I don’t know if anyone else here has ever faced this particular situation or not. However, as the subject line states, I have learning disabilities that are compounded by a physical disability. I have math and organizational disabilities which, I believe, were caused by my having been born with spina bifida. The latter disability has caused paraplegia and, as a result, I use a wheelchair for mobility.
To get to how my learning disabilities affect my life, I have held various jobs with the same employer for almost seventeen years. My checkered employment history hasn’t been due to lack of competence on my part, but because of reorganizations, jobs that have been abolished due to supervisor retirements/departures, and other circumstances beyond my control. At the moment—as ironic as it seems due to my math disability—I am working in accounting. This came to happen due to a reorganization a few years ago. At the time, I was told I was moving to accounting. I didn’t mention to anyone that I have a math disability because I figured it was a matte of either moving to accounting or facing unemployment, so I moved to accounting. I think the reason I was moved to this department was because the rumor circulated that I majored in accounting in college. This rumor is false—although I did major in business administration which, due to my learning disabilities, turned out to be an error in judgment on my part.
I have a very understanding supervisor and, although I’ve never discussed my learning disabilities with her, I think she knows I have them. I am facing pressure from management above my immediate supervisor to improve my performance and, since I think it would be very difficult for me to improve my performance in my present job, I am beginning to think about other employment possibilities. I know I am not a dumb person—on the contrary, I was diagnosed as being gifted in school—I just have two or three problems. I’ve always been very good with written communications. However, my background and education is in business. With this in mind, does anyone have any suggestions about how I would go about looking for employment to which I am more suited? Thanks for any advice.