Disability Employment: Beyond the Bullshit

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October was National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) in the United States.  Too often the media simply presents a feel-good story.  That is not helpful to a business wanting to know the costs and benefits of hiring a person with a disability.

Let’s forget the feel-good bullshit and consider the bottom line. What does it cost you when you do NOT hire someone with a disability?

Two views of taxes show some important costs in:

  1. What you paid
  2. What you get for what you paid

Why does the government support employment of people with disabilities?

Short answer; because of the long history of employment discrimination.  People with assets to offer have been denied the opportunity to contribute to our society.  Denied the chance to build a better life for themselves.

The Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990.  A lot of focus was on improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities in response to widespread discrimination.  Even with the assistance and discrimination protection, the statistics are still horrifying.  “In 2017, 18.7 percent of persons with a disability were employed, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. In contrast, the employment-population ratio for those without a disability was 65.7 percent.”

Everyone with a disability cannot work and some are not seeking work for one reason or another.  The same is true for the non-disabled population.  So let’s look at employment figures.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2017 shows the unemployment rate for:

  • Persons with a disability was 9.2 percent
    • more than twice that of persons with no disability (4.2 percent).
  • Men with a disability, the rate (9.0 percent) was about the same as for women (9.5 percent) and
  • Blacks (13.8 percent) continued to have a higher unemployment rate than Hispanics (10.2 percent), Whites (8.5 percent), and Asians (6.6 percent).
  • And 32 percent of workers with a disability were employed part-time, compared with 17 percent for those with no disability.

Literally thousands of people with disabilities are out there looking for work.  These are educated people who have college degrees or other training focused on their abilities.  A few companies have discovered how to use some unique abilities of one group.

Major technology and finance/accounting companies have recognized the ability for intense, long duration focus as a unique asset of people with autism.  A number of these corporations now target individuals with autism because of the benefit they bring to certain positions.  Check out this video from Al Jazeera and/or this article from Monster.com.

This is not about feel-good stories.  These employees are hired because they have superior skills for this type of work.  When you look at abilities instead of disabilities you will find there are outstanding candidates you might have overlooked

What are you paying for?

Starting at the state level, every state has some agency responsible for employment and vocational training for people with disabilities.  To demonstrate how this works I will use my personal example.

At 15 a sustained a spinal cord injury.  When I turned 18 I became eligible for assistance from the Georgia Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.  I met with my VR counselor to develop a plan.  He explained that the state has a formula would they consider my earnings potential, the amount of tax I would be paying and they calculate a percentage of that amount to invest in my training and assisting me to become employed.

You paid for that, but I paid it back with my taxes.  What about those people who were sent to college, vocational training and received other assistance but have not been able to find employment?  You pay for them.

The US government provides a number of resources to assist businesses.  Speak to experts in topics including hiring, technology, accommodations and tax incentives.  Discover the benefits that come with employing persons with disabilities.

Learn about the variety of resources and how they can help you in all aspects of hiring and employment at Access Ape resource page. 

What are you getting back?

Nothing unless you’re hiring someone with a disability.  This array of resources, which you are paying for, is sitting there waiting for you.  Are you missing out on an opportunity here?

There are opportunities at the state and national level for free consultations to learn about employing people with disabilities.  Fear of the unknown is the greatest problem in all aspects of our life.  These resources are put in place to provide knowledge and understanding to get you past the fear the unknown.

Additional benefits are also brought to light.  Tax incentives put money back in your pocket for hiring people with disabilities.

Take a moment to consider this as you make your employment decision.  You have:

  • candidates that have been trained,
  • who are eligible for additional training at no expense to you, and
  • it actually saves you money to hire a candidate with a disability because of these tax incentives!

Now that you are aware of these resources you can take a moment to learn what you are paying for.  Then you will understand why the National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is more than a bunch of feel-good bullshit.

50 Pound Weight Loss

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How I lost 50 pounds

Quad belly! Yes, quad belly is a real thing among people with spinal cord injury. When you have no working muscles in your abdomen your belly is going to stick out. This can also be an area where you tend to accumulate fat, weight that is hard to lose.

I was not overweight, but I was getting fat. For 25 years I lived in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the best rehab centers in the country, The Shepherd Center, was like my second home. I played on sports teams there, I worked out in the weight room, I volunteered there and I got my medical care there.

The great thing about going to Shepherd was there were several locations where I could easily access a rollup scale. It was no problem monitoring my weight.

I never had a weight problem. For 25 years I consistently maintained my 195 pounds. Winters would add about 5 to 8 pounds, which I shed every spring. Over the years I was starting to accumulate belly fat. My weight was not increasing though my waist size did slowly expand.

During this time I was training and competing as a world-class athlete. I could lose weight dieting, but not the belly fat. Abdominal electrical stimulation failed to help. My doctor and I were running out of options. I was considering liposuction. Then my life changed.

An injury temporarily halted my athletic endeavors. A back problem put me out of work and back on disability. Recovery and rehab took a couple of years. This gave me a lot of time to think. I was approaching 50 and looking to make some changes in my life. I decided it’s time to make one of my dreams come true. Time to run away.

Panama

A tropical escape to Panama in 2011 was my plan. The owner of the rental house I had lined up backed out on me at the last minute. While I seeking a new wheelchair accessible house in Panama I stayed with mom for almost four months.

Mom was cooking all my favorites. All the holiday extras too added at least 10 pounds on me. February 2012, with only four pairs of pants I could squeeze in, I left for Panama.

Change came suddenly. My casita, little house, in Santa Clara did not have a real kitchen. I had a microwave, a toaster oven, refrigerator and sink.

