My child is struggling 
Now that my child has 
Dr. Horowitz
As one reads Guiding Teens with Learning Disabilities it is clear that some students with LD will have significant challenges with life skills and others will struggle primarily in areas of academic performance. Any advice about how to predict the kinds of struggles a particular student will experience once they transition from high school?
Dr. Roffman
One of the interesting things about LD is how heterogeneous it is. A person can be an abysmal speller but be a strong reader. Or a brilliant mathematician but weak in social skills. Or very social but unable to independently organize his belongings or schoolwork.
During the school years, the focus tends to be on how LD affects academics, in particular, reading, writing, and math. But as you note in your question, learning disabilities spill out into a student's life well beyond the classroom and affect life skills as well. I think it's fairly predictable that a teen with a reading disability will struggle with a variety of reading-related tasks outside of school as well. He may not be able to read the directions on his headache medicine, he may find it difficult to read the daily newspaper, and he may have problems reading the directions to his newly-acquired piece of technology. When he heads off into the work world, he is likely to find himself struggling with the daunting task of having to read and understand manuals, memos, and scads of emails. That's where the need for accommodations comes in. In the book I write quite a bit about how schools and parents can help teens with LD begin to learn life skills as soon as during the elementary years. Launching early into the transition process will give them a head start at developing life skills for the challenges ahead.
Dr. Horowitz
I loved the "condition of my desk" anecdote in the "accommodations that work" section of "The Path to Employment" (Chapter 6). Will employers really agree to the kinds of conditions that Glenn asked for, or was Glenn's situation in some way unique and not the rule of thumb for most work situations?
Dr. Roffman
Yes, Glenn certainly got what he needed on the job he had at the time of his interview with me! As he reported when I was writing my last book:
I am recognized as a person with a disability, and I am provided with...accommodations. My favorite is that under no circumstance will the condition of my desk be taken into consideration in my performance appraisal. That is written down, signed off, agreed to, all the way up the line...
— Meeting the Challenge of Learning Disabilities in Adulthood , p. 99)
Glenn also negotiated to have a proofreader review important documents and a quiet space to work when he was under a deadline. It's important to note that as an individual with LD he was protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights law that protects employees with disabilities from discrimination on the job as long as they are 'otherwise qualified' and can perform the 'essential functions' of the position with accommodations, if necessary. To qualify for those accommodations-without which, he may well have met with failure in his position-Glenn had to disclose that he had a documented LD and self-advocate for what he needed in order to perform those 'essential functions.'
Glenn proactively asked for what he needed rather than waiting until he was in trouble for not performing well. There were no favors involved-he got what he was entitled to under the ADA. It is illegal for employers to discriminate, so the simple answer to your question is that Glenn's situation was not unique.
The reality, however, is that a lack of understanding of LD among employers, supervisors, and co-workers is a major point of concern for workers with LD. Because it's an invisible disability, some are skeptical that LD exists or confuse it with other disorders, even with mental retardation. Most experts on employment advise adults with LD to wait until they are hired to self-disclose and, even then, to do so only if they will need accommodations. Deciding to self-disclose is a very personal decision. For those who decide to go that route, it should be noted that employers tend to be more receptive to requests for accommodations from employees who understand their learning issues, have a good sense of their own strengths and areas of challenge, can explain them clearly, and know what they need. Thus, it all comes down to awareness again!
By the way, you may have noted that none of the accommodations Glenn received was an expensive proposition-indeed, several of them incurred no additional expense at all to his employer. This is the case in the vast majority of instances. In the book I describe various types of accommodations employees might need on the job and refer readers to such resources as the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), which provides free telephone technical assistance and a terrific Web site where they can identify accommodations that match particular areas of challenge.
