The Career Carousel: An Ongoing Helping Tool for Those with Learning Disabilities and
Other Related Disorders

by Veronica Crawford, MA
July 2002

 

First, I would like to introduce what I am about to embark on. It is to provide a series of
pieces to a puzzle. The finished puzzle is one that will help you to find your place in the
world of work. Even if you have your place in the world of work, when you have hidden
disabilities, (those conditions others can't see) it will help you to recognize what others
need to know and what they don't need to know. I come to you as a former Human
Resources Professional and a person with several hidden disabilities. I am also an
author of a book called "Embracing the Monster". It is my personal story about the
struggles of growing up with the emotional impact of having hidden disabilities and how
to get around much of it (though it will still kick you hard from time to time!).

The first article in this series will open up the reader (an introduction if you will) to the
concept of career exploration for those of us with "hidden disabilities". But more than
that, it is a plea to all to consider the risks taken by not acknowledging we have certain
functional limitations. It is our responsibility to learn as much about the manifestations of
our disability as we can so if we need to disclose our disability, we do so in a
professional and informed manner.

Category I A Plea to Action: Introduction

Perhaps one of the most difficult things we have to face as individuals with "hidden"
disabilities is that they are hidden. That is what a very good friend of mine told me who
is an individual with visible disabilities. She said "you have it rough; you have to decide
to hide it and risk getting caught or tell and risk disbelief."

How right she was, but there is a way I have found through the years that one can
disclose when necessary and not have the "shock wave" occur. Details of this method
will come in later articles. This initial article is the beginning, the awakening if you will.
Our reality is to either decides to pull our heads out of the sand and join hands with our
brothers and sisters of the disability community; or keep our heads in the sand and risk
losing our rights under the Individuals with Disability Education Act (for school-age
children with LD), Section 504 accommodations (public schools, post-secondary and
employment settings), and the Americans with Disabilities Act for employment and postsecondary considerations. These legislative mandates are what give us our rights to a
free and appropriate education, reasonable accommodations, and equal opportunities in
employment.

Throughout each one of these articles, I will show you methods on how to utilize your
individual strengths to choose your careers wisely so the disability does not cause as
many problems and if so, how and when to disclose. For some, you may be able to selfaccommodate in the workplace. This is fine, until you get a promotion and new
responsibilities will cause your disability to become apparent to supervisor or coworkers.

Even if your particular learning disabilities are not considered substantial you may have
sister, or brother, or a child down the road who may and will need you help. Each article
will have sections that, although focused on workplace implications, will also give
practical help to the reader. When I mention LD and "hidden disabilities", I mention
these as commonly co-existing conditions such as ADHD, Bi-Polar Disorder, Anxiety,
OCD, and Depression. In addition, many people have these hidden disabilities without
LD who will also benefit as their disability rights are also being challenged in the
workplace.

The adult populations of persons with hidden disabilities tend to be taken less seriously,
especially those adults with LD. Many in society and the workplace believe that when
you grow up, the problems associated with LD goes away, or somehow you just learn to
manage like everyone else. As all of you know, this is not the case. Coping skills may
get better in adulthood in that we learn how to hide it a bit better. For me, I still have
horrible trouble sequencing new and old information, short term auditory memory,
reading comprehension, all math, and trouble with fine motor dexterity problems (knifes,
forks, and other sharp objects make me a dangerous person!) along with problems with
grammatical, punctuation, and run-on sentence (yes writing) problems. I don't lack
creativity I just have people edit my work!

Veronica Crawford, MA, Author of Embracing the Monster Overcoming the Challenges
of Hidden Disabilities, Publisher Brookes Publishing 2001.

For information on American Association of People with Disabilities visit
www.aapd-dc.org