employment

by 1 comment on "Hey, That Limb Is Missing! Debunking Disability Stereotypes In Advertising"

In advertising, the inclusion of people with disabilities is a double-edged sword: is it intended to highlight the disability, or the person, or both? If the disability is highlighted, it is usually because the business is selling products that accommodate the disability. For companies that do not directly sell to people with disabilities, utilizing a person with a disability in an advertisement is a delicate exercise that may backfire.

Read More Hey, That Limb Is Missing! Debunking Disability Stereotypes In Advertising
by 0 comments on "New Survey On Employment of Americans With Disabilities"

Since the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990, there has been substantial progress in efforts among people with disabilities (PwDs) to be functionally equal members of society here in the United States. However, on one important marker of PwD participation in the larger society — jobs — there appears to be little improvement…

Read More New Survey On Employment of Americans With Disabilities
by 6 comments on "Let Your Fingers Do The Hiring: Part 2"

Following up on everyone’s feedback and my response, I would like to add further clarity and color to my original article on Braille and employment. Born profoundly deaf, I often swam against the tide of popular opinion about deaf and hard-of-hearing people, just as successful non-Braille users did in swimming against the tide of popular…

Read More Let Your Fingers Do The Hiring: Part 2
by 0 comments on "Let Your Fingers Do The Hiring: Responding to Your Comments"

Last week, I wrote an article about Braille, the blind, and unemployment, titled, “Let Your Fingers Do the Hiring: Blind People and Employment.” With one exception to date, blind people I reached out to, or who posted comments on my blog, were positive in their praise of my article. My followup post is in response…

Read More Let Your Fingers Do The Hiring: Responding to Your Comments
by 0 comments on "April Unemployment Rate for People with Disabilities: 15.2%"

Earlier this week, I wrote here about the high U.S. unemployment rate among people with disabilities (PwDs) and spelled out some reasons — obvious and not so obvious — for the gap between this rate and the general U.S. unemployment rate. Today, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the unemployment rate for PwDs in April.…

Read More April Unemployment Rate for People with Disabilities: 15.2%
by 7 comments on "Let Your Fingers Do the Hiring: Blind People and Employment"

In the disability world, there is often a difference of opinion on whether it is more appropriate to enroll a disabled child in a school specifically geared toward him or her, or to mainstream the child with non-disabled children in the general educational system. The decision on how to enroll a disabled child has major…

Read More Let Your Fingers Do the Hiring: Blind People and Employment
by 0 comments on "Wanted: More People with Disabilities in the Workforce"

Over the last three years, the Great Recession has been a major news topic in the United States, with the unemployment rate now running at nearly 10%. For people with disabilities (PwDs), unemployment has been a bigger story, with almost 14% of the PwD work force off the payrolls, according to March 2010 data compiled…

Read More Wanted: More People with Disabilities in the Workforce
by 4 comments on "Think Beyond The Label…Not? (UPDATE: TV ads ARE Captioned & Campaign has followed up with CNN.)"

UPDATE (4:15 pm ET): I have communicated with Barbara Otto at Health & Disability Advocates and she assured me that all of the “Think Beyond The Label” campaign’s TV ads and other videos, including those on YouTube, are closed-captioned. She has communicated with CNN and all other media outlets to ensure that future airings of…

Read More Think Beyond The Label…Not? (UPDATE: TV ads ARE Captioned & Campaign has followed up with CNN.)
by 3 comments on "That Resume Looks Fantastic! (Psst…She’s Disabled.)"

Last December, according to Disability Scoop, the unemployment rate for the U.S. was 9.5%. Among people with disabilities, the unemployment rate was 45 percent higher, at 13.8%. There are many possible and sometimes conflicting reasons for the 45% difference, but we can generally agree on a significant cause of this disparity: negative perceptions on the…

Read More That Resume Looks Fantastic! (Psst…She’s Disabled.)