Finding your way into the world of work despite a disability
For many children and young people with dyslexia, ADHD or other cognitive deficits, school is a struggle. Knowledge is imparted in a way that highlights their weaknesses on a daily basis. Some are labelled as disruptive because of their restlessness, while others are seen as mentally challenged. In reality, their brains simply have difficulty interpreting written symbols or blocking out background noise.
In comparison, teaching seems to offer salvation. Finally, fidgety children can get stuck in, and those who struggle with reading have their tasks explained to them orally. Finally, they can engage with something that really interests them.
But first, they have to choose a career and find an apprenticeship – which often requires similar skills to those taught at school. And in their apprenticeships and vocational schools, they face new challenges due to their dyslexia, dyscalculia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Contacting the IV takes a lot of effort for many parents.
Patrick Brütsch, IV vocational counsellor
What's more, many have already undergone several assessments and support measures and are fed up with adults telling them what to do. «Many don't want to hear anything more about ADHD and therefore initially refuse support,» says Susanne Spalinger from the ADHD organisation Elpos Switzerland, describing the state of mind of many sufferers towards the end of their school years.
Some people with dyslexia, ADHD or ASD manage the transition without professional help. They have learned to compensate for their weaknesses and make the most of their strengths. But there are also those whose difficulties at school continue into their career choices, apprenticeship searches and apprenticeships. And there are solutions for them too, at least for most of them. If you look for them, you will find lists of highly successful people with ADHD. And many dyslexics have completed a university degree. However, many of those who have been successful have had individual support along the way.
Seek support
When choosing a career becomes a major topic in the second year of upper secondary school, it is time to clarify whether your child is up to the challenge. If parents and teachers have serious doubts, it is advisable to seek further support. This could be an organisation that specialises in your child's particular deficit.
The cantonal IV offices, which offer job coaching from career choice to completion of apprenticeship, also have a great deal of expertise in this area. Many parents find it difficult to contact the IV, says Patrick Brütsch, IV career advisor at SVA Zurich. «Some people think that the IV is all about pensions and that you will then be considered disabled for the rest of your life.»
Don't be afraid of the IV
The opposite is true. The IV helps to integrate people into the labour market so that they do not need a pension. It employs specialised career advisors who have the experience and network to guide young people with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or mental health issues through the career choice process.
It is crucial that people with a deficit know and utilise their strengths.
Monika Lichtsteiner, psychologist and career counsellor
If appropriate, the IV will arrange for a job coach to support the young person during their apprenticeship. Important: In order to receive support from the IV, a diagnosis must have been made by a specialist centre.
The situation is particularly complex in the case of dyslexia. If the child has «only» a reading or maths disability, they are not eligible for IV benefits. Benefits here refer to financial benefits or cost coverage. Brütsch assures us: «We also advise young people whose sole diagnosis is a reading, spelling or maths disability and refer them to the appropriate integration partner.»
Choose alternative routes
A commercial apprenticeship is even more difficult to obtain with severe dyslexia than it already is without it. Completing a computer science apprenticeship with severe dyscalculia is also very difficult. Monika Lichtsteiner points out that this is partly because those affected are unable to demonstrate their abilities due to formal criteria such as spelling and school mathematics. She is a psychologist and career counsellor and has been working with people affected by dyslexia for 20 years.
«Some parents find it difficult to accept that their ideas about their child's vocational training cannot be realised directly. But another profession offers the opportunity to achieve the goal later on,» she notes.
She describes the example of a young woman with severe writing difficulties who entered vocational training with a two-year EBA apprenticeship. She then wanted to learn a technical profession and did a trial apprenticeship in this field. She impressed her vocational trainer so much that she was hired and is now about to complete her apprenticeship.
«Her comprehension skills, her ability to understand and solve technical problems, and her self-organisation skills are outstanding. She uses digital tools such as Chat GPT to express herself in writing at her training company ,» says Lichtsteiner. However, the use of such tools remains a problem at vocational school.
Diagnosis in the application?
