By Rob McInnes

There are many factors that can motivate a company to adopt more progressive practices towards hiring people with disabilities. One of these factors is the importance of the actual or potential consumer base that people with disabilities represent to that company. If a particular company sees people with disabilities as an important part of their market, it will likely be predisposed to proactively hire people with disabilities for two reasons: 1) Employees with disabilities are likely to help the company properly align their goods, services and/or communications in a way that will be most favorably perceived by customers with disabilities 2) A company that is recognized for employing people with disabilities is more likely to secure the patronage of customers with disabilities than one that doesn’t.

A few years ago one of my friends was the Diversity Manager for a large telecommunications company. She was having a particular problem convincing her hiring managers and recruiters to hire people from the Native American community. After many months of fruitless discussions with them, she spent a weekend at the office analyzing the company’s sales data. On Monday morning she was able to show that Native Americans accounted for over $150 million of their company’s revenues. As a result that company quickly made it a priority to hire more people from that community – including adding a position for a Native American on their senior marking team. In the same way, companies that realize the importance that people with disabilities can be to their market share are likely to become more proactive about hiring employees with disabilities.

In that context, here are some of the interesting facts about the spending power of people with disabilities:

1. There is a global market of almost 750 million people with disabilities.

2. There are 54 million Americans (of all ages) with disabilities. 73% are the head of their households, 48% are the principal shoppers in their households and 58% own their own homes.

3. The aggregate annual income of people with disabilities in America is over $1 trillion. This includes $220 billion in discretionary income. (Roughly twice that of the highly-courted teenage market.)

4. In 1995, people with disabilities in the US spent $81.7 billion on travel.

Those numbers alone are enough to make any company sit up and take notice. However, it is also important to note that non-disabled people who have close relationships with people with disabilities are going to be kindly-disposed to patronizing “disability-friendly” companies. According to some sources I’ve read, marketing to people with disabilities can reach up to 4 out of every 10 potential customers.

1. It is estimated that at least one-half of all non-disabled adults have a disabled spouse, child, parent, or friend.

2. In the United States, 20.3 million families have at least one member with a disability.

Companies that really put their disability-friendliness up front can also gain allegiance from the general public. Research indicates that three in four adults say they would be likely to switch to a brand associated with a “good cause”. In his book “The Inclusive Corporation”, Griff Hogan sums this up nicely “The 29% of American households that include one or more members with a disability represent an enormous slice of the overall market. Add to this the group those who are simply related to, or close friends of, someone with a disability, and those who feel strongly about the issue for whatever reason, and the full impact of the disability market becomes obvious.”

One bank manager that I met had some direct experience with all of this. His branch had wanted to hire someone with a disability; but had experienced difficulty finding appropriate job candidates. Eventually they had an application from A Deaf person with great qualifications for a Teller position that was open. Even though he could read lips and speak well, they were worried about possible communication problems with customers. Nevertheless, they did hire him and also installed a simple two-way keyboard and screen at his station for any customers that preferred that means of communication. According to the manager that I spoke with, there were several unexpected outcomes. The bank experienced a huge increase in customers from the Deaf and hard of hearing community. The bank also experienced a noticeable increase in customers with other disabilities. In addition, the bank was surprised and pleased that it began to receive a lot of employment applications from talented people with a wide variety of disabilities. In addition, probably more because of his personality than his disability, this Teller soon became the most popular Teller at the branch with even non-disabled customers. (Several of whom have asked the branch manager to teach them some basic American Sign Language so they could greet and thank the Teller that way.)

Finally, here is a concrete example of how targeting people with disabilities can truly be a business advantage in a competitive marketplace. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) boasts a membership of over 60,000 individuals. They were aware that people with disabilities are often at a disadvantage when dealing with financial institutions – particularly when seeking loans for such things as adaptive equipment, housing modifications and transportation. In 2002, they forged a partnership with the Digital Federal Credit Union (DFCU) who readily agreed to develop a special loan program to meet the needs of AAPD members – now known as their Mobility Vehicle and Access Loans program. According to AAPD, since its inception in 2002 the Mobility Vehicle Loans alone have brought the DFCU more than 1500 new loans totaling over $45 million!

