Disabilities At Work Newsletter

This newsletter is provided by Disabilities At Work to Human Resource professionals and others as a source of information regarding the issues surrounding employment of qualified people with disabilities. Disabilities At Work produces a weekly Internet radio show that airs each Wednesday at noon Eastern Time on the VoiceAmerica Business Network. Disabilities At Work Internet Radio provides the most thorough and comprehensive discussion of the ideas and programs supporting people with disabilities in the workplace.

A MILESTONE ANNIVERSARY

In July, the United States marked the twenty-first anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a proclamation issued by President Barack Obama acknowledging the anniversary, he said that since the passing of the ADA, persons with disabilities now lead fuller lives and have greater access to new technologies. He said that in classrooms, young people with disabilities now enjoy the same educational opportunities as their peers.

After acknowledging these advances, he pointed out that more work needs to be done and announced his administration supported, and has signed, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, explaining that the convention promotes equality and seeks to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy the same rights and opportunities as all people, and are able to lead their lives as other individuals do.

The President said the Convention would offer the nation a platform to encourage other countries to join and implement the convention.

“Improved disabilities standards abroad would also afford American businesses increased opportunities to export innovative products and technologies, stimulating job creation at home,” the proclamation read. “Together, we can ensure our country is not deprived of the full talents and contributions of the approximately 54 million Americans living with disabilities.”

OBAMA: TECHNOLOGY A GATEWAY TO EMPLOYMENT

In addition to his proclamation saluting the progress generated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, President Obama used the anniversary of this act to announce he wants federal agencies to make technology more accessible for people with disabilities.

By making technology more accessible to people with disabilities, he said, more of them will be able to apply for federal jobs as well as get information on government programs and services.

The Obama administration said it wants the federal government to improve compliance with Section 508, a part of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, which requires technology to be accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities.

This follows an executive order issued by the Obama Administration in July that urged federal government departments to hire more disabled workers.

Both actions follow a report by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in July 2010 that showed the number of people with disabilities working for the federal government had dropped to below one percent.

IS TELEWORK THE ANSWER?

If the question is, how do more people with disabilities get hired into the workforce, Kareem Dale, special assistant to President Obama for Disability Policy, thinks the answer may be telework—working from home.

At a recent conference, Dale said telework should be a key tool in the Federal government's effort to increase hiring of people with disabilities.

He referenced the recent Telework Exchange study, "Unnecessary Barriers," which found only half of agencies are relying on telework to hire people with disabilities and that 50 percent of employees believe their agencies do not have the tools and resources necessary to hire, promote, and retain people with disabilities.

"This must change," Dale stated. "The bottom line is that millions of people with disabilities around the country can work, want to work, are capable of working, and are ready and willing to work. But they sometimes need telework as an option to become productive, taxpaying members of society. And telework must be accessible to all of those who need it."

Dale noted that he was able to telework during the snowstorms in early 2010 that closed government offices. "If the White House can allow me to telework from home – with the accessible equipment and software that I have on my computer and that has to work with the many security layers and procedures that the White House has in place – if the White House can do it, then any Federal agency can do it.”

"I challenge each and every one of us, both inside and outside the government, both employers and employees: Let us recommit to the principles of equality," Dale said. "Together, we can ensure that people with disabilities are able to work, be productive members of society, support their families, be role models for others, and support the American Dream."

JOHN KIRKWOOD’S PERSONAL JOURNEY

John Kirkwood worked for the City of New York for 14 years and helped the city and many of its agencies develop their first websites. He was beginning to grow his own Internet consulting business called CityMouse when he suffered a brain aneurysm and stroke in 2006. Two years of difficult rehabilitation followed. John has now worked his way back into the business world, re-launched CityMouse with a new perspective on life and work and the contributions people with disabilities can, and are ready, to make in the workplace. John agreed to answer some follow-up questions following a recent appearance on Disabilities At Work Radio.

DAWR: What are some of the lingering effects of your aneurysm and stroke?

Kirkwood: My memory formulation and access; essentially there are some memory retrieval issues that necessitate compensatory strategies that I came to know through therapy and through experience. Also visual orientation in my surroundings; the navigation of my environment needs extra time, effort and attention. And my visual issue, homonymous hemianopsia, combines with memory storage issues resulting in a potentially confusing perception of my surroundings. The visual identification of people and the spacial navigation of rooms becomes a cognitive exercise that demands constant effort and attention.

