Raising Expectations Through Sports

Sports have often led the way to elevating the expectations of persons with disabilities and two recent events continued to validate that leadership:  The Clagett Regatta and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

The Clagett Regatta, the premier regatta for persons with disabilities in North America, was held in Newport, RI, its home base, June 18 to June 23, 2019.   Since its inception, this regatta has provided sailors with disabilities the opportunity to compete on an elite level with other sailors around the U.S. and the world.  Many of the Clagett sailors gain the skills and confidence to compete in national and international events not identified as being adaptive.  Sailing is a great equalizer.  This year, the results were published in a story in Scuttlebutt Sailing News, a daily electronic newsletter about all things sailing in North America.  A great example of inclusivity!

On June 20, 2019, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Paralympic Committee confirmed their merger with the name change to U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).  The commitment to this change began nearly a year ago and the merger includes raising the awards for Paralympic medalists to the same level as that for Olympic medalists.  The USOPC is the first organization in the world that includes both Olympic and Paralympic in its name and one of only four national organizations in the world to manage both Olympic and Paralympic sports.

Paralympic sports don’t get the same television and news coverage in the US as other Olympic sports or as Paralympic sports do in other countries.  Their inclusion in the USOPC and their parity in awards should lead to more awareness of this level of sport and this writer hopes that leads to more and better coverage.  If anyone has ever seen Paralympic competition, wheelchair tennis or regattas in adaptive boats, they know that the level of athleticism and intensity of competition is worthy of attention.

If the expectation of persons with disabilities can be raised in sports, that raise should be translatable to employment and accessibility as well.  That would bring parity to persons with disabilities in all areas of life.  What a great idea!

Proposed New Rules for Federal Contractors

The Obama Administration has proposed new guidelines for hiring workers with disabilities that would require all federal contractors to set goals of having 7% of their workforce composed of persons with disabilities.

Certainly, this will add some muscle to the Americans with Disabilities Act, since it requires action which is stronger than the passive of not discriminating.  Of course, there will be the ever-present paperwork needed to document this effort and businesses will object to that, as they have objected to paperwork requirements of Affirmative Action and the ADA. 

Some other concerns include how to document this 7% since the ADA does not allow you to ask about disability.  That’s not quite true, though, is it?  AFTER a person is hired, it is allowed to ask disability related questions and, if the response is voluntary, this documentation can be accomplished. 

What I find exciting about these new guidelines is that federal contractors will have to document their efforts to recruit individuals with disabilities.  This outreach is crucial to all successful employment programs and needing to document it will ultimately lead to workforces that are more inclusive of persons with disabilities.

This will not resolve all the employment issues of persons with disabilities, but it is a giant step in the right direction.

You can read the notice of proposed rule-making or submit a comment at http://www.regulations.gov.  Comments will be accepted until February 7, 2012.

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude

Determined Tennis Player

When I first heard there was a story about a one-armed high school tennis player who made it to the Kentucky State High School Tournament, my thought was that was nice.  But, I didn’t think it was a whole lot more than that.  I was mistaken.

Jacob Raleigh had played in the tournament two years before, when he had two arms.  Now he was back playing again with only one arm.  Okay.  This gets a little more interesting.  But there is more. 

Raleigh’s dominant hand was his left hand.  However, the young man developed a rare soft-tissue cancer in his left wrist which eventually led to the amputation of his left arm.  Now, this is a big deal. 

This young man, in the short two years between playing in the state tournament, had cancer, lost his dominant arm, learned to play tennis again with his right arm and still made it to the state tournament.  Oh, and people who lose an arm, no matter the reason, have to learn to balance themselves all over again.  This is huge!

This young man is obviously going to succeed in whatever he chooses to do in life, since he is so determined.  It also goes to show that having a disability does not change the character of the person.  It only changes one characteristic. 

If you are an employer and an applicant with a disability looks to be employed in your business, think of Jacob Raleigh.  I don’t guarantee that your applicant will be that determined, but you need to at least consider that the person in front of you is the same person, with the same education and experience, he or she was before disability and that it is likely that you can accommodate the disability with a simple accommodation. 

Annette Bourbonniere

www.accessing-ability.com

401-846-1960

Fax:  401-846-1944

Twitter:  @AccessInclude