Chief Learning Officer - October 2008 - (Page 43)

To ensure optimal contributions, learning leaders should make sure employees with special needs have the same development opportunities as everyone else. W ith businesses worldwide anticipating the mass retirement of baby boomers, the competition to recruit new talent is ﬁerce. But learning executives open to change and different ways of thinking may ﬁnd much of the talent they need right under their noses. The individuals who comprise this under-tapped workforce are employees with special needs. The key to accessing this diverse talent, however, requires eliminating internal barriers that may be keeping these individuals from reaching their full potential. What constitutes a special need? Most envision someone physically disabled, perhaps in a wheelchair or with a guide dog. Rarely does one consider the many other special needs and “hidden disabilities” that are prevalent in the workplace. For the purposes of this article, special needs are deﬁned as those that, when not accommodated for, can disrupt an employee’s ability to learn and/or perform expected job requirements. Dr. Harry Rizer is the executive director of the National Cristina Foundation (NCF), a charitable organization that has been supplying computers and training to the disabled and disadvantaged since 1985. According to Rizer, “Adults with special needs are growing at a faster rate than the general population, with approximately 58 million Americans having some type of disability.” So what do learning executives need to know about these diverse learners? And how can they maximize the training experience for all employees, as well as the training ROI? To start, they need to understand which accommodations can help maximize the training experience of learners with special needs. The Special Needs Learner Granting all people equal access to training opportunities means ensuring no one is prevented from participating because of a special need. As always, when designing learning and development solutions to performance needs, it is important to consider the intended learners; their learning styles, predilections and motivation; and conditions for optimal learning. Special needs employees may need assistive devices. They may need tasks repeated, explained or demonstrated more frequently. They may need more time to complete an assignment or require extra assistance from the trainer. The special needs that appear to be most prevalent in the workDATA POINT place are related to these disabilities: There are approximately • Deaf or hearing impaired 58 million Americans with • Blind or visually impaired a disability. • Physical disabilities Source: Dr. Harry Rizer • Learning disabilities Universal Design and Differentiated Instruction Accommodations for these special needs range from alternative instructor methodologies as prescribed by the Universal Design and differentiated instruction approaches to a myriad of assistive technologies and devices. Universal Design is an approach designed to maximize usability of products, services and environments for everyone: people with disabilities and those without. For example, training materials on a disk can be listened to by students who are blind, physically disabled and by those who have learning disabilities. They also may be listened to by a student while driving. Chief Learning Ofﬁcer • October 2008 • www.clomedia.com 43 http://www.clomedia.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - October 2008

Chief Learning Officer - October 2008 Editor’s Letter Connections Business Impact Best Practices Effectiveness Guest Editorial How Fast Is Your ‘B’ Team? Hampton Hotels CLO Profile Save the World, Make a Buck: Seven Ideas From the Nonprofit Sector Developing Leaders at Amnesty International Learning Measurements: It’s Time to Align Aligning Measurement to Business Success Training Employees With Special Needs How to Reach Disabled Learners Hands Off: Facilitating Informal Learning Who Owns Informal Learning? Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - October 2008

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