"Ableism at Work: How the Social Construction of Learning Disabilities and its Hegemonic Discourse Reinforces Disabling Barriers, Stifles Creativity and Prohibits Constructive Dialogue in the Workplace."

The traditional learning disability discourse situates learning difficulties as biological ‘deficits’ within an individualist context. Problems for adults with learning disabilities at work arise when ableist attitudes of non-learning disabled people intersect with creative problem-solving techniques used by employees with learning disabilities. Such techniques are viewed as a disruption to the hierarchical nature of dichotomous, non-learning-disabled/learning-disabled relationships. A social constructionist theoretical lens was used to argue that ableist work environments handicap peoplewith learning disabilities. A qualitative, criterion-based sampling method involving six participants provided data for a content analysis, juxtaposed with a secondary literature review interwoven with the findings. While participants struggled with aspects of their work, attitudinal barriers of the workplace were the primary ‘deficits’ because they restricted participants from using coping strategies that worked for them. Thus, individual narratives in research could largely inform future policy-making decisions and social work practice.