Diversity Inc. Top 10 Companies for Persons with Disabilities

Diversity, Inc. publishes its list of the top 10 companies for persons with disabilities.  http://www.diversityinc.com/article/8389/The-DiversityInc-Top-10-Companies-for-People-with-Disabilities.

These companies stand out for a number of reasons:

·         They all have employee resource groups (ERG’s) for employees with disabilities, averaging 7.1 percent of all their employees.

·         They all have formal recruitment programs for persons with disabilities. 

·         62% of them do business with certified suppliers owned by persons with disabilities.

In reading the profiles, you can see that these companies go further in their efforts to be inclusive.  The CEO of one of the companies is a person with a disability.  Another company specifically advertises that it is a disability-friendly company. 

They all do much more than provide low-paying jobs.  They recruit, retain and promote persons with disabilities as part of their routine talent development.  They provide benefits that are disability friendly and offer training programs for all employees on disability awareness.

When diversity professionals choke on how to deal with employment of persons with disabilities, promoting call centers and work-at-home programs as the only answers, they should look to these companies as models.  The skills and talents of persons with disabilities run the same range as the skills and talents of all other people.  When that is understood, the gap in employment between persons with disabilities and those without, as well as the gap in salaries, will begin to close.

Kudos to these companies!

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

Lady Gaga and the R-Word

During an interview with NME Magazine, Lady Gaga was asked if she had plagiarized “Born This Way”, she replied that that would be retarded. 

Using the R-word in that manner is disrespectful to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  There has been an ongoing effort to end the use of this word, both as the clinical term it was originally and as the slur that it has become.

To her credit, she also offered a sincere apology.

When celebrities talk in a manner that is offensive to any group of people, it has the ability to take hold and even desensitize people to the effects of such a slur.  Lady Gaga usually pushes the envelope on what is acceptable, but she did apologize for this in a relatively prompt and sincere manner.  Let’s hope that that shows others that respect is something to strive for, even if you are a celebrity.

When people use offensive language, it says what their expectations are, which in turn color their attitude and treatment of others.  So, when the R-word is used, especially in this manner, it shows that that person has low expectations of persons with disabilities and will treat them as less than they are.  This is important for everyone to know. 

This is far more than political correctness. Be respectful in language and respectful manners will follow.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

Senator Harkin's Address to U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Last week, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) addressed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to talk about why Americans with disabilities are leaving the workforce in such high numbers.   The full text of his address is found at http://harkin.senate.gov/press/release.cfm?i=332449. 

The high rate of unemployment of persons with disabilities is a very complicated and complex issue.  There is still a great deal of discrimination toward persons with disabilities in the workplace, due in part to the low expectations of persons with disabilities that employers who have no experience with employees with disabilities have. 

Even diversity specialists have difficulty trying to find where to fit persons with disabilities.  Some think they need to establish call centers.  Others think that telecommuting is the answer.  I have even heard them label persons with disabilities as “differently abled” because they are afraid to note that they have disabilities.  Clearly there is a huge need for education and enlightenment.

All is not lost, though, when you realize that a company such as Walgreens actually sets internal goals of the percentage of employees with disabilities they will hire.  While these goals currently apply only to their distribution centers, I would hope that they will expand them to their overall employment plan.

Other factors affecting the employment of persons with disabilities include the perverse disability policies on both the state and national levels where even so-called work incentives build in serious limitations on how far a person with a disability can go before being at risk of losing the very services that allow them to work.  At the same time, we have lawyers selling disability as a desirable way of life.

We do need to approach this from all angles and Senator Harkin is certainly to be applauded for his efforts in this regard.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

The Disability Impact on Budget Problems

The government has budget problems – big budget problems.  One major problem is the expansion of Medicare and Medicaid. And, a significant part of that problem is due to disability policy and the way it is managed in this country.

As it works now, in order to get your disability covered under any kind of health insurance, it is necessary to “go on disability”, which means to stop working in order to qualify.  In order to get some of the specifically disability related services that persons with disabilities need in order to work, it is necessary to stop working.  If that sounds like a perverse system to you, you are not alone. 

This is a system that came into being when persons with disabilities were not able to work.  The technology that exists today was not available.  Many persons with disabilities were institutionalized and many died prematurely because of complications.  The current system helped to support these people in the community so as to reduce institutionalization. The level of support is minimal but, since persons with disabilities essentially had no life, it was adequate. 

For some reason, there has been the perception that persons with disabilities were living great lives without the need to work.  There is even an entire industry that promotes going on disability, as though that is a goal worthy of effort.  After all, some of them say, you pay into the system, so you are entitled.

The truth is that going on disability is the first step on a path that leads to a life of poverty in a system from which it is nearly impossible to escape.  At the same time, the system on which all these people are dependent is going to implode.  There are so-called work incentives geared to aid transition off of disability, but the system is considerably more complicated than these incentives imply.  In fact, the average person with a disability would have to earn $50,000 per year to simply replace the services needed.  $50,000 will still guarantee living a poverty level, but the services will be paid for.  That is not exactly an incentive to work.

