Dec/100
Disability Training Blog Honors CSC
The Disability Training Blog would like to recognize and congratulate CSC on earning a spot on the “Top 50 Employers for Persons with Disabilities” list in CAREERS & the disABLED magazine. Though printing of the official list will not occur until this coming month, January 2011, the news is already rippling across the Web. CSC, a multinational technology solutions company, sets the quintessential example of what it means to value disability in the workplace.
CAREERS & the disABLED first printed in 1986. To this day, the magazine is the only periodical of its kind. Geared towards undergraduate students, graduates, and professionals, this magazine provides disability career guidance for individuals with a range of mental and physical impairments. For the past twenty years, CAREERS has surveyed subscribers to create an annual list of the top 50 employers for which those with disability would most like to work.
It is easy to see why CSC has been honored with a spot on such a admirable list. When asked about the award, Jeannie Maul, Vice President of CSC’s Managed Services Sector, replied:
CSC is greatly honored to receive this prestigious recognition that highlights our focus and commitment to creating an enterprise-wide culture of inclusion, valuing diversity and providing opportunities for all employees.
The company is no stranger to diversity, with offices in the U.S., Asia, Australia, and Europe. Experience with the global workplace has clearly impacted the culture of CSC, as Ms. Maul explains that disability awareness is very much a part of the company:
[…] we work to create awareness not about the ‘disability,’ but rather about the abilities of our employees. CSC strives to provide a fully inclusive workplace that inspires all employees to be a part of our success, and to provide everyone with vast global opportunities for professional development.
It is inspiring to see a company of such great magnitude value the diversity they recruit. Business leaders are smart to take a page from the CSC operations manual, and not just because of the praise the company has received from Fortune Magazine for being one of the World’s Most Admired Companies for IT. Ms. Maul said it best: CSC inspires each employee to be a part of the company’s success. By focusing on abilities, companies are better able to train, develop, and place employees for optimal performance. Disability training is an integral part of this process, equipping individuals with the knowledge and foresight to build inclusive workplaces.
News source for this article: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101220006346/en/CSC-Recognized-Top-Employer-Persons-Disabilities
Dec/100
Disability Training Specials for 2011
Just over 8% of Americans reported a disability or work limitation of some kind in 2009 (i). That equates to roughly 15 million individuals according to the Cornell University Online Resource for U.S. Disability Statistics. Unemployment among these individuals remains high as well, a statistic that some believe evidences a “first fired and last rehired” trend that asserts workers with disability are among the first to be fired and last to be rehired during weak economies. As the economy recovers and business begins to flourish, hiring is expected to increase and the unemployment level of all Americans is projected to drop. This will trigger an influx of workers with disability in the workplace, simply in virtue of the diversity of American population and the requirement for organizations to offer equal opportunity employment.
Disability training prepares business leaders, managers, and employees to work with and support individuals with mental and physical impairments. These individuals are qualified and capable, however may require accommodations to facilitate them in performing work. Such accommodations may be tangible or intangible, including physical structures like wheelchair ramps as well as nonphysical environmental constructs like coworkers who can communicate with sign language. In a world that becomes increasingly diversified by the day, businesses that utilize disability training remain competitive in terms of hiring, maintaining Federal compliance, and providing goods and services to a richly varied customer base.
Program Development Associates excitedly offers many resources for disability training professionals of most all industries. These multimedia training products are ideal for human resource departments, newly diversified workplaces, and educational professionals alike. The following selection of disability DVDs are Specials from PDA that are sure to meet your needs for 2011, no matter what your budget:
Disability Awareness Special—this disability video bundle includes the Ten Commandments for Communicating with People with Disabilities, as well as the Getting It Right DVD. Ideal for diverse organizations that want to teach courteous communication and engage in sensitivity training.
ADA Information Special—keep managers, human resources personnel, and employees up-to-speed on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Includes ADA quiz book, CD-Rom, and existing facility checklist to evaluate current compliance.
American Sign Language Special—Deaf Americans are among the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. Prepare to hire, train, and serve this growing population with this comprehensive set of CD-ROMs.
These specials and more are available at the Program Development Associates disability video Specials and Clearance store. PDA wishes you and your organization a Happy Holiday, and a prosperous start in 2011!
(i) http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/disabilitystatistics/reports/cps.cfm?statistic=prevalence
Dec/100
Disability Training: Soft Skills Meet Hard Tasks
One of the fastest ways to increase productivity is to encourage employee cohesion, particularly in diverse workplaces. Training employees to accept coworkers, communicate courteously, and work in teams is paramount in creating a productive workplace. Disability DVDs that develop cohesion among workers, for example, help employees to develop soft skills. These abilities relate to the personality and interpersonal abilities of an individual, and they are requisites for success in today’s dynamic and diverse workplace.
Soft Skills Overview
Soft skills contribute to the building of an individual’s Emotional Quotient. The Emotional Quotient, or EQ, is a measurement of 5 basic personal dimensions. These include open-mindedness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and narcissism. Those with a high EQ may exhibit positive personal qualities like high self esteem, responsibility, integrity, and a sociable personality. In addition, these individuals have refined interpersonal skills and work well as team members, interoffice leaders, and social negotiators.
Why Emotional Quotient?
