Learning disabilities can cause problems at work. If you have experienced difficulties at work due to your LD, you may be worried about the possibility of losing your job. You also may be hurt or confused by comments your co-workers have made about these problems. 

Try to anticipate problems before they interfere with your performance. Understand your strengths and weakness, and be prepared to ask for the types of assistance that will help you be successful. Whether you're working now, searching for a job, or getting ready to change careers, building self-awareness can help you succeed on the job and beyond.

Understanding Your Strengths
Strengths vs. Challenges
Determining Your Marketable Skills
Job Checklist

Understanding Your Strengths

Everyone brings different strengths and talents to their job. However, it is also fair to say that individuals with and without LD will find certain job-related tasks to be difficult and even problematic. The following is a list of some of the specific ways that your learning disabilities can interfere with success at work

Common Challenges in the Workplace:

Inefficiency: Individuals with LD may take significantly longer than their co-workers to accomplish tasks, leading to overall low productivity on the job. If you're affected by this problem:

• You may be frustrated trying to keep up with your workload;
• You may worry about co-workers resenting your slow pace or ridiculing your difficulties staying organized and getting your work done

High Error Rate with Tasks Involving Academic Skills: Individuals with LD may have trouble writing memos, taking messages, reading instructions, filling out forms, and making changes. If you encounter these sorts of difficulties:

• You may find yourself trying to avoid tasks, especially if you feel embarrassed when your boss or co-workers must double-check and correct your errors.

Problems Learning a Sequence of Tasks: People with LD may have difficulty learning and carrying out multiple-step tasks and following directions. This may be especially true when steps needs to be carried out in specific ways or in a particular order. If you're having trouble completing multi-step tasks in the right order:

• You may find yourself looking for shortcuts (that unfortunately often have a negative impact on the quality of your end product)
• The speed and the accuracy of your work will likely suffer.

Time Management: Learning disabilities can have a negative impact on your ability to manage time efficiently. Some frequent challenges include:

• Having trouble planning ahead, and keeping a calendar of activities;
• Arriving too late or too early for meetings;
• Meeting critical work deadlines.

Social Skills: People affected by learning disabilities may find social interactions to be especially challenging. Common problems might be:

• Knowing what to say and how to behave when meeting people for the first time;
• Helping people feel good about working with you on a team;
• Engaging in small talk, and knowing how much is too much to disclose about your personal life;
• Sharing information about your LD, and, 
• Making and keeping friends.

Strengths You Bring to the Job:

Persistence: Self-determination is one of the most important characteristics seen in people with LD who have achieved success. It is not unusual for people with LD to:

• Try different approaches to solving problems, even after co-workers have given up
• Share their determination with supervisors and co-workers (often appreciated as a sign of interest, dedication, and loyalty to the company)

Creativity: Individuals with learning disabilities often have great problem-solving skills and are extraordinarily creative and resourceful in the ways that they tackle problems. It is not unusual to find people with LD who:

• Come up with innovative and creative solutions to problems at work.
• Are valued by team members as the one to "think outside the box" or to come up new and unusual ideas.

Specialized Talents: Individuals with LD often develop and rely upon unique strengths in specific abilities that help them compensate for their disability, and make them especially valued employees. These might include:

• Drawing and design
• Public speaking
• Mechanical activities and work space adaptation 

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Understanding Your Strengths

The ideal job allows you to tap your areas of strength on a regular basis. Knowing what you do best (and how you can circumvent the challenges of LD) can help you to succeed in the workplace

Your strengths are generally tied to your interests. People tend to spend more time doing things that interest them, and, as a result, they enjoy greater efficiency and develop even better skills in these areas. To gain a better understanding of your strengths, think about things you enjoy doing. To help you better understand your strengths and interests, fill out the following questionnaire. (Feel free to print out this page and answer the questions on paper.)

My Interests and Strengths:

1. What were some of your interests when you were young?
2. What are your current interests? What do you do for fun?
3. What did you do when you were young that you were proud of?
4. What do you do now that you are proud of?
5. What did your parents and teachers always praise you for?
6. What do you do now that makes your family members and friends proud of you?
7. What are you good at now?
8. What have you achieved?
9. What kinds of jobs have you had so far that you have enjoyed?
10. What volunteer work did you do that was successful?
11. What skills would you like to develop?

After you have completed the questionnaire, you may want to show it to family members or friends who know you well. They may be aware of strengths that you have not included.

Determining Your Marketable Skills

The following is a sample of some key marketable skills and ways you can develop them:

All of the skills listed above are valuable to employers, but these represent only a sample. There are many other marketable skills that you may possess. Complete the following chart to get a picture of the skills you have and the ones you would like to improve.

My Skills

Job Checklist

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