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
401-846-1960
Fax: 401-846-1944
Twitter: @AccessInclude
No comments:
Post a Comment