February is summer in Panama. Going from winter to summer when I arrived made 9ooF feet pretty hot. The need to stay hydrated was something I took seriously. I was drinking a LOT of water, along with fruit juice, milk and beer.

Living out in the country with no car was a big lifestyle change. My little splurges were eliminated. In Atlanta, I allowed myself a couple of splurges once a week. One stop for fast food and one dinner out. Exploring ethnic restaurants was a favorite splurge.

My diet changed for the worse. Cooking was far more basic in my makeshift kitchen. Grocery shopping was a once a month trip. My pattern of eating was two meals; one light, one heavier. Without the wonderful accessible kitchen I designed, all my spices and easy access to huge grocery stores my love of cooking was diminished.

The American restaurant next door to my casita had a small menu with weekly specials. Visiting a few times a week I tried everything. Great hamburgers and chicken pot pie! My beer consumption also increased to 4 or 5 a week. The rest of the time I was drinking mostly water, a lot of water.

In September I returned to Georgia for a two week visit, including my annual checkup. I was shocked to discover I weighed 168 pounds. That was about a 40-pound weight loss! Without even trying to lose weight.

Everyone was saying, “You lost so much weight. What have you been doing?”

I didn’t know, my diet was not very good. I was eating less fresh fruits and vegetables. Convenience canned and frozen cooking was less healthy than my meals back in Atlanta.

The following year I paid a bit more attention to my lifestyle before returning for my next physical. In September 2014, I had lost another 11 pounds. There were several points that I believe contributed to my weight loss:

 Portion control: Though the content of my diet was not as healthy, I was eating less.

 Splurges add up: Eating healthy most of the time is not good enough. My splurges were not adding weight, but I believe they were the source
of my added fat.

 Reduced snacking: My snacks were reduced to a jar of salsa and a pound bag of corn chips per month.  I kept healthy snacks around
the house in Atlanta. Even eating small amounts of healthy snacks add extra calories.

 Drinking more water: Staying hydrated has always been important to me as an athlete. In Panama found myself drinking even more water. That extra hydration really seems to make a difference.

 Reduce stress: My new lifestyle is not tied to a clock. I still have deadlines, commitments and stress, but I am more in control now.
Working as a freelance writer has given my life flexibility, put me in control and brought tranquility back into my life.

Comparing my two lifestyles defies logic. In Atlanta, I had a healthier more balanced diet, exercised more, was more active and focused more on living a healthy lifestyle. In Panama, my first two years was more sedate and a healthy lifestyle was not part of my focus. Yet I lost the fat belly after all my previous efforts had failed. How crazy is that!

Coping Skills to Combat Depression

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Man sitting on floor representing depression by holding a sad face drawing in front of his face.

Life can truly change in an instant.  The week after my 15th birthday in 1972 I went swimming in the creek.  Preparing to dive from a tree my foot slipped, my dive went askew, and my life as a quadriplegic began in an instant.  Now I have gone on to live an incredible life, but it did not start that way.

The two and half years I spent at home after rehab was the darkest period of my life.  Physically it was quite a struggle to adapt to my diminished abilities.  Initially, I had no function or sensation from right below my nipples down.  It literally felt like most of my body was missing.  Even though I could feel my hands, I could barely use them.  Acceptance of life as a quadriplegic did not come easy and my greatest struggle may have been with depression.

Accessibility was a novel concept in 1972.  I had to finish my last three years of high school with a visiting teacher who came to our home twice a week.  She witnessed my downward spiral.  Seeing the state I was in, she got a psychologist to come visit me.

He was a young long-haired cool guy.  We got along well and he taught me self-hypnosis.  Times when I needed to be mentally tough, this was an incredibly useful tool.  Many of my achievements in life have come from being determined and mentally tough.

Learning to Cope

Sadness and depression is a regular part of life.  Clinical depression is when the spiral down goes beyond the normal range of depression.  I know that spiral too well!

Trying to fight this spiral is like trying to swim against a riptide.  It will wear you out and can kill you.  Though the methods vary, people do drown in depression.

Learning the skills to cope it is hard.  I know why some lose the fight.  I have lost friends and I have been suicidal too.  It is a very dark and lonely place where you see absolutely no way out.  Like surviving a riptide, I’ve learned not to fight it head-on.  In a riptide, you swam a laterally to a safe place.  In a depressive spiral, I’ve learned to focus on mentally swimming to a safe place.

Coping with depression is a struggle.  Learning to stop, use my coping skills to gain some control of myself is critical.  For me, being able to stop the emotional reaction and intellectually analyze the situation allows me to prevent it from becoming a self-destructive struggle with myself.  What work for you may be different.

Once you find your way back from that abyss, it is time to appreciate the beauty of life and look to the future.  Recognize you now have the strength and the skills to successfully fight back the next time the downward spiral begins.  Like most things in life, a bit of confidence is often the difference between success and failure.

Living as a quad is not easy.  This world is not designed to accommodate me and my wheelchair.  Pain and frustration is still too much a part of my daily life.  These problems do not control my life because I make a conscious choice to daily look for the positive things in life.  I consider myself more of a realistic than an optimist.  An optimist is like my friend Dom.  He not only sees the glass is half full, but he expects to get a refill too.  I look at the half-full glass to say, This is what I have so what can I do with it.

I encourage you to look at your life to see and appreciate what you have.  Everyone has positives and negatives in their life.  Appreciate the positive things.  Don’t ignore the negatives, but consider is there anything you can do to mitigate them.  Consider what you can do to make the best of what you have.  When you’re a quadriplegic that is the best philosophy of life.  It works for non-quads too.  Try it!!!