| WORKING WORLD
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
I was buying two new tires for my minivan the other day when another customer approached me saying, “You look familiar. Where do I know you from?” Since he probably hasn’t met all that many women who use wheelchairs, I was surprised that he didn’t recall who I was or where he met me.
I told him I work for UCP and he looked at me blankly. I asked him where he worked and he said “Entenmann’s.” I instantly remembered the tall, red-headed man who had been repeatedly injured on the job as a baker. Richie was referred to me by his state vocational rehabilitation counselor (VESID in NY State) for a career assessment. His most recent injury left him unable to perform the essential duties of his job. My job was to recommend what else he could do besides baking.
When an employee is injured and no longer capable of performing his job, the ideal situation is for the employer to find a different position for him. Richie’s job was very physical and required him to lift and carry heavy trays of ingredients and of finished baked goods. His employer said there were no light-duty jobs, so Entenmann’s was justified in letting Richie go, in terminating his employment.
I gave Richie a battery of tests to see what his academic levels were in vocabulary, reading, spelling, language, and math (the real killer for most people), and aptitude for abstract reasoning, mechanical reasoning and space relations. He said he was interested in learning to repair computers, a job that still required some physical stamina, but nothing like baking. He did very well on the tests, so I recommended to his counselor that he handle vocational training in computer repair and networking that would lead to employment.
When I told Richie where and how he had met me, he thanked me profusely and proudly showed me his ID card verifying that he had successfully completed computer training and achieved A+ Certification. That status confirms a technician’s ability to perform tasks such as installation, configuration, diagnosing, preventive maintenance and basic networking.
With his new skills, he was hired back by Entenmann’s to take care of the company’s computers. He stood up straight and tall, beaming with pride to once again be gainfully employed and have his self-esteem intact.
What makes this story unusual is that it all went so smoothly. Richie came in for two days of assessment when he was scheduled. I completed the evaluation and sent his VESID counselor a report within 7 working days. Richie followed up with his counselor the following week and the counselor sent him for training with NY State paying tuition, transportation and books.
When he completed the training, he found a job with his former employer.
That’s the way the system should work, but unfortunately it frequently breaks down somewhere along the way, and quite often it is the consumer, the one who ostensibly is seeking employment, who fails to follow through. Some don’t show up for the evaluation, or come for one day but don’t return to complete the second day.
Some never get back to their counselor to get results of the evaluation, or pursue vocational training or college programs. Some lack the self-esteem necessary to persist, to get out there and face the world in a diminished capacity after injury or illness. Some are too afraid of losing their disability benefits to even try to go back to work.
It is just that realization that led two of my colleagues to resign their positions as job developers and job coaches in the last three months. They got burnt out, hustling to find job leads for consumers who then find fault with every lead presented: This job is too far away. That one requires me to work on a weekend. Another wants me to work nights. The pay is too low. The hours are too short. The hours are too long. The job is too menial for a man with a master’s degree who has never worked because he can’t find the right position. Another is afraid the job will be too challenging and she won’t be able to keep up with the demands.
My colleagues felt they were banging their heads against the wall. The employers are willing. Many of them know that workers with disabilities on average are more committed to their employers, more reliable, more dependable, perhaps because they are so happy to be working.
Attitude is the biggest barrier to employment, it seems, only it’s on the part of people with disabilities, more so than employers.
Tamar Asedo Sherman is an employment specialist. She can be reached at tsherman@ unitedspinal.org.
