A Helpful Disability Resource

Have you heard about the National Organization on Disability? If not, you are missing out an important resource to help you live life to the fullest as a disabled person. Founded in 1982, the National Organization on Disability is supported by grants from such notable organizations as the Ford Foundation, Lockheed-Martin, UPS, and the American Red Cross, just to name a few.

The mission of the National Organization on Disability (NOD) is to expand the participation and contribution of America’s 54 million men, women, and children with disabilities in all aspects of life. Our current focus is on improving employment prospects for America’s 33 million working-aged Americans with disabilities.

Although many of the programs of NOD are far-reaching and have impact at the state level, they still have plenty or resources to help the disabled. If you have a few minutes, take a look at what they have to offer.

National Organization on Disability

Obama Addresses ADA’s 20th Anniversary

President Obama addressed a ceremony honoring the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, calling it “one of the most comprehensive civil rights bills in the history of this country.”

The law requires buildings, transportation facilities, and commercial facilities to be accessible to the physically challenged and guarantees employee rights for people with disabilities.  President Obama said that the ADA has served to “tear down the physical and social barriers” and stressed “not dependence, but independence”. The President also signed an executive order designed to improve enforcement of the ADA. Read more

Obama Orders Increased Employment of the Disabled

Yesterday, on July 26, President Obama issued an Executive Order to increase the Federal Employment of the Disabled. Citing the 54 million Americans living with disabilities and the need to set an example and reduce workforce discrimination, the order notes that the Federal Government should be a model for the hiring of the disabled.

Additionally, the order has specific time-lines of 60 days and 120 days for federal agencies to design and implement strategies to increase the hiring of the disabled.

We think this is a really encouraging step and commend President Obama for his dedication to employing qualified Americans, no matter what their physical condition.

To read the full press report and text of the Executive Order, visit Whitehouse.gov.

How Do You Interact with a Disabled Person?

Communicating with a person with a disability can make people uncomfortable as disabled people are often thought of as being “different”. A person with a disability might not be able to walk, or hear, or see, or talk, but other than that a disabled person has a body, a brain, a heart, and a soul like everyone else. A disabled person wants to enjoy life, set goals, and be treated with respect just like a non-disabled person. But, disabled people are not always treated with the sensitivity they deserve. Read more

Disabled Employment During the Recession

This year, as we celebrate 20 years since the passage of the ADA, it’s important to note the progress that has been made. Truly, passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act was a landmark moment. Since that time, the understanding of the general population for those with disabilities has increased greatly. Restaurants are now accessible to those with wheelchairs. Disabled employment has increased. Special parking spaces allow those whose mobility is decreased to park close to shops, and provide extra space to lower van ramps.

Even with the progress that has been made, the situation isn’t perfect. Employers are still hesitant to hire persons with disabilities, for fear that it will cost them money or that the person with a disability won’t be as productive. So today I’m highlighting and sharing a story by D’Arcee Neal, who talks about some of the difficulties that he is facing as he gets close to graduating with a master’s degree in creative writing.

We frequently like to focus on the triumphs of people overcoming difficulties in their lives, but I think it’s important to focus on the realities of what people with disabilities often face, and the will and determination it takes to succeed.

D’Arcee has a very realistic take on what it’s like to be disabled in this economy. I hope you’ll take a look at it to realize that, although the ADA has been a great boon to those with disabilities, it has only been 20 years and we still have a ways to go.