Companies in North America are ignoring “disability dollars” to their own disadvantage. While it is not widely-recognized, people with disabilities do wield a lot of buying power. Fortunately, we have more and more examples of smart companies that are making the changes necessary to position themselves as “disability friendly”. Likely, in order to best achieve and sustain this business advantage, these same companies are also becoming more proactive about having people with disabilities well-represented in their workforces. Those of us who are keen to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities should be ready to help employers understand how becoming more “disability friendly” can result in measurable improvements in to the bottom line of their business.

© Rob McInnes, Diversity World, May 2004

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We are thrilled to have just added the newly-released Open Futures Employment package to our store. Open Futures is an interrelated set of materials that we consider to possibly be the best audio/visual tools that have ever been available for advancing the employment of people with disabilities. Available individually or as a set, Open Futures consists of "Employees With Disabilities" (A video directed at employers), "People With Disabilities At Work" (A video directed at youth with disabilities), and "Role Models For Youth With Disabilities" (A CD-ROM with a fascinating series of interviews with professionals with disabilities).

"Just out of interest, I checked StatsCan's (Statistics Canada) Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) 2001 census data for Ontario. It shows 41% of people with disabilities were employed, 26% were unemployed, 30% were not in workforce and 4% were unspecified. "Unemployed" is interesting in that it seems very high. For the same period, the total unemployment for people without disabilities was 5%, the total employment was 76% and the total not in workforce was 19%. So total "unemployed" plus "not in workforce" was 56% for people with disabilities vs 24% for people without.

In 1991 the HALS study unemployment figure was 7% for people with disabilities, so I assume it must have been change in methodology to account for such a large difference (19%). However, the total of unemployed and not in workforce is pretty much same between 2 studies - 56% in 01 vs 51% in 1991."

- Tom Little, CMCS Community Services Consultants, Ajax, Ontario

I feel a need to respond to some of this. First, I can tell you easily where the "Ten Times the Applications and Ten Times the Interviews" comes from. It comes from us. Who us is may be debatable. But when I got my Ph.D. in the early 1980s I went to my VR counselor and asked for job placement assistance. He laughed. His response was maybe if I was looking for a custodial job he could help, but they didn't have a clue how to assist professionals. In the mid-1990s I went to VR in another state for assistance in keeping a job. The counselor I was assigned to said they didn't do that. Fortunately, I knew better and could point out to her in the manual where exactly it said they did indeed do that. I realize this is one person's anecdotal experience, but I guarantee you it's not an isolated one. And that's where the data comes from: anecdotal evidence combined with things like the periodic Harris Poll data. It's also where the 70% figure comes from which I have never heard expressed as 70% unemployment by people being careful. It's always 70% un and underemployed. Underemployed as in an attorney who's blind running a vending station because no law firm will hire them. Are some of the myths below myths. Undoubtedly. But that doesn't mean at least some of them are not based in reality.

- Steven E. Brown, Ph.D., Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii

The following comments were recently exchanged on Diversity World’s online discussion group on self employment for people with disabilities. We are reprinting them here because they contain some valuable insights, perspectives and advice that will be useful to some of our readers.

Margo is from British Columbia, Canada. She has worked for several years in the disability field as a community outreach/service provider and advocate and has been a regional/national spokesperson regarding employment issues affecting people with disabilities. She was an advisor in setting up a self-employment program for people with disabilities and provides entrepreneurial advice and support for people who have or are starting businesses. (Coincidently, shortly after she wrote the comments below, the self-employment program for people with disabilities in her area had all their funding cut.)

Angela is from Ontario, Canada. A few years ago, she was involved in setting up a national self-employment program for people with disabilities. Currently, she provides support to local people with disabilities who wish to pursue either traditional employment or self-employment opportunities.

MARGO: A friend and I were talking about self-employment for people with disabilities and how it could be a viable solution to the employment issues faced by some people with disabilities. We were saying how it had seemed that self-employment/entrepreneurship was once being heavily promoted here in Canada in recent years, but the promotion of it had waned in the last year or two. We were concerned that the self-employment/entrepreneurship initiatives had been the "flavour of the week" employment alternative for people with disabilities, and resources or support would disappear like they have for other programs that may or may not have lost their luster. Has anyone noticed this?

