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| WORKING WORLD
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Ticket to Work Is 10!
The Social Security Administration is marking the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (Ticket Act) by launching the Choose Work web site (www.choosework.net).
In this economy, think hard about leaving that job you don’t like. [...]
| Ask The Coach
By Scott Chesney
Here are some stats from the U.S. Census Bureau to encourage and discourage anyone: People with a disability are 70% more likely to stay in a job five years or longer than an able-bodied person. That’s encouraging, right?
What’s discouraging? There are 11.8 million Americans with disabilities who are unemployed and 18% of people with disabilities who live at or below the poverty level. This must change, and only we can change it.
Attitude is the biggest barrier to employment, only it’s often on the part of people with disabilities, more so than [...]
People who have been out on disability or retired for many years are attempting to return to the work force under mounting pressure from the economic crisis. What steps can they take to get back to [...]
United Spinal’s Independence Expos put consumers in touch with products, services and [...]
| WORKING WORLD
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
For most of us, our greatest concern in thinking about going back to work is losing our benefits, whether they come from Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or both. Surely you can take a part-time job without losing your benefits, but then you wonder, how much can you earn and keep your benefits, and at what point would it be worth it to go over the $980 monthly limit and actually lose those benefits? It might seem overwhelming to try to figure these things out for yourself, but there is [...]
Looking to work from home? Tamar Asedo Sherman gives you the heads up on how to dodge the too good to be true work from home scams that are lurking in wait for [...]
An overview of the Obama plan to empower Americans with disabilities.
By Tom Scott and Peggy Hathaway
Barack Obama’s historic presidential victory has ignited a new sense of optimism within the disabled community. There are high expectations that the present challenges facing Americans with disabilities, from health care and employment to accessibility and education, will be addressed with renewed vigor.
The Obama administration promises to make it a high priority to provide affordable, accessible health care for all Americans and to require coverage of all Americans regardless of pre-existing conditions. For a closer look at the health care picture under the [...]
The system often seems stacked against people with disabilities who want to work. Is that a good enough reason not to look for a job?
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Why work with a disability?
It’s not only about the money, although that certainly helps. It’s hard to live on Social Security Disability Income or Supplemental Security Income. We can all use a little extra, especially in the current fiscal climate. But there are strong disincentives that give many of us pause at the thought of possibly losing health insurance benefits and a monthly payment of $1,000 or more.
We might have [...]
Just because we can’t walk, it doesn’t mean we can’t talk or think or work or participate in society. Tamar Asedo Sherman digs into being more than your [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Despite guarantees promised us by the Americans With Disabilities Act way back in 1990, many Action readers feel they are being discriminated against because of their disabilities. A couple of letters reprinted here are good representatives:
One came from a woman I’ll call Ann (not her real name), who wrote:
“Discrimination?
“I am an avid Action reader, I had some questions regarding ADA in the workplace. Being on probationary status (new hire) at work, if I am fired while being sick and out of the office due to my disability, do I have any rights?”
To answer her question, I consulted with a [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Employers cannot ask anything about your disability, even if it is obvious that you have one, when you arrive for your job interview in a wheelchair. All the employer is permitted to ask is if you can perform the essential functions of the job. If the job you are applying for is a sedentary office job, your only concern might be if the workstation is large enough to accommodate your wheelchair, if you can get into the building, and if there is a wheelchair- accessible restroom nearby.
But if you are applying for something that requires more physical [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
The percentage of federal employees with targeted disabilities has declined each year since 1993 to the lowest participation rate in 20 years, despite the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July 1990-18 years ago-which specifically prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in regards to employment.
Under the aegis of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Offi ce of Federal Operations (OFO) undertook a review of federal agencies to determine what barriers exist to the hiring and advancement of People with Targeted Disabilities (PWTD), a category which includes deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
A previous column on working at home (April 2008) struck a nerve. I received many letters asking for more information. Most intriguing to me is the situation presented by Kim Kosmatka, a former teacher, who created a home-based business. She wrote:
“Ten years ago, when life with multiple sclerosis demanded a job from home, I started freelancing as a proofreader. Work has been somewhat steady, but not like last year. What a banner year! I knew I was going to exceed the social security dollar limit. I even hired and trained another proofreader to help me.
“Still, after [...]
Carmen Jones turned her personal knowledge of disability into a tool to help corporations market products, services, and jobs to people with disabilities.
By Rob Ingraham
Carmen Jones says getting a mentor, in or outside the disability community, is essential to gaining insight into business success.
After ten years in operation, it’s probably safe to say that Carmen D. Jones and her company, Solutions Marketing Group based in Arlington, Virginia, have succeeded. Jones attributes part of this success to a very supportive spouse and the fact that, “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”
“I wish I had formulas and models to offer, [...]
Challenges of Vocational Rehabilitation in America. Many qualified applicants with SCI/D have been turned away from jobs due to a business’s unwillingness to provide appropriate training and reasonable accommodations, or to simply follow the [...]
Craig Kennedy tells “How to turn your special knowledge into a profitable [...]
Former model Sheri Melander-Smith on how “Disabilities don’t have to end your [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
It’s been a rough month. After more than two decades of working as an art director for a major daily newspaper, my husband Jack was nudged into early retirement some four years ahead of plans in keeping with changing times. People are not reading newspapers any more, or at least there are no new readers. The Internet has taken over, and so the news business must go where the readers are. Newspapers across the country are shrinking, and efforts are being shifted into dressing up Web sites rather than newspaper pages.
Jack’s initial reaction at being told that [...]
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