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Learning disabilities

A learning disability is a neurological disorder and should not be confused with a mental health problem such as depression or schizophrenia. A mental heath problem may be controlled; some are short term and unlike a learning disability they do not usually affect intellectual ability and can be acquired at any time in your life.

An employer must be guided by the individual's strengths and capabilities rather than judge a potential employee by any preconceived views based on existing stereotypes of learning disabilities.

Potential to work

  • There are approximately 1.5 million people, nearly 3% of the population in the UK, who have a learning disability.[i]
  • There are an estimated 800,000 adults with learning disabilities of working age.[ii]
  • 90% of people with learning disabilities of working age are out of work.[iii]
  • Research has shown that 81% of people with a learning disability of working age want to work.[iv]

People with learning disabilities represent a substantial source of untapped commitment and talent. Yet they are one of the most under-represented groups in the labour market with fewer than 10% of working age in full time employment.

Recent research shows that people with a learning disability want to work, contribute to society and have significantly higher attendance and retention rates than other employees when given a job.[v]

Business case

  • Over a third of UK businesses have hard to fill vacancies, yet 3.4 million disabled people are out of work; in fact, 1 in 5 people available for work are disabled.
  • Disabled employees' skills are under utilised – at least 1.5 million part- time disabled workers work below their potential.

Best practice employers should recruit and retain a workforce that reflects the wider society. By incorporating people with learning disabilities into the workforce and making the adjustments necessary to employ them, businesses and organisations will become more disability confident.

People with learning disabilities can be extremely efficient employees and are competent in a range of quite complex procedures. They often have a high attention to detail and are naturally meticulous. Good management, guidance and support systems will ensure employers benefit from all their staff. Disability confident employers save the time and costs of having to rehire new staff in areas where they employ people with learning disabilities.

Gavin Owen, National Autistic Society: “One of the things that is often portrayed is that people with autism can't do customer facing jobs, however we know a lot of people who work in shops or give advice over the telephone, so they have a range of skills and abilities just like any other section of society.

“Also, people with can be very keen and enthusiastic workers especially when they have been given an opportunity, when they are so often overlooked.”[vi]

Case study - Project SEARCH Cincinnati

Project SEARCH is challenging traditional perceptions about employing people with learning disabilities. Through Project SEARCH, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in the USA has 58 employees with significant learning disabilities who undertake quite involved and complex jobs.

Erin Riehle, Director of the Division of Disability Services at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, set up Project SEARCH. This innovative project has proved that with good instruction and tuition, people with learning disabilities can perform jobs as well as non-disabled people and in some cases even better.

Project SEARCH employees work in a wide range of positions, often overlooked for people with development disabilities. Many of these require mastering complex functions within the hospital, yet they are routine in nature. Some of the positions filled by Project SEARCH include sterilisation technician, laboratory courier and clinical support staff.[vii]

Through her work with people with learning disabilities, Erin Riehle has produced an innovative business model that streamlines the supply chain that delivers disabled candidates with employment potential to the employer. Using her position as a supervisor of a large hospital department, Erin restructured the supply-chain by delivering staff in a way that cut costs and maximised benefits for her hospital.

Prior to Project SEARCH, the recruitment of people with learning disabilities at the Children's Hospital in Cincinnati went through a broad range of recruitment agencies, disabled persons organisations and intermediary bodies. Project SEARCH challenged this approach. By centralising the recruitment and the provision of on-the-job support staff, Project SEARCH enabled the more efficient recruitment of people with learning disabilities into the hospital.

Project SEARCH is successful because provides a single conduit for organising and delivering employment services. It is a business model designed to appeal to employers, providing one central point of contact, one source of support workers and advisers for all the people with disabilities it recruits. It is an approach that is tailored to suit the employer's supply chain. In restructuring the supply chain in this way, Project SEARCH delivers services that meet employer's needs as well as the candidates.

Useful Links

Sources

  1. [i] Making it work – a guide to employing people with a learning disability, Mencap, 2002
  2. [ii] Valuing People (2005) The Story so far: Valuing People - a new strategy for the 21st century. London: The Department of Health
  3. [iii] Workright campaign, Mencap, 2005.
  4. [iv] Down's Syndrome Association – Information for Employers.
  5. [v] http://www.mencap.org.uk/download/briefing_papers/appgld/appgld_141205.pdf
  6. [vi] ePolitix.com, National Autistic Society
  7. [vii] http://www.worksupport.com/research/printView.cfm/42

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