The answer is a change in disability policy that allows persons with disabilities to work without being penalized.  It will require a radical shift but everyone, including federal and state budgets, would benefit.

                                                                                                

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

Just 2 Minutes

The most frequent excuse I’ve heard from someone illegally parking in accessible parking is, “I was only parking there for a minute.” 

Here is a short clip, filmed in Quebec, that will make you think before you do that again.  It’s in French with English subtitles.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EYh_Tr_Sc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

It’s powerful and it speaks for itself.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

10 Steps to Access

When businesses think about becoming accessible, they imagine major reconstruction, complicated rules and huge expenses.  It doesn’t have to be that hard.  Here is a checklist of 10 things you can do to make your business more accessible and, at the same time, have the United States Government help you pay for it.

1.      Entrance – Any step over 3 inches needs a ramp.

2.      Doorway – At least 32” when door is open 90 degrees.

3.      Room between tables, racks or displays – 32” minimum

4.      Bathroom  Door – At least 32” when door is open 90 degrees. 

5.      Bathroom Stall – At least 32” when door is open 90 degrees.  A minimum of 60” turning space for wheelchairs.  Make sure door opens out.  Grab bars on at least one side of toilet.

6.      Bathroom sinks - Accessible height, soap and towels within reach.

7.      Fire safety - Flashing lights in the bathroom

8.      Communication – Provide alternate methods of communication for persons who are blind or deaf.  Staff must be trained to use alternatives.

9.      Advertise – Let people know you are accessible.  Include notice in all advertising.

10.  Attitude –Be welcoming of all customers.  Train staff to be welcoming as well.

Tax Credits – 50% tax credit per year for compliance with ADA.  PLUS – Tax deductions of up to $15,000.  Information can be obtained from either the IRS website (www.irs.gov) or the ADA website (http://www.ada.gov/) .

Use IRS form 8826 – Simple form.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

Access to Healthcare

For years, organizations have talked about access to healthcare for persons with disabilities. These organizations have really referred to financial access. Most insurance policies will not cover persons with disabilities and even those that do do not always provide the essential services that persons with disabilities need. The only alternative has been for persons with disabilities to impoverish themselves so that they become eligible for Medicaid services. But the access problem doesn't stop there.

The next part of access, and a very important part, is being able to get in the door. This is not as big a problem as it used to be, since most medical facilities understand that the law requires that they be accessible. However, getting in the door is still sometimes a problem and, even when it is not, access to healthcare still has a long way to go.

Once a person with a disability gets into the medical office, actually getting the same services that others get can be quite difficult.

In some offices, doorways to exam rooms and the bathroom are not accessible. A person who uses a wheelchair sometimes has to use a bedpan in an exam room. This is humiliating to say the least.

How many medical offices have an exam table that is accessible to somebody who cannot stand? How many offices have a lift so that somebody that cannot transfer can be lifted safely onto an exam table or have a scale capable of weighing a patient in a wheelchair?  How many offices have specific procedures in place for accommodating persons with disabilities? How many have had their staff trained on how to interact with persons with disabilities? If there is an accessible exam table, how is it scheduled? When is the contact made with the interpreter referral service when a person who is deaf schedules an appointment?

The federal Americans with Disabilities Act requires that healthcare providers provide care to persons with disabilities that is equal to what they provide to all their other patients.

When that happens, then healthcare will be accessible.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

Why Don't Businesses Hire Persons with Disabilities?

Many companies think they understand what to do about hiring persons with disabilities. 

Some companies have programs for employees who are “differently abled”.  (As soon as someone uses a term like that, we know they’ve missed the boat.)  These organizations will create call centers or group together other very low end jobs that they believe persons with disabilities can fill. 

What is their problem?  Very low expectations. 

As an employer, a company should be looking to hire the right person for the job.  Businesses are in business to make money.  In every other search for the right employee, they look at education, experience, skills that can do the job that will make money for them.  That is how it has always worked.  Even since the federal Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, there has been a blindness toward what people with disabilities can do.  So, in order to be in what some employers think is compliance, they create these jobs in an effort to attract employees who have disabilities.

What really needs to happen is for employers to understand that they need to look for the right talent for all jobs.  Then look at a person’s education, skills and experience without regard to disability.  Most disabilities can be accommodated once the skills are lined up.  No special programs needed.

Unfortunately, many employers get stuck as soon they perceive any level of disability.  The low expectations kick in faster than you can blink.  Fear of lawsuits.  Fear of low productivity.  Fear of the inability to address low productivity.  Fear of… 

Low expectations lead to fear which leads to discrimination.  Result?  Very low employment rates for persons with disabilities. 

So, while we need to change disability policy so that it’s possible for persons with disabilities to work without penalty, we also need to educate employers on the advantages of including persons with disabilities in their ordinary employment plan. 

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude