Vocational training is also possible with an impairment
For many children and young people with ADHD, dyslexia or other cognitive deficits, school is a struggle. Knowledge is taught in a way that brings out their weaknesses on a daily basis. In comparison, teaching seems to be a salvation. At last, fidgeters can get to grips with things, tasks are explained orally to those with reading difficulties, and they can occupy themselves with something that really interests them.
But first they have to choose a career and find an apprenticeship - where similar skills are often required as in school lessons. And in the apprenticeship and vocational school, they are challenged again with their ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia or their form of autism.
Many parents find it difficult to contact the IV.
Patrick Brütsch, IV career counsellor
When career choice becomes a major topic in the second year of secondary school, it is time to clarify whether your child is up to the challenges. 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 deficits.
The cantonal IV offices, which offer job coaching from career choice to completion of the apprenticeship, also have a great deal of expertise in this area. Many parents find it difficult to contact the IV, says Patrick Brütsch, IV careers counsellor at SVA Zurich. «Some think that the IV is all about a pension and that you'll be considered disabled for life.»
No fear of the IV
The opposite is the case. The IV helps to integrate people into the labour market so that they do not need a pension. It employs specialised careers advisors who have experience and a network to guide young people with ADHD, an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or psychological difficulties through their career choices.
If appropriate, the IV will arrange a job coach to support the young person during the apprenticeship. Important: In order to receive support from the IV, a diagnosis must have been made by a specialised agency.
The situation is special in the case of dyslexia. If there is «only» a reading or maths difficulty, there are no IV benefits. Whereby benefits are to be understood here as financial benefits or assumption of costs. Brütsch assures: «We also advise young people with a reading, spelling or arithmetic disorder as their only diagnosis and refer them to the appropriate integration partner.»
It is crucial that people with a deficit recognise and use their strengths.
Monika Lichtsteiner, psychologist and career counsellor
For many, their deficit also means that they cannot directly pursue their career aspirations. «This is difficult for some parents to accept. But a different profession offers the opportunity to achieve the goal later,» Monika Lichtsteiner points out.
The experienced psychologist and careers counsellor describes the example of a young woman with severe writing difficulties who started her vocational training with a two-year EBA apprenticeship. She then wanted to learn a technical profession and did a trial apprenticeship. She impressed her vocational trainer so much that she was hired. She is now about to complete her apprenticeship.
According to Lichtsteiner, it is crucial that people with a deficit recognise and utilise their strengths. This begins in the taster programme and continues in vocational training. Some people first have to find their talents after years of receiving mainly negative assessments at school.
Training companies also appreciate help
It's not just the prospective apprentices who are happy to receive specialist support; many training companies also appreciate having someone who can advise them on how to deal with an apprentice with special needs, says IV counsellor Brütsch. Specialised experts work at Impulsis in Zurich, for example.
Andrea Rüegg, Co-Managing Director, describes their work as follows: «If a vocational trainer has no experience with ADHD, we explain to them, for example, what the impairments mean and that they should not give the learner several assignments at once, but one at a time.»
Those with poor concentration may need permission to wear noise-cancelling headphones or work in a quiet place at work. The fact that digital aids such as chat GPT, spelling tools and online translations are on the rise and becoming more widely accepted also helps people with dyslexia. Another favourable factor is that many training companies in sectors with a shortage of apprentices are prepared to cater for young people with special needs.
One tool that all those affected need to be aware of is compensation for disadvantages during examinations.
As a general rule, transparency is important and anyone who receives IV support should state this, as the vocational college, for example, will share this information with the training company. «Severe ADHD will become apparent sooner or later anyway,» emphasises Andrea Rüegg. However, if it is only a slight weakness that is of little relevance to the chosen profession, Monika Lichtsteiner believes it is legitimate for a young person to keep it to themselves.
One tool that all those affected should be aware of is compensation for disadvantages during examinations. Visually and hearing impaired people are entitled to it, while trainees with ADHD, ASD, Dyslexia or mental impairments can also be granted it. Typically, compensation for disadvantages is granted for examinations at vocational schools. It can also be applied to practical examinations in the company.
More time for the exam
One of the most common compensations granted is more time to complete an exam; 55 instead of 45 minutes is standard, explains Christina Frei Jenni, Vice Principal of the Lake Zurich Education Centre (BZZ). Some schools allow the use of assistants to read the exam papers to students with reading difficulties. Frei Jenni regrets that this is not possible at the BZZ. Yet these forms of equalisation are still the simpler ones.
What has been learnt is often no longer tested in traditional examinations, but through project work, podcasts or films. This makes it even more challenging to offer those with learning difficulties the same opportunities for success. «Presenting something is one of the core skills in the commercial professions,» says Frei Jenni, citing one example. «Young people with social phobia have great difficulty with this.» They can record their first presentations on video at home and are then gradually introduced to presenting in front of an audience.
Young people must be prepared to stand up for their needs.
Professional support and compensation for disadvantages can be reduced or cancelled over time, emphasises Brütsch. Frei Jenni experiences time and again that young people say they would like to try it without compensation for disadvantages. With increasing experience, many people with ADHD, Dyslexia or another deficit manage to compensate for their weaknesses and perform just as well in the labour market as people without their diagnosis.
To ensure a successful transition from school to vocational education and training, good communication and cooperation between parents, the training company, vocational school and vocational integration specialists helps. For many young people, it is crucial to have someone they can trust at the training company and vocational school. The young people themselves play the most important role here. They must be willing and motivated to develop further and stand up for their needs. So that at some point their diagnosis no longer plays a role in their professional life.
