By Tamar Asedo Sherman
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, a time to increase the public’s awareness of the contributions and skills of American workers with disabilities. This is not something new that came into being with passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, but began in 1945 as one week and was expanded to a month-long focus in 1988. Despite the ADA’s guarantee of freedom from discrimination in employment, only 32 percent of Americans with disabilities aged 18 to 64 are working, compared to 81 percent of those without disabilities, according to the National Organization on Disability (NOD).
Even with accommodations provided by employers and technological innovations, people with disabilities do not work at the rate they would like. Two out of three unemployed people with disabilities (67%) say they would prefer to be working. Among those with college degrees, 55% with disabilities are unemployed, compared to 14% of their peers without disabilities.
On the positive side, the employment gap between people with and without disabilities is smallest in the youngest age group, between 18 and 29. While still a significant 25%, this smaller gap might be attributed to the effects of the ADA, according to NOD. That age group also has the narrowest income gap, a mere nine percentage points. See www.nod.org for more statistics.
For most Americans, our identities are wrapped up in what we do for a living, so if we stop working-due to injury, disease, retirement or any other reason- we lose a sense of who we are. If we are no longer a teacher, a journalist, a nurse, a truck driver, house painter or chef, then who are we?
I see that loss of identity time and again as facilitator of an MS peer support group, but also as an employment specialist helping people who have acquired disabilities get back to work. One man, William, who loved working as a carpenter for 20 years, was at a loss for what else he could do with his life after he injured his back falling from a roof.
Perusing a career interest inventory, which lists 14 job categories and dozens of job titles within each, William couldn’t find any job that interested him other than physically strenuous construction jobs. His whole identity was as a carpenter, and he simply couldn’t think of himself doing anything else-although sitting home feeling sorry for himself clearly wasn’t right for him, either. What people seem to miss most when they stop going to work, though, is not necessarily the labor itself, nor the resulting product or service they were providing that might have given them a sense of accomplishment. What work gives us is a social outlet that can leave us isolated and lonely when we no longer have it.
Some people come to a support group seeking a social community to replace the one they lost when they stopped working. A regular connection with other people is a vital part of our lives. Family and friends can fill the void for some of us, but others need a reason to get up in the morning, to get dressed and have some place to go. It gives structure to our lives. Maybe all day is too long for you to work, but a part-time job or even volunteer work definitely adds meaning to our lives.
Some people might miss the power or prestige afforded by their previous careers. In the US, more so than in other countries, people tend to be classified in social situations according to their jobs, rather than according to their leisure activities or other interests.
Many people choose to work in order to feel that they are productive, contributing members of society. It gives them a sense of well-being and belonging, which helps relieve depression, but also affords opportunities for satisfaction beyond the obvious one of earning money.
Like William the carpenter, you might find it hard to think of yourself doing anything other than what you’ve always done; however, with some education or training, provided by your state’s vocational rehabilitation division, you could begin a whole new career. I seem to mention it in every column, but people don’t get the message until they’re ready to do something about it. Contact voc rehab for assessment, training and job placement.
William is getting vocational training to become a home inspector or cost estimator for building projects or salesman at a Home Depot or similar home improvement supply store. Computer training is often the first thing people need to get started in another career. The U.S. Department of Labor offers it free. Look in the blue pages of your telephone book or www.dol.gov.
Tamar Asedo Sherman works as an employment specialist at UCP-Suffolk in Hauppauge, NY. She can be reached at action@unitedspinal.org
after two years the problem of skilled workers with disabilities remains in actuality. Tere are many people with disabilities that are discriminated by the companies.