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Laws That Protect You
There are three main federal laws that protect people with learning disabilities from discrimination:
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 provides for special education and related services for children and young people with disabilities up to their 22nd birthday. The IDEA provides for a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and for an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for eligible students. Click here for more information about the most recent reauthorization of this law, IDEA 2004.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (PL 93-112) prohibits discrimination against children and adults with disabilities. It guarantees that people with disabilities have equal access to programs and services that receive federal funds. This includes public and private schools and colleges. It also applies to employers receiving federal funds.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 protects children and adults with disabilities from discrimination in employment, public, and privately-operated settings. The law applies to all public and most private schools and colleges, testing institutions, and licensing authorities. It also applies to state and local governments and to private employers with 15 or more employees.
The above laws apply once you disclose your learning disability.
Disclosure
On the Job Accommodations
Requesting Accommodations
Disclosure
If you decide to disclose your learning disability, be prepared to discuss the following:
- The features of your specific learning disability
- How your LD affects your performance
- The accommodations or modifications you need to be successful on the job
- Examples of successes you have had in the past when you have used these accommodations
Be straightforward in your statements. Discuss your disability briefly, honestly, and in a positive light. For example, you might say something like the following: "I have a learning disability that affects my understanding of multi-step instructions when they are given verbally. You can help me by either writing the instructions down, or permitting me to either write them down or tape record them. In my last job, my supervisor always sent me email messages with instructions, and it worked out fine. In fact, I received an outstanding evaluation on my last performance review."
At this point, you should be prepared to answer questions about your learning disabilities. There is a common misunderstanding that learning disabilities are somehow related to other conditions like mental retardation or vision and hearing impairments. Be prepared to dispel these myths. You may even wish to give your employer a simple fact sheet on learning disabilities.
After you have come to an agreement with your employer about your specific LD-related needs, you might want to ask for a memo or letter documenting your discussion and detailing any specific accommodations that you have arranged. Asking for this memo should not be seen as adversarial, but rather as a record of mutual understanding of what you need to be productive on the job.
On the Job Accommodations
As a person with learning disabilities, you are entitled to reasonable accommodations at work. A reasonable accommodation is any change or adjustment to a job, your work environment, or the way things are usually done that allows you to perform job functions. In other words, an accommodation can remove or lessen the barriers to your job performance that are caused by your disability. There are three things you must do to get accommodations on the job:
1. Disclose your disability to your employer.
2. Provide documentation of your disability.
3. Request specific accommodations on the job.
Accommodations*
It is also possible to request and make use of technology that can help you perform your job better. These are known as assistive technologies. There are many different technologies that can help you work around, or compensate for, your disability.
Assistive Technologies*
For Reading Deficiencies:
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Audio tapes
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Tape-recorded messages and instructions
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Screen-reading computer software
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Color-coded materials, files, maps, etc.
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Scanners for entering printed material into the computer
For Writing Deficiencies:
For Math Deficiencies:
For Organizational Deficiencies:
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Day planners
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Electronic organizers/schedulers
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LCD watches, data bank watches, timers, counters, alarms
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Personal Data Assistants managers (PDAs)
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Color coding for maintaining ledger columns
Requesting Accommodations
If you want to request accommodations at work, you will first need to decide whether to disclose your disability. You may be concerned that by disclosing your LD your boss will lose confidence in your ability or that your co-workers will ridicule you. However, you should know that more people today are familiar with learning disabilities than ever before, and LD on the job has become more prevalent and generally accepted. But it is completely up to you whether or not to disclose, and it depends on your comfort level with your boss and your co-workers. If you decide to tell your boss about your LD and need for accommodations, this information must be kept confidential. Your co-workers are not entitled to know about your disability unless you choose to tell them.
Depending on the type of job you have and your job responsibilities, you may wish to explore ways to circumvent problems without disclosing your disability. For example, you may arrange to share responsibilities with a co-worker in order to capitalize on each of your strengths. The following are some real-life examples:
The Trade-Off -- Exchanging Work
1. Frank's job requires him to do a quarterly report. Frank dreads turning in his reports because he has trouble writing. He finds it difficult to organize and outline his thoughts, so his reports are not always as clearly written as they could be. But Frank has great artistic talents. So he asked his co-worker, Janice, to help him outline and organize his quarterly reports and to review his drafts before he sends out the final copies. In exchange, Frank has offered to design the layout and format of Janice's reports.
2. Consuela has trouble balancing the monthly budget at work. But she has great people skills. She has asked Carey to handle the budget. In exchange, Consuela has offered to make Carey's beginning-of-month sales calls to customers, telling them about the monthly specials. Carey is happy to handle the budget and not have to make those monthly phone calls.
Sometimes, there are ways to self-accommodate besides exchanging tasks with a co-worker. Look at the following examples:
The Trade-Off -- Tricks of the Trade
1. Frank might try to self-accommodate by asking his supervisor if he can install a software program on his computer that can help him outline his thoughts when writing. Frank can simply tell his boss that the program helps him work more efficiently without disclosing that he has LD.
2. Sarah is expected to take minutes at the monthly staff meeting. But Sarah has trouble writing down what's been said while the conversation continues. So she has asked her boss if she might tape-record the staff meetings to be sure that she doesn't miss anything. Then she can play back the tape later to be sure her notes are complete.
3. Micah is a machine operator and has trouble measuring to the fraction of an inch. So he developed a small card to fit in his wallet. The card had an enlarged picture of an inch on it. Micah was then able to compare the picture of the fraction on the card with the location on the ruler.
You can see from the examples above that it is often possible to make adjustments to your work that will allow you to you perform your job duties. The employees in the above instances chose not to disclose their learning disabilities at work.
*Adapted from The Job Accommodation Network, Work-site Accommodations to Consider for People with Learning Disabilities and/or Attention Deficit Disorder.
Job Checklist
Tips for Workplace Success*
1. Try to schedule interviews and on-site visits to get a feel for different kinds of workplace environments.
2. Request and review job descriptions before applying for positions.
3. Know your strengths and challenges and how these match up with different kinds of job positions.
4. Apply for job positions for which you have the knowledge, skills and abilities.
5. When you interview for a job, present yourself as a capable individual who can competently perform the job.
6. You can disclose your learning disability after the job has been offered. Make sure to disclose in person, not over the telephone. It's a good idea to share this information with your supervisor or with someone else present, possibly a staff person from the personnel or human resources department.
7. When you disclose that you have a learning disability, be sure to describe the necessary accommodations for you to perform your job, as well as the strategies you've developed that help you do your job well.
8. Request that your supervisor give you a list of job performance expectations in writing.
9. Ask for a schedule of when your performance evaluations will take place. Be sure to find out what the performance evaluation will entail and how your work will be evaluated.
10. Know when and how to request workplace accommodations.
11. If workplace accommodations are provided, be sure that you and your supervisor review how well the accommodations are working and agree to make adjustments if necessary.
12. Never use your learning disability as an excuse for not doing your best.
*Adapted from Linkages, Spring 1995, Vol. 2, No. 1, Washington, DC: National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center Job Checklist
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