A sensitive question is whether or not the diagnosis should be included in the application. Transparency is important, and anyone receiving IV support should disclose this, as vocational schools, for example, will share this information with the training company anyway. In addition, severe ADHD is likely to become apparent sooner or later anyway.
However, if it is only a minor weakness that is of little relevance to the chosen profession, Monika Lichtsteiner considers it legitimate for a young person to keep this to themselves. «But only if they do not need compensation for disadvantages.» This refers to compensation for diagnosed weaknesses in examinations. This text will discuss this later.
It is crucial that people with disabilities recognise and utilise their strengths. This begins with work experience placements and continues throughout vocational training. Some individuals must first discover their talents on their own after receiving primarily negative evaluations throughout their schooling. Specialists can also assist in this process.
Another misconception is that it is more difficult to find an apprenticeship when IV is involved, says Patrick Brütsch. However, many training companies are happy to have a specialist who can advise them on how to deal with an apprentice with special needs.
Specialists in this field work at Impulsis in Zurich, for example, an association that supports young people in their professional integration. Andrea Rüegg, co-director, describes their work as follows: «If a vocational trainer has no experience with ADHD, we explain to them what the impairments mean and that they should not give the learner several tasks at once, but one after the other.» People with poor concentration may need permission to wear noise-cancelling headphones or to work in a place in the company where they can have some peace and quiet.
The fact that digital aids such as Chat GPT, spelling tools and online translation are on the rise anyway helps people with dyslexia. Even learners without cognitive weaknesses are learning to use them sensibly. Another current development is also benefiting young people with ADHD, dyslexia, autism or other challenges: «In sectors with a shortage of learners, many companies are willing to go the extra mile to train young people,» says Andrea Rüegg. Various other experts share this view.
Compensation for disadvantages in examinations
There is another crucial tool for enabling young people with diagnosed weaknesses to receive suitable vocational training: as already mentioned, this is called disadvantage compensation. This is available to visually and hearing impaired people as well as trainees with ADHD, ASD, dyslexia or mental impairments such as social phobia.
Compensation for disadvantages can be granted for examinations at vocational school and also for practical examinations at work. Each canton has an office where this must be applied for.
Presenting something is one of the core competencies in commercial professions. Young people with social phobia have great difficulty with this.
Christina Frei Jenni, Vice-Principal of the Zurich Lake Education Centre (BZZ)
One of the most common forms of compensation is extra time to complete an exam. Fifty-five minutes instead of 45 minutes is standard, says Christina Frei Jenni, Vice-Principal of the Zurich Lake Education Centre (BZZ), where IT, mediamatics, FaBe and KV students receive their vocational training.
Certain schools allow the use of assistants who read the exam questions aloud to students with reading difficulties. According to Frei Jenni, this is not possible at the BZZ. In individual cases, however, exams can be taken orally instead of in writing. «Any form of compensation for disadvantages is an organisational challenge for our school and our teachers, but we are pragmatic and sympathetic.»
Guide step by step
These forms of compensation are still the simpler ones. Often, what has been learned is no longer tested in traditional examinations, but rather through project work, podcasts or films. This makes it even more challenging to offer those with learning difficulties the same opportunities for success.
«Giving presentations is one of the core competencies in commercial professions,» says Frei Jenni, citing an example. «Young people with social anxiety disorder have great difficulty with this.» They could record their first presentations on video at home and then be introduced step by step to presenting in front of an audience.
Communication is crucial
Professional support and compensation for disadvantages could be reduced or eliminated over time, emphasises IV career advisor Patrick Brütsch. Christina Frei Jenni agrees. She repeatedly hears young people say that they want to try without compensation for disadvantages. With increasing experience, many people with dyslexia, ADHD or other deficits become increasingly successful at compensating for their weaknesses and performing just as well in the labour market as people without their diagnosis.
Good communication and cooperation between parents, training companies, vocational schools and vocational integration specialists helps to ensure a successful transition from school to vocational training. For many young people, it is crucial to have a trusted person at the training company and vocational school. And as almost all of the respondents emphasise, young people play the most important role. They must be willing and motivated to develop themselves further and stand up for their needs. In this way, their diagnosis will eventually cease to play a role in their professional lives.