Disabled Employment During the Recession

Pushing for Greater Hiring of the Disabled

Here at Disabled and Productive, we feel that anything that pushes people to focus on a person’s inherent skills, willingness to work, and productivity rather than on disabilities is a good thing. Too often a person’s disability becomes, to others, the main focus of who that person is. So I found this video of a commercial that pokes fun at the disabilities in all of us to be refreshing. It really carries a positive message about focusing on what a person can do, instead of what that person can’t do. Because, let’s face it, everyone has limitations and has things that he or she is terrible at. Take a look:

A Disability is Invisible in a Virtual Work Environment

Today’s technologies have definitely changed the landscape of employment opportunities for persons with a disability. A person with a disability can now be just as productive in several fields of employment as non-disabled persons. In many cases, being disabled has become a non-issue on the job. In fact, in a virtual work environment, you can actually completely hide your disability from your coworkers.  I came to that realization this week during an email conversation with one of my teammates: Read more

Gary Karp Asks President Obama about his Plans for Employing People with a Disability

Today Aaron and I were supposed to meet for lunch with Gary Karp, who promotes the integration of people with disabilities in the workforce – www.garykarpspeaks.com, but he had to cancel unexpectedly as he received a last minute invitation  to President Barack Obama’s town hall meeting in LA. Moreover, he even got the opportunity to ask Obama the all important question listed further down below along with Obama’s response. I am glad that Gary was able to ask his question. That was much more important than our luncheon, which we have already rescheduled for next Friday anyway. Now, I’ll get the add-on bonus of hearing about his Obama experience when I meet with him next week.

How did Gary end up at President Obama’s town hall meeting?

Gary Karp was a member of Barack Obama’s Disability Advisory Committee during the campaign and Kareem Dale was the lead liaison from his group to the campaign, and now Kareem is Obama’s White House advisor on disability policy.

On Monday, March 16, Gary got an email from Kareem offering him a ticket to the event.

He was on a 6 a.m. flight to LAX from San Francisco Thursday morning, and at around 2:00 p.m. he found himself holding a microphone, looking the President of the United States in the eye (from about 30 feet), and asking his question.

Gary’s question and President Obama’s answer

The following is an excerpt from the White House transcript.

GARY’S QUESTION: I’m Gary Karp, and Mr. President, thank God for you. (Applause.) Sir, my question regards the true renaissance that’s happening with people with disabilities. They are an emerging population — millions of people who are more mobile, more educated, more healthy, more empowered by technology, and with more potential than ever before in history. But they are still trapped in very, very old social models that see them in terms of tragedy and charity and need and care. And the modern population of people with disabilities simply does not fit that model.

And as your plan succeeds and you generate these jobs, and as baby boomers retire, we’re going to need every single person of capacity to work that we can. And that must include many, many, many thousands, if not millions, of people with disabilities. (Applause.)

So – I see you nodding your head, so my first question is, do you subscribe to what I’m saying, and next of all, can you talk about how your disability agenda will release this emerging potential that’s currently wasted and untapped?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, you are exactly right, that we need everybody. And every program that we have has to be thinking on the front end, how do we make sure that it is inclusive, and building into it our ability to draw on the capacities of persons with disabilities.

That’s true on the education front, where our recovery package increases funding for children with disabilities. It is true in terms of how Hilda Solis, our Secretary of Labor, will be thinking about our training programs, to make sure that we are not excluding from training for high-tech jobs, the new jobs of the future, persons with disability.

It means enforcing the ADA and fighting back on some court opinions that have tried to narrow in ways that I think are inappropriate the original intent of that legislation.

So one of the things that I think is important is to make sure, as you pointed out, that we don’t see this as an afterthought, a segregated program, but we are infusing every department, every agency, every act that we take with a mindfulness about the importance of persons with disabilities, their skills, their talents, their capacity.

That I think is the approach that my administration is going to take, and we hope that by taking that approach that attitude will infuse state and local governments that are also receiving federal money. Okay? (Applause.)

Luc’s final comment

My kudos to Gary for asking President Obama this great question. Now, let’s hope Obama will follow through on his response.

Luc’s Top 10 Recommendations for Working as a Person with a Physical Disability

Returning to work after an accident can be difficult. You may find that the period of adjustment is long and that you feel uncomfortable at times. Here are some suggestions to help you return to work with confidence and dignity. Read more