ANGELA: That is always a concern, if those promoting the programs continue to rely on government support. The programs that get government supports tend to be those that speak the loudest, and are not necessarily the most effective programs for self-employment, or even regular employment.

MARGO: It was even said that the jury was still out on whether self-employment & entrepreneurship initiatives overall have effectively address the disability, economic, and life issues faced by many people with disabilities and the sustainable income and desired quality of life that they want. What do you think?

ANGELA: I think this has little to do with self-employment, or the initiatives set up to support it. This is the same for those initiatives set up to support regular employment. I've been a critic, often citing how many millions of dollars have been launched here in Ontario, to support people with disabilities in returning to work, either in a job or self-employment, while income support policies/regulations continue to remain the same, thereby actually preventing a person from becoming independent of income supports. While the employment supports (opportunities funding, etc.) have been fairly flexible, the income supports many people with disabilities rely upon, have not. For example, they severely restrict a business' growth during the period of time one is on income supports, restricting a person from ever hiring employees (unlike the sister program run by the employment insurance program) -- thus keeping the business small, and perhaps, less likely to take that person off benefits.

Second, the system restricts the amount of money one can make before they are substantially clawed back in benefits. Here, in Ontario, a single person can earn $160 each month, whether this be in a job, or in a self-employment situation, and after that point, they lose 75% of whatever net earnings they have, from their benefits. (This rate has been that way for as long as I can remember working for people with disabilities -- and I am in my 40s!). With many people with disabilities depending on such benefits for drugs, medical care, etc., there is too much of a strong argument not to exit the 'system'. To me, the argument lies in systems change, not in whether or not people should use employment or self-employment supports to get back in the workforce, and whether employment or self-employment supports as they are today, are actually effective. I think the real test would come once there is system change, and a view to regulations being more flexible in allowing people to work, and to return to the income supports if they left (at least a 5-year, as opposed to a 1-year time limit).

MARGO: Given that this is a listserv for self-employment for people with disabilities, my question to entrepreneurs with disabilities, is: If you had to do it all over again, would you want to be an entrepreneur again? Has it successfully addressed your reasons for becoming one? If you had to do it all over again, what would you have done differently?

ANGELA: To be honest, I preferred being an employee, at least I knew what I was going to be paid each week, and had medical and drug benefits, which did not impoverish me. With a family, it is very hard to be self-employed. I had tried to find secure full-time employment, but my success in that department has been limited. So, rather than have no income, and be left to the mercy of the state, so to speak, I prefer to have a self-generated income, in the absence of job opportunities. Being well-educated is an advantage in self-employment; however, in regular employment, I found this to be a severe disadvantage.

MARGO: What advice would you give people with disabilities who are considering going into business for themselves? And for those who are considering becoming entrepreneurs, what are your greatest concerns about actually becoming one? I think this would be an interesting discussion.

ANGELA:

1. Be realistic. It takes time for a business to work. It takes some research before one is certain that the business has marketability. Check out all options for funding, as there are many available. Also, realize that you have to start off small, in order for the business to eventually support you.

2. Be active. Learn about how policies and regulations in income support programs affect the viability of your business, and be outspoken about this. Visit your elected officials. Tell them what you think you need in order to be able to actually make money from your business, while being able to cover all your other expenses you would not normally have, if you did not have a business.

3. Work with a support person or organization that specializes in the needs of people with disabilities and is familiar with the legislation, and is willing and able to go to bat for you if you run into any problems. This is what I do. I've gotten people funding for their start-up costs, training, support services, disability-related accommodations, etc. through the various government programs available; I also advocate directly on people's behalf with income support services, and have been able to get other concessions for people, as well as have spent a considerable amount of my time lobbying, etc. to get changes made in the system.

4. Get involved with an association or network of other people with disabilities. I work informally with a number of people with disabilities who have been working in their own businesses, doing various activities. I have worked to create a circle of services, through which many businesses in the community can utilize, both disabled and non-disabled, to enable maximal funding to flow to those businesses and groups that are largely controlled by people with disabilities, where possible. For example, if I know a graphic artist that has a disability, and I have a client that needs to get business cards drawn up, I prefer to send that person to the graphic artist that I know, so that person has more work, than to send them to traditional services, often more expensive and not run by people with disabilities.