Employers have begun to recruit, train, and advance individuals with increasing attention to their Emotional Quotient. While general intelligence is an important factor, it is limited in its ability to predict job performance. Intelligence, as measured by IQ, is merely an indication of what an individuals is capable of mentally. EQ, in contrast, provides a strong indication of what the individual will do. Moreover, individuals with a high EQ are better positioned to learn and excel within their respective areas of expertise. The American Psychological Association’s report titled Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns furthers this idea, stating that individual characteristics like interpersonal skills are of equal or greater importance than IQ in predicting work performance (i). Conscientious and open minded individuals, for example, work well in teams and positively contribute to the overall functionality of their office culture.
Benefits of Soft Skills Training
Cohesion among the members of an organization or business is one of the key drivers towards profitability. Employees who understand one another, communicate effectively, and hold one another accountable for their actions create workplaces that are efficient. In this light, soft skills training takes on added importance for businesses wishing to increase efficiencies, engage in team building, or unite a fragmented and inefficient workforce. Soft skills training is also important because it develops the abilities that are thought to complement hard skills, or job-specific tasks. In this way, an employee can become more productive or efficient simply by developing their ability to stay conscientious of peers, open minded to change, or communicative with fellow employees.
Soft skills training is essential for businesses of most industries because it aids in achieving efficient operations. Moreover, developing the soft skills and EQ of employees creates a work experience rich in feelings of worth, efficacy, and autonomy. Workplaces that cultivate such feelings are usually able to keep employee turnover low, building a long lasting foundation of human capital for future growth.
(i) Neisser et al. (August 7, 1995). “Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns”. Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association. Retrieved August 6, 2006.
Dec/100
Disability Employment and Work Leave
Organizations do not hire individuals because of what they cannot do. Instead, individuals are hired for their skills, potential, and character. Disability employers know this first hand, hiring individuals because of their abilities rather than their disabilities. These employers see the value of diversity, recognizing that a richly varied group of individuals contributes more to production and innovation than does a homogeneous group. These workplaces build strong foundations for success through ongoing disability education for employees, managers, and other business leaders.
Diverse workplaces must also accommodate workers with disabilities, providing work leave for qualified individuals. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, individuals who become injured, disabled, or ill during their usual scope of employment may be entitled to disability work leave. Entitlement depends on the circumstances under which the worker suffers injury or illness. Moreover, claims are guided by two main Federal laws: the Americans with Disability Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Americans with Disability Act
The Americans with Disability Act prohibits employers from discriminating against those with disabilities in all employment-related activities including recruitment, advancement, pay adjustments, and benefits (i). The ADA does not specifically require employers to provide medical or disability leave. Rather, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities, if those accommodations are necessary to perform their job. Here, disability leave may constitute an accommodation necessary for a worker with a disability to perform their job. A typical example includes the modification of a work schedule to accommodate the rehabilitation of an injured employee.
Family and Medical Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act is a Federal piece of legislation designed to assist workers in maintaining both workplace and domestic responsibilities. Covered individuals may take a leave of up to 12 weeks without pay for serious health conditions (ii). The scope of the term serious health conditions is broad and includes pregnancy, illness, impairments, and physical or mental conditions that require multiple absences.
Other state-level laws and provisions also come into play when employees seek disability leave. Businesses must remain compliant with all applicable laws on both the state and Federal level. Disability resources are the best solution for managing such compliance issues, providing information about state laws, Federal legislation, and the overlapping of the two. Such resources develop employer relations and aid in creating reasonable and lawful business policies.
(i) http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/employ.htm
(ii) See above.
Dec/100
Disability Education Resources for Advocates
Today’s Disability Advocate plays a crucial role in linking those with disability with job opportunities, Social Security, and other disability benefits. Helping those with disability to find such benefits and enroll in employment programs creates opportunity for all who are involved. This opportunity often leads to successful job placement, the acquisition of essential finances, and other benefits that those with disability may not otherwise attain.
Program Development Associates features the following disability DVDs to help advocates better serve the individuals with whom they work.
A Fair Chance DVD
Gain unparalleled insight to the world of disability with this 53-minute DVD. Examine the lives of 6 parents, each with a developmental disability, and learn to identify the factors that contribute to their success. University professors, social workers, and educators round out this disability resource with a straight forward discussion of the prejudices these individuals face as parents, effective support services, and the need these individuals have for standardized services.
This disability education resource is a must for disability advocates who work or wish to work with Autistic individuals. An ABC News Program, this resource showcases two adults, along with their parents and life coaches, and examines the life of an American adult with Autism. Psychologist Peter Gerhardt and Quest Autism Foundation cofounder Jen Hoppe contribute to the ABC production, presenting commentary on the quality of life that Americans with autism face, the assistance they need, and the funding needed to develop support initiatives.
A Video Guide to Disability DVD
An essential for disability advocates, this resource builds a foundation for understanding the Americans with Disability Act. With an opening and concluding segment from former President Bill Clinton, A Video Guide to Disability takes disability advocates through the constructs of the ADA, touching on humanistic topics including disability etiquette, behavior, interaction with those with disabilities, and more.
Disability Education resources are essential in advocacy training, helping individuals become professionals who may better serve those with disability. For additional resources, please visit the Program Development Associates Advocate Training online store.
Dec/100
Prepare for Disability with Educational Products
Disability