GUEST ARTICLE:
DisLabeling: Reconciling unnecessary
discrimination, exclusion & confusion arising from having “mild” or
“significant” disabilities
By Rob Crawford
Over
the past several months, I have been able to meet and talk with people from
federal agencies, entrepreneurs, businesses, and grassroots organizations
looking for signs of progress in employment policies and practices regarding
expanding the workforce participation of adults with disabilities.
Depending on whom you are meeting
with, several dynamics are consistent:
Federal and state employment
program administrators/managers recognize policy/program service inequities
between “mild” types of disabilities and others categorized as
“significant.”
Since the Clinton administration,
this segregation of conditions has effectively shut out people with high
incidence “mild” disabilities such as learning disabilities, ADHD, Autism,
mood and anxiety disorders from having access to both appropriate and
available services. No agency official I met was able to offer any insights
as to whether this “DisLabeling” issue will be resolved or is even being
discussed as an eligibility policy issue or included in upcoming competitive
grants for model demonstration programs. In other words, no government
official or agency “owns” this issue.
National unemployment rates among
people with disabilities persist in being disproportionately higher than any
other demographic group.
Private and public sector employers
continue to struggle with embracing available employment hiring
incentives/subsidies, effectively know how to tap into this labor pool, and
in general, avoid inclusion of this labor segment into comprehensive
diversity/inclusion strategic planning. There are creative and well-funded
PR efforts underway through national campaigns such as “What Can You Do?”
and “Think Beyond the Label” to generate business confidence. They have not
yet resulted in tangible/concrete improvement of employment outcomes, hiring
practices, and job advancement of people with disabilities.
Emergence of collaboration
between/among government programs, community organizations, and the business
community.
The dismal fiscal & economic reality
for local and state municipalities is compelling the forging of alliances
among agencies and providers who have in the past stayed within their own
particular service silos. Although there are a number of government programs
dedicated to increasing employment among disadvantaged and underserved
members of the workforce, they have a number of operational limitations.
Among them are an over-reliance on government funding, duplication of
efforts, segregation of clients based on conflicting eligibility
definitions, and lack of full participation between business, education, and
government entities. The way forward to survive and sustain services is
through local efforts leveraging mutual resources in building true
public/private employment and disability partnerships. This will require
tremendous levels of trust, cooperation and mutual risk taking to make such
networks possible.
Rebuilding community vendor
networks of direct service providers is necessary to implement/sustain
successful employment networks.
This is where independent contractors
(primary role providing pre-vocational training/direct placement to job
seekers with disabilities) makes a difference because of the intimate,
ongoing nature of the human relationship between job developer and the
person looking for work. They understand the differences between functional
assets and limitations using strength-based placements, rather than being
tied to IQ test scores, diagnostic categories, or educational attainment.
Larger agencies can’t bring this human dynamic of qualitative from-the-gut
decision making to bear as effectively or efficiently. It simply takes a lot
of time to build a relationship that looks beyond the empirical data.
Independent contractors also
cultivate relationships and work directly with employers through site
visits, assessing essential functions of the job from a first-person
environmental scan and then can pre-screenings potential candidates to
ensure the best match for all parties. This element is a huge missing piece
of the existing overall employment services puzzle, and more than finding
the funding to deliver these services, the most critical part of creating a
sustainable effort. Creating these types of local efforts will almost have
to start from scratch, because government consolidation of employment
programs/funding for people with mild & significant disabilities has forced
small organizations and independent entities to either close or serve
private clients to survive.
Working towards the creation of a
post-DisLabeled world
When looking at civil rights and
equal protections under the law as it applies to other recognized
minorities, one does not find health care provided for one racial group, but
not another. Our rights to religious freedom are guaranteed equally for
believers and non-believers alike. Most citizens living in progressive
social democracies would not tolerate any such blatant, preferential
treatment or limitation of rights by correctly seeing this as inherently
prejudicial and unfair.
But within the American system of
employment, health care, housing, and educational services, adults with
disabilities have tolerated being categorized into a two-tier caste system
of services based on governmental definitions of “mild” and “significant”
conditions that unnecessarily pits disability groups against each other in
competing for ever-decreasing resources.
While we will never achieve a
completely post-DisLabeled society, it is possible to provide services in an
equitable & responsible manner through automatic recognition of all
disabilities (defined in DSM-IV R & ADAA) for service/accommodation
eligibility.
Rather than wait for this to happen
on its own, it is up to adults who have disabilities to begin their own
community organizations/campaigns that take this issue to the general
public. There has not been a universal cry for reform from our own mouths.
We have not had our historical Selma March moment that galvanized us as a
people-not as special interest subgroups-but as a constituency to be paid
attention to, that can impact elections, influence corporate branding, and
realize our potential to be included in all areas of civic planning and
discourse.