5. Be flexible. Don't expect too much, or too little. If you have a need to take a break, take one. If you feel you can handle that larger order, do it. However, assess your circumstances, and other work you are doing before you commit to any further work, so that you will always be able to provide good service.

MARGO: As someone who has cerebral palsy, I believe people with disabilities' chances of success and to sustain a career in self-employment improves when they have other forms of financial support and other backups.

ANGELA: That is always the ideal, but not all of us have that ideal. For example, I do not have the fortune of having a spouse work in a real job, with real benefits or anything else, so I am on my own in a sense. However, my thoughts on this would be, that if I did not take the initiative to move on this business, my family would receive no income.

MARGO: It also improves when relevant stakeholders and disability support programs, policies, and regulations are truly conducive to and supportive of their entrepreneurial ambitions [and I would check to see if they were (Well that would be dependent if everything was honestly laid out in front of me, and if I had asked all the right questions.)]. After all, no person with a disability purposely goes into entrepreneurship seeking to have their entire current and future economic, disability, and quality of life situations threatened – it is to improve one's situation not to make things worse. It's not about taking chances, but being able to take calculated/affordable "risks", but in my estimation, for many people with disabilities, what they do have and need now, they cannot risk losing at any cost – even if it was an attempt to improve their situation – like starting a business. That in itself is a very real and understandable disincentive to seek self-employment.

ANGELA: That is why we need to *educate* and work with our elected representatives, and senior level government workers, to *make* them understand what works and what does not work for *you*, as a person with a disability. Policies and regulations are created by people who do not have to rely on income supports, nor are they created with the idea that people on income supports would even want to work, or could work themselves off such supports some day. It is up to us to change this way of thinking; it is a lot of hard work, and will take a lot of organizing, and disability groups working together (a real treat), to make this happen.

This website was developed to help employers in the United Kingdom to help them achieve "best disability practices." It features a comprehensive checklist and accompanying information and suggestions.

This study guide is meant to enable Rehabilitation Counselors to better support people with disabilities who want to start their own businesses. It contains information on developing a business plan, self-employment resources, the use of PASS plans for self-employment, strategies for supported self-employment and related topics.

The Canadian Hearing Society and the government of Ontario have jointly released a new CD-Rom to help businesses and organizations communicate more effectively with deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing clientele. It contains general guidelines for businesses and organizations as well as specific guidelines for retail, restaurant, and medical settings. Content is in written English and French as well as American sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes Quebecouise (LSQ). Available free of charge.

This six-week online course will provide rehabilitation counselors with skills and knowledge that they can use with people with disabilities to help them begin training for quality careers in a range of design fields. (Begins June 21)

STARTS JUNE 1! The World Bank is pleased to organize and host an e-mail based electronic discussion on the issue of "Employment for Disabled Youth". The focus is on the good practices of job creation for disabled youth worldwide. There is no cost for joining but you will need to have access to e-mail. Please be sure to register RIGHT AWAY to ensure that you are included in the discussions from the very beginning.

The Beach Center on Disability at the University of Kansas is seeking people with developmental disabilities to respond to a survey about using technology. To

This 4 CD set contains 8 webcasts with national speakers on topics related to customized employment of individuals with disabilities. Each webcast includes a 45 minute lecture, PowerPoint presentation, handouts, and other resources. This CD package is a great training tool for staff and new hires. The 4 CD set is available for $150 (One license) or $475 (Unlimited licensing).

"Disability Employment 101" was jointly developed by the US Department of Education and the US Chamber of Commerce. It includes information about how to find qualified workers with disabilities, how to put disability and employment research into practice and how to model what other businesses have done to successfully integrate individuals with disabilities into the workforce. This 56-page guide also provides information regarding department-funded vocational rehabilitation agencies, Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers, and Centers for Independent Living. It is available online in text and PDF format. Hardcopy can be ordered by writing ED Pubs, Education Publications Center, U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Or, use the link below and search for "101".

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