Emotional overlay is something that many individuals with learning disabilities are plagued with throughout their lives. This is a result of years of frustration, chronic stress, loss of self-esteem and self-confidence, anger and isolation. Many individuals struggle to cope with these emotional problems and they find it difficult to focus on anything else.

Finally, discrimination is by far the most difficult of all the barriers that individuals with learning disabilities face when it comes to employment. The fallout of discrimination includes individuals being fired because of things that are a result of their learning disability eg. social skill deficits, consistent lateness or failure to follow instructions. Although the employer is not aware of it because they do not know about the person's learning disability, they are committing an act of discrimination by letting the person go. This is why learning disability awareness is so important for employers.

Summary

Individuals with learning disabilities are impacted in the workplace by many barriers. These barriers include lack of awareness by employers, social skill deficits, negative school experiences, untapped potential, emotional overlay and discrimination. Social skill deficits may include lack of judgement, deficient perception of other's feelings, difficulty maintaining friendships and challenges associated with socializing and interpreting social cues. Such deficits rank second only to incompetence among reasons for job termination. Although, lack of social skills can be a huge barrier for individuals with learning disabilities, discrimination is by far the most difficult barrier to overcome.

Specific Challenges Associated with Learning Disabilities in the Workplace

There are very specific challenges adults with learning disabilities face when it comes to employment. For instance, individuals who have auditory processing deficits find that the ability to remember more than one step of complex instructions is extremely difficult for them. Unfortunately, the subsequent lack of follow-through is often misinterpreted as disinterest or laziness. According to Hoffman et al. 1987 " 'problems following directions' is the number one problem identified by employers in getting and keeping a job"⁵