The generation of pioneers who helped
in the passage of ADA have not recruited this generation of people with
disabilities. Their work is unfinished and it is now the work of all of us
with disability to push the Mission of social justice, inclusion and equity
forward. Until we work with all hands joined in common cause, we can’t be
satisfied with continued exclusions, limitations or segregations of any
person with a recognized disabling condition from the most basic of services
or reasonable adjustment considerations due to MisLabeling misuse/abuse.
Rob Crawford is the
co-founder and CEO of the Life Development Institute (LDI)
in Glendale, AZ - starting it out of his home in 1982 as a
day program for adults with hidden disabilities needing job
training and independent living skills. He has been the
driving force behind numerous private and public
collaborations that have helped thousands of individuals
referred from families, vocational rehabilitation, foster
care system, adult basic education, professionals and
consultants to participate and succeed at LDI and make the
first steps into the larger community on their own.
Life Development Institute's Website:
www.lifedevelopmentinstitute.org
Rob Crawford's Blog:
http://blog.lifedevelopmentinstitute.org
RESOURCES on
DISABILITY & EMPLOYMENT
ARTICLE: Collaborating and Coordinating with
Employers
This
article by Elaine Katz and Richard Luecking (I’m always keen to hear what
Rich Leucking has to say.) is published online as a brief from the NTAR
Leadership Center in October, 2009. It suggests that traditional employment
services have been disconnected from the real needs of the employers in
their communities and suggests that greater workforce inclusion of people
with disabilities can be achieved as these agencies adopt more collaborative
relationships with employers.
Full Article:
www.ntarcenter.org/files/NTAR_Issue_Brief_3_Collaborating_Coordinating.pdf
ARTICLE: Making Recruiting Sites Accessible for All
Increasingly,
companies are focusing their recruiting efforts to internet-based
initiatives. Whether by leveraging social networking sites, using
job-matching sites, or just having their job postings and application forms
on their own sites, many companies are focusing on the internet as their
best source for finding applicants. Sadly, many of these websites are not
attending to accessibility issues and, as such, can be excluding many people
with disabilities from their candidate pool. Read more in this new article
from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Read the full article:
www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/Diversity/Articles/Pages/RecruitingSitesAccessible.aspx
BOOKLET: Respect Employment
The
Provincial Networking Group Inc. (PNGI) in British Columbia has recently
published a succinct, engaging and attractive booklet that gets to the heart
of the employment experience for everyone – but particularly those of us
with disabilities. Through 30 pages containing eight true-life stories,
“RESPECT: Real Employment Stimulates Pride, Empowerment, Connections and
True inclusion” demonstrates how employment can enrich and transform lives.
(I was really impressed with this publication even before I noticed that it
was liberally sprinkled with quotes from my wife, Denise Bissonnette!)
Booklet online (pdf)
http://bcdesignworks.com/client_files/PNGI/respect-booklet-web.pdf
Contact PNGI (Publisher) pngi@telus.net
VIDEOS: ADA 20th
Anniversary Series
As
part of their celebration of the ADA’s 20th Anniversary, TASH is
interviewing folks at the forefront of the disability rights movement and
adding these interviews to their website. A new interview will be added
every two weeks. To-date, online video interviews include Bob Williams, Judy
Heumann and Wayne Sailor.
www.tash.org/ADAanniversary.htm
The
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is releasing a new
video each week leading up to July 26, 2010 the 20th anniversary of the ADA,
featuring people in the disability community speaking about the ADA and how
it has impacted their lives.
www.aapd.com/site/c.pvI1IkNWJqE/b.5606951/k.8126/AAPD_Video_Suite.htm
E-CARDS:
Think Beyond the Label
Want to cause a little stir in your
community of coworkers or associates? Send them an E-Card from Think Beyond
the Label. There are eight catchy card designs to choose from and you can
personalize your message. A fun and easy way to get some positive disability
dialogue started in your personal & professional networks.
Send Your E-Cards:
www.thinkbeyondthelabel.com/ECards/ECardLanding.aspx
ENTREPRENEUR
PROFILE: Dusty’s Puppets
Dusty Dutton is 33 years old and
lives in northern California. Having Downs Syndrome had limited her career
options but, with the support of her family, Dusty was able to turn her
interest and ability in puppetry into a profession – establishing her own
business as a professional puppeteer and speaker on self-employment.
Read Dusty’s story on the Real People, Real Jobs website:
http://realworkstories.org/self-employment/11-dusty-tapping-into-personal-re
Visit the Dusty’s Puppets website:
www.dustyspuppets.com
On
a personal note, I was recently saddened to learn about the
death of a personal friend, Gary McPherson. Gary was
probably one of the smartest and kindest people I’ve ever
met. With a profound degree of disability and an indomitable
spirit, Gary pushed his life to the fullest – ultimately
receiving the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian
honour. A nice tribute is found in the article “
achievement as Ontarians without disabilities, there
will be a further boost to Ontario’s GDP per capita of
as much as $200.
