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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 [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
It isn’t easy for us out there. One in 5 workers with disabilities, or 22%, reported in a nationwide survey that their employers do not provide accommodations to enable them to access facilities at the work place. Even more, 29%, said their employers do not provide accommodations that are needed for them to perform their job responsibilities successfully.
These findings were revealed in a study on “Diversity in the Workplace,” conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com and Kelly Services in 2007 among 953 workers age 18+, employed full-time or part-time. It was designed to gauge the frequency, severity [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Fatigue and lack of transportation are the biggest barriers to employment for many people with disabilities. If that is the case for you, then working at home might seem like the perfect solution. You won’t need to get dressed up; you can go to work in your jammies, no need to apply makeup or do your hair. And you don’t have to commute, go out in bad weather, spend a small fortune on gasoline or be dependent on the vagaries of paratransit. Plus, you can take a break when you need it. It’s sounding better and better.
But [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Anyone who is looking for a job automatically searches the want ads in their local newspaper, but that is the least effective way to find a job. Employers list a job opening in the newspaper only as a last resort. They much prefer to hire someone who has been referred by a current employee, a friend or family member, or someone who might have contacted them previously for an informational meeting.
The Internet is quickly becoming a good resource for finding new employees, although an employer can be overwhelmed by receiving hundreds of résumés from across the country [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Finding a job isn’t easy. Most of us check the want ads in our local newspaper, searching for something we might be able to do. That is the easiest approach, but it is in fact the least likely way to obtain employment. How could that be? Ever since there have been newspapers, that’s the way people have looked for jobs.
But way back, even before the advent of newspapers, and continuing still, the first most effective way to get a job is through networking. It’s all about who you know, or who the [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Despite the prohibition of discrimination against qualified people with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, fi ring, advancement, compensation, and job training under ADA’s Title I, many of us have experienced subtle or overt discrimination. If you have been subject to discrimination in employment because of your disability (or for any other reason), here is what you can do about it.
File a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a state or local anti-discrimination agency, generally known as a Fair Employment Practices Agency, or FEPA. You have up to 300 days from the violation, [...]
By Tamar Adsedo Sherman
Once you’ve got a basic résumé in order (see July 2007 Working World), you might be tempted to send it out, as is, to every conceivable job listing you find in the newspaper or on the Internet. It’s so easy these days just to click that button on careerbuilder.com or monster.com and respond to all ads for “administrative assistant.” Stop! Don’t do it-not just yet. You need to do a little fine tuning.
When writing your résumé, you played with the design and arrangement of the information you were presenting: a summary of qualifications, highlight skills, work experience, [...]
Compiled by Peggy Hathaway
Keeping the Promise to End Unfair Employment Discrimination
Four Congressional leaders have introduced a bill to restore the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to its original intent.
The ADA Restoration Act was introduced in the House and the Senate on July 26, which was the seventeenth anniversary of the ADA with sponsors from both parties in both chambers. Paul J. Tobin, president and CEO of United Spinal Association, said “We are proud that United Spinal Association played a role in obtaining 143 original co-sponsors in the House, and we’re working on persuading even more Representatives to sign on [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Low unemployment rates offer more opportunities for people with disabilities to find rewarding jobs. And right now the national unemployment rate is at a historic low of 4.5 percent.
The gap between the percentage of people with disabilities who are employed and the percentage of those without disabilities who are employed is 40.3 percentage points, according to the 2005 Annual Disability Status Report. The employment rate of working-age people without disabilities was 77.6 percent in 2003, compared with 37.9 percent for working-age people with disabilities that year.
In 2004, the employment rate for people without disabilities rose 0.2 [...]
By Kelly Rouba
“I love the massage therapy profession and I wanted to bring high quality massage education to a community that did not yet have a massage school,” says Ruth Marion, who founded Health Works Institute after moving to Montana in 2000. “I chose Bozeman because it is a small city with a good university, a wonderful natural foods co-op, and an active population of friendly people who love the outdoors and pursue diverse approaches to a healthy and vibrant lifestyle.”
Marion’s interest in massage therapy developed in the 1970s. Before founding Health Works Institute, she served as executive director of the Boulder [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, the old saying goes. That’s why you have to prepare for a job interview. Before you even open your mouth to say hello, the interviewer will size you up based on your appearance, so look your best.
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Before you can apply for a job, even an entry level job, you need a résumé. A prospective employer wants to know right away what you can do to further the goals of her company. Keep in mind that you’ve only got about 20 seconds to capture her attention before she tosses your résumé aside and looks at the next one.
You can dust off your old résumé and use it as a baseline, but you must update it. Don’t panic if it’s been years since your last job. Résumés no longer require a chronological listing of [...]
Who Can Help You Go Back to Work?
Last month in this space, we looked at programs the Social Security Administration (SSA) offers to make it easier for people who receive benefits to return to the labor force without imperiling their benefits. If you missed that article, you can find it here.
This month, we’ll take a look at some of the organizations SSA partners with to help people with disabilities reach their career goals. Some of these organizations include Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA), Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), Employment Networks (ENs), and Protection and Advocacy Programs.
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Waiting in line to make a purchase at a department store this morning, a woman asked if I was shopping alone. “No, I’m with my daughter,” I responded before realizing why she asked the question.
I use a manual wheelchair and had several items piled in my lap. She was surprised there was no attendant with me. That’s happened many times before. Other shoppers have stepped in front of me, assuming I’m not in line, that I must be waiting for my caregiver. I always take such an occurrence as an opportunity to educate people.
“I happen to be with my [...]
No Need to Fear: Back to Work Incentives are Here!
Many people with disabilities are scared to go back to work because they fear that they will lose benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). People wonder if they can work and still receive Medicare and Medicaid. The truth is, you can go back to work and still receive these benefits through work incentives that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has created.
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