DAWR: What was it that convinced you to re-launch your company CityMouse?

Kirkwood: I decided to re-launch my company when I realized that potential accommodation for my disability may not have been realistic in my former government position and I saw the need for unique accommodations to many others in the disability community with online communications. Furthermore, I saw the need for viable employment for people with disabilities in the Internet world, so it just seemed like a natural fit.

DAWR: What does your company CityMouse do?

Kirkwood: It is an experienced advertising and marketing consulting services company that helps clients with the launch of new online initiatives. Keeping with evolving ADA compliance and industry standards, CityMouse will operate as a marketing company. It is currently planning to extend its service offerings with the assistance of NYC business incubator programs. CityMouse is re-launching with the assistance of the Columbia University Business Mentorship Program as a marketing and website consulting business with a special focus on the disabled community.

DAWR: Since re-launching CityMouse, you said you want to put a special emphasis on the disability community. Specifically how will you do that?

Kirkwood: The goal is to develop online services that are best-in-class for accessible communications. The online world is open to people of various abilities and CityMouse plans to employ people with unique capabilities to ensure its products meet these expectations.

DAWR: CityMouse was recently certified as a Disability Owned Business by the United States Business Leadership Conference. Why is this important to the business community at-large?

Kirkwood: I feel that it will bring in a new perspective of openness to the business world. A community that is often overlooked is the disability community, but it has brought many business standards to the working environment that has helped us grow as a society. The inclusion of disability-owned businesses in the vendor pool will allow this new perspective to advance the effectiveness of all businesses.

DAWR: You have also said you would like to employ people with disabilities at CityMouse. What do you envision them doing?

Kirkwood: Everything and anything! The area that will add great value to CityMouse is adding the knowledge-base of understanding how the disability community effectively interacts with online media. CityMouse's products and designs will need to be able to reach out effectively to all audiences, including the disability community. I feel that the disability community has a better understanding of the effectiveness of design in interactive communications. Clarity of communication comes through standardization of language so everyone can enjoy it.

CityMouse envisions using people with different abilities to develop effective internet web sites and applications that are both inspiring and accessible.

DAWR: How can someone get in touch with you and CityMouse?

Kirkwood: The best way is to email CityMouse at info@citymouse.com. Anyone can get in touch through the website at www.citymouse.com or call during business hours (EST) at 212-924-4972.

BUSINESS WEEK: PUTTING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO WORK

A special report in Business Week by Rachael King on July 6 notes that companies and advocacy groups are stepping up efforts to provide jobs for the rising number of people with disabilities. From the article:

The story spotlighted companies leading the effort to hire people with disabilities. One was Walgreens, whose efforts were featured on Disabilities At Work Radio last year:

IBM and Lockheed Martin are also featured. The full story can be found here:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/getting-people-with-disabilities-back-to-work-07062011.html

WORLD CONGRESS ON DISABILITIES IN AC

The 12th Annual World Congress on Disabilities, one of the largest conferences of its kind, will take place this year in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the Convention Center on September 23-24.

Hundreds of exhibitors are expected to showcase products and services for the disabled community and dozens of seminars on topics and issues critical to improving the lives and productivity of the disabled are scheduled.

The show will run from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days. For more information, or to register, go to www.thewcd.org.

Back to top

A LIFE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE

Late last year, Disabilities At Work Radio discussed workforce education and training options for people with disabilities. Among the guests were Rob Crawford, CEO of the Life Development Institute (LDI) located in Arizona. DAW Radio newsletter caught up with Rob recently to discuss the unique methods utilized by LDI.

DAWR: What is the Life Development Institute?

Crawford: The Life Development Institute is a private, community-based organization founded in 1982 and located in Glendale, Arizona. It has served thousands of older adolescents and young adults from around the world struggling with Asperger’s Syndrome, Learning Disabilities, ADHD, Nonverbal Learning Disorders or related conditions.

We help overcome the often demoralizing effects from years of school, social and personal achievement failures by providing the instruction, “real world” experience and practical tools needed to lead meaningful, productive and independent lives.

