By Dale S. Brown
Adapted from an article that originally appeared in LDA's "Newsbriefs."
Parents of children with learning disabilities should be involved
in helping their children think about work and explore careers.
Academic achievement is important, but it should not be considered
the most important part of the child's life. It is a means to an
end. The end is a satisfying adulthood where your child can make
a contribution.
During adolescence, your child should be developing his strengths.
He might be athletic, academic, attractive, good with his hands,
or socially adept. Whatever the strengths, effort and encouragement
can help them to grow.
His career choice will be based on his strengths and you should
encourage him to think about future jobs. Can he fix items so they
can work? Can he wash small, delicate items without breaking them?
Coordination and mechanical ability is useful in many careers from
car mechanic to dentist. Has he always been expert at knowing which
parent to approach first to get what he wants? Can he charm grades
out of his teachers? These skills are also important for many jobs
from salesperson to diplomat.
It's not easy to determine which career uses your child's strengths.
Many books about job hunting have practical exercises to help your
child make that match. Private job placement firms can administer
tests and advise adolescents. Vocational rehabilitation counselors
can also help. Vocational skills tests can serve as a valuable guide,
but they are not accurate for everyone. Some school systems offer
career education, systematically exposing the students to the world
of work. If your child's school doesn't have such a course, perhaps
you could recommend establishing one. After the teenager thinks
of a potentially interesting job, he should learn more about it
and try to talk to people doing that job. If possible, he should
visit the actual office, factory, or worksite. Volunteering, internships,
apprenticeships, and part time jobs will enable him to experience
the work and find out if he can do it well and enjoy it.
Careful career exploration is especially important to learning
disabled youth since they must be careful to avoid their areas of
disability. For example, Carla, who is talkative and friendly, thought
she might want to be a telemarketer who would sell over the phone.
She volunteered to help a community group set up appointments to
pick up furniture for sale in a thrift store. She found that she
couldn't do the job, because it required staying in the same seat
for hours at a time. She was hyperactive and needed to move more
than the job allowed. James wanted to enter the field of television
production. He became an intern at a neighborhood cable TV station
and found that the mechanical aspects of production were difficult
for him. Now he is thinking about scriptwriting.
Your child should know about his disabilities. It will help him
avoid his weak areas. Without clear information on his disabilities,
he may still think of himself as stupid, lazy, crazy, or personally
weak. These explanations lead to a low self-image and paralyze the
desire to improve. Tell your child what you know. If you feel uncomfortable
about this, ask a professional to talk to him. Let him know the
exact nature of the learning disability and how it affects him.
Teach him the scientific words. Be sure he knows about what he has
to overcome. Improvement should be ascribed to his efforts, not
to "outgrowing it," upbringing, or treatment. Most learning-disabled
people feel relieved when they find out about their disabilities,
although some initially deny them.
They deserve to be proud of what they have overcome, a pride that
will make them feel good about themselves. A strong and realistic
self-image is one of the most important qualities in success. It
will be vital during the time your child is looking for work.
Looking for work
Looking for work is difficult for everyone, especially when high
unemployment allows extreme selectivity among job applicants. Chances
are strong that your child will face this challenge while living
at your home. How can you make your home a supportive place for
job hunting? Here are some ideas:
Insist your child actively look for work. Do not let him
spend extensive time watching TV, reading, shopping, or entertaining
friends. If necessary, tell him that looking for work is full-time
job, which he must do in order to earn your financial support.
Help him by not overloading him with chores during working hours
on the weekdays when employers are in. Help him overcome his failures,
but do not accept lack of effort.
Help him to organize himself. Some learning disabled people
do not know how to look for work. There are many books about job-hunting,
each with a slightly different approach. Together, you might decide
on a plan of action. Or help might be needed with the fine points
of planning and scheduling. You could remind him of necessary
follow-up telephone calls or letters.
Be a good listener. Ask him how the day went. Listen carefully
to his adventures. Let him express his feelings of frustration,
anger, and nervousness. Emphasize his actions and behavior, rather
than the results. If he is actively seeking work, he deserves
your respect and praise, even if he does not succeed in finding
work. For example, praise your child if he does a good job of
describing his qualifications at an interview, even if he is not
selected for the opening.
Help with reading and writing. You may have to read classified
ads for her and check addresses of her letters. Some job banks
have computer printouts on a screen, which are especially difficult
for dyslexic people to read. It might be helpful if the parent
types or handwrites job applications since childish handwriting
and misspellings tend to disturb employers. If the employer uses
online job kiosks, a new barrier for people with reading and writing
difficulty, you may have to sit with them and key in the words
of the application.
Help with transportation, if necessary.
Grooming is important. Learning-disabled people with visual
perceptual problems are often unaware of tears and stains on their
clothing, sloppy hair, or dirt on their hands. It helps if someone
looks them over before an interview.
Use your social network to help your child find work.
Talk to your friends, co-workers, and other parents of learning
disabled children. Tell them about your child. Stress your child’s
positive qualities and describe her as a capable worker. Don’t
spend a lot of time describing her learning disability. Ask her
to follow up any leads that you discover.
Be aware of community resources. Know the applicable civil
rights laws. Consider government programs such as vocational rehabilitation
and job service. If you know of other parents whose children are
job hunting, you may want to form a support group for yourselves
and/or your children.
With your help, your child will be able to locate a satisfying
job. However, this is only half the battle. Your child will have
to work hard in order to keep that work. Be sure your child gets
a complete job description and check for problem areas. If your
child might have difficulty with any task because of his disability,
he may want to consider trading that task with a co-worker in
return for a task that he can do. Equipment such as calculators,
tape recorders, and self-correcting typewriters can solve problems.
A learning disabled person should not accept a job that includes
many tasks in his area of disability.
Social skills are important to job success. Help your child to
understand the point of view of co-workers and to adjust to the
many hidden rules of the organization.
Many learning-disabled adults are successful. Learning-disabled
people work in every conceivable job – salesperson, optometrist,
pilot, doctor, psychologist, computer programmer, janitor, and
waiter. Remember to pay as much attention to your child’s
abilities as to his disabilities. Teach him to feel pride in his
achievements. Help him to select an interesting career that does
not emphasize his area of disability. And support him as he hunts
for a job. With your help and your clear belief that your child
can succeed, he can “make it.” Good luck!
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