by Nora Carver

Created on: August 11, 2007   Last Updated: April 24, 2008

In the last few decades, understanding and acceptance of people with learning disabilities has become more prevalent as medical research has enlightened society in general to the types and affects of these disabilities. People who had previously been viewed by society to be "dumb" or "below average" are now understood to have a disorder of some type or another that keeps them from processing information on the same level or at the same speed as the majority of society, particularly in the workforce.

One thing that is essential to dealing with learning disabilities in the workplace is the knowledge of the disability to begin with. Sometimes potential candidates come with the knowledge that they have a learning disability. These people have to be dealt with responsibly, with respect and consideration. Many progressive companies provide access to programs which can help employees improve and overcome disabilities and become productive employees. These programs may include adult reading education programs, disability assessment programs or training programs modified to suit the needs of particular learning disabilities.

Having a learning disability can make it difficult for an adult to become gainfully employed as many employers do not want to deal with the "extra hassle" of working with persons with learning issues. Despite the fact that many companies have policies concerning persons with disabilities, many employers do not consider learning disabilities to be a legitimate disability and therefore do not apply governmental rules and guidelines when dealing with these individuals. This is not to say every employer will automatically rule out persons applying with learning disabilities as prime candidates all together, but it is often used in the decision making process when deciding which candidate is most suited to the companies needs even if the person doing the hiring will not admit so.

Often times when a person with learning disabilities is employed, they have difficulty learning the job they have been assigned to do. This is because the teaching of job skills is designed for an overall general population and is not specifically geared towards people with learning disabilities nor do many training programs allow for ways to modify the material to teach it to people with disabilities. If the employee manages to pass the training requirements they run into even more obstacles of on the job performance, dealing with co workers who do not understand their disability.

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