We focus our instruction on achieving mastery of specific, major adult life demands in the areas of career planning, social and emotional maturity, establishing independence and competitive job development and placement.

DAWR: How do you help students attain the level of independence and confidence they need to function in the workplace?

Crawford: LDI embeds developmental workplace and higher educational content into its courses.

Assignments and core competencies integrate practical college success strategies while they also promote interpersonal communication skills, career development and enhanced social responsibility.

This approach identifies a challenging set of goals that focus on situational learning and personal achievement necessary for all adults, not just those considered to have disabilities.

This key difference of “can do”- recognizing, celebrating, and developing personal competence- is central to young adults with disabilities success.

DAWR: What is the single most unique aspect of the Life Development Institute?

Crawford: We use a strength-based, non-disability approach to create a practical and inclusive bridge between the secondary and higher education career development aspirations for under-prepared and under-represented young adults with disabilities.

Our approach improves readiness and success in college or career programs, builds interpersonal effectiveness, self-confidence, and work experience as well as self-advocacy and leadership skills. In order to accomplish these high expectations, the identification of specific major life demand competencies in LDI’s curriculum are based on the behaviors that any individual will need for personal success.

Also, our campus is an inclusive, residential community. The usual limitation of similar residential or boarding school situations is that they are “sheltered” or “clinical” in their orientation whereas the Institute’s residential setting is an actual apartment complex-not a dormitory, institutional setting, or group home.

DAWR: Are there specific job skills on which you focus in preparing your students for the workforce?

Crawford: We use the CareerScope and OASYS vocational assessments, ACT Work Keys assessments, and Career Ready 101 to achieve a National Career Readiness Certificate as formal tools that provide an objective placement appraisal of student preferences, values, abilities and aptitudes compared with all workers in a given occupational field.

The results derived from these tools are used to provide targeted pre-employment screening and workforce skill development. In addition to a variety of in-house courses on job seeking and growing a future, we also have the students develop and present a comprehensive, multimedia career plan linking specific individual career objectives with the short/long term demands of a targeted occupation or company.

Subsequent placement of LDI students into higher education, vocational, technical, or direct on-the-job-training is contingent on satisfying this career planning requirement.

This means getting them to take into consideration that there will be career wants and needs trade-offs, that they must be able to accept the consequences of risk taking in regards to self-improvement, and buy into their coping abilities to handle the uncertainties of the future.

DAWR: What should prospective employers know about the students who complete the LDI program?

Crawford: LDI students make informed career planning decisions by utilizing a system of tools and methods that build on individual assets and manage functional limitations.

These systems and tools allow the student to complete a pre-screening so they can better understand the requirements of an occupation or of a company offering a position and know if they would make a good fit.

And once on the job, these young adults demonstrate daily their understanding, acceptance and compliance with the demands of a particular work setting.

Employers will also be hiring workers who comprehend and appreciate that employers expect all employees to perform certain job functions in specific ways, and that they will be hired, retained, and promoted on the basis of their skills as the employer appraises them.

DAWR: How do you help students maintain a positive attitude when they are looking for work in such a challenging economy?

Crawford: First off, we make sure our students understand that the current economic turmoil impacts everyone looking for work and they should not perceive themselves as unemployable when the circumstances are beyond their control.

LDI networks with local employers to reiterate this message and to provide our students with a sequence of work readiness services such as resume reviews, behavior-based interviews, and insights about the key workplace skills, abilities and attitudes necessary for success.

Finally, we work for improvements in commonly accepted and practiced social graces and workplace social behaviors that result in positive peer relationships.

As reported in Disabled-World.com, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, here are some quick facts about people with disabilities:

About 12% of the U.S. population – or 36 million people -- report having at least one disability.

6.5 million have vision difficulties.

19.4 million have problems walking or climbing stairs.

13.5 million have difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions.

5% of children 5 to 17 have disabilities.

10% of people 18 to 64 have disabilities.

37% of adults 65 and older have disabilities.

12.3% of females report a disability.

11.6% of males report a disability.

18.8% of people in West Virginia report a disability - highest of all states.

8.9% of people in Utah report a disability – lowest of all states.

22% of workers in educational services, health care and social assistance industries report a disability - highest of any industry.

$18,865 is the median earnings of the U.S. population age 16 and older with a disability, which compares with $28,983 for the population without a disability.