accommodating people with a variety of learning disabilities.  Whatever the situation, the individual with a disability should still play a central role in selecting and approving the accommodations before they are put in place.

Issues employers should consider when beginning to explore the accommodation process include:

• What are the job duties that are problematic?
• Exactly what does the individual have trouble doing within the problematic area"?
•  What are the neurological deficits the individual is experiencing?  (One may have to do some guessing here.)
•  How can the deficit(s) be compensated for through accommodations?
•  Can the job duties be restructured so that the individual can perform the duties that are easier for him/her?
•  What assistive devices could be used that would help the individual perform the job duties?

It is also important to look at the work environment itself.  What is the physical layout of the workplace?  Is the workplace visually or auditorially distracting?  What kind of lighting is used and what is the noise level?

Common forms of reasonable accommodation

To a large extent, identifying and providing effective accommodations for individuals who have learning disabilities will depend on the employer's ability to respond to the particular needs of an individual, related to a particular setting and set of activities.  The appropriate accommodations will need to be determined and implemented on a case-by-case basis.  An accommodation does not have to be the best accommodation available, as long as it is effective for the particular situation.

Examples of accommodations for reading deficits include:

• Voice output software that highlights and reads, via a speech synthesizer, what has been keyed into the computer.
• Voice input software, which recognizes the user's voice and changes it to text on the computer screen.
• Word processing software.
• Software with highlighting capabilities.
• Formatting written materials to ensure that key information is highlighted or color-coded to stand out visually, cursive and ornate fonts are eliminated, and text is not superimposed over other images or on a "visually noisy" background.

Examples of accommodations for deficits in writing include:

• Providing recordings of meetings, and other recorded notes of instructions or important points from meetings.
• Making forms available on a web site in a format that can be read, filled out and submitted on line using assistive technology.

Examples of accommodations for deficits in mathematics include:

• Talking calculators and/or fractional, decimal, statistical and scientific calculators.
• Large display screens for calculators or adding machines.
• Colored mylar templates and color coding for maintaining ledger columns.

Examples of accommodations for deficits in organizational skills, memory, and time management include:

Breaking down multi-step processes into their component steps, and working with the individual on each one in turn, bringing it to completion before moving to the next step.

• Day planners and electronic organizers/schedulers.
• LCD watches, timers, or alarms.
• Providing reminders, via E-mail, telephone or snail mail, of appointments, important deadlines, or activities the individual needs to complete.

It is also important to look at managing the physical environment in a way that will be most effective for the specific individual and the specific need.  This could include such things as:

• Providing a room enclosure/cubicle to reduce auditory and visual distractions.
• Use of "white noise" by using a sound soother/environmental sound machine.
• Use of colored files.

Additional Resources

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy of the US Department of Labor.  JAN's mission is to facilitate the employment and retention of workers with disabilities by providing employers, employment providers, and people with disabilities with information on job accommodations.  JAN represents the most comprehensive resource for job accommodations available.

 Click here http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/lear.htm to get accommodation and resource information by disability.

The Job Accommodation Network's Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (SOAR) system is designed to assist users in exploring various accommodation options for people with disabilities in work settings.  These accommodation ideas are not all inclusive, however.  The SOAR system allows the user to search by disability to get information on corresponding limitations, job functions, and accommodations.

Click here http://www.jan.wvu.edu/soar/disabilities.html to begin your accommodation resource search.

The Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) of Washington promotes and provides services and support to improve the quality of life for individuals and families affected by learning and attentional disabilities.

Click here http://www.ldawa.org/ to learn more about available services and resources.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities is an online guide to essential information about learning disabilities, early literacy and learning resources, support for adolescents and adults with LD, and public policy and advocacy tools.  The Center provides "expert advice" on how to succeed at work, in relationships, parenting, and more.