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The major barriers to achievement by people with disabilities in
our society continue to be attitudinal barriers, stereotypical thinking, and
assumptions about what people can and can't do. The truth is that the range of
ability of persons within any disability group is enormous. We need to get rid
of our stereotypical images and view each individual as just that: "an
individual." Listed below are the kinds of assumptions that can be barriers to
employment for persons with disabilities.
Assumption: A person with
mental retardation cannot be trained to perform a job as well as an employee
without a disability.
Fact: Over two-thirds of the
4,000 participants in Pizza Hut, Inc.'s "Jobs Plus Program" are persons with
mental retardation. The current turnover rate among these employees with
disabilities is a modest 20% compared to the 150% turnover rate of employees
without disabilities. This means a drop in recruitment and training costs.
Assumption: An individual with
a psychiatric disability cannot work in a stressful environment where tight
timelines have to be met.
Fact: All individuals perceive
stress differently and their responses vary. Some individuals with psychiatric
disabilities perform effectively in jobs that require specific timelines and
structure.
Assumption: There is no way
that a wheelchair racer can compete with the world's best marathon runners.
Fact: It takes a good runner
over two hours to run a marathon. A competitive wheelchair racer can complete a
marathon in less than one and a half hours.
Assumption: A person with a
developmental disability and difficulty with fine motor control is unlikely to
be able to handle complex operations on the production line of a manufacturing
plant.
Fact: A person with this
combination of functional limitations was hired for a production line job. The
job involved labeling, filling, capping, and packing a liquid product. The only
accommodation supplied for the worker was the creation of a plywood jig. The
jig enabled the worker to hold the bottle steady for correct labeling.
Assumption: It is unbelievable
that a person with a double amputation can compete with the world's fastest
100-meter dash runners.
Fact: The world record is 9.9
seconds. A runner who is a double amputee ran the dash in 11.76 seconds, just
1.8 seconds off the world mark.
Assumption: People with severe
disabilities can't compete in heavy duty weight lifting activities.
Fact: A person with cerebral
palsy has bench pressed weights in excess of 500 pounds.
Assumption: A person who is
blind and has a missing right hand cannot perform a job as a machinist.
Fact: The applicant lost his
vision and right hand in Vietnam. He persuaded a community college to train him
as a machinist and was finally given a job on a trial basis. From the very
first day, he broke production records and caused others to do the same. His
only modification was to move a lever from the right side of the machine to the
left.
Assumption: Downhill skiers
with one leg cannot really compete against racers with two legs.
Fact: Top racers without
disabilities have been clocked at 80-85 miles per hour; downhill skiers with
one leg have been clocked at over 74 miles per hour.
Assumption: It is unlikely
that a man whose right leg is amputated six inches above the knee can perform
the duties of a warehouseman that require loading and unloading trucks,
standing, lifting, bending, and delivering supplies to various sections as
needed.
Fact: A person with this type
of amputation was hired to work in a paper warehouse. He performed the job
without any modification. He worked out so well that the company moved him to
operating heavy equipment, a log stacker. The company did not have to make any
accommodations . He was able to climb ladders and the heavy equipment without
any problems.
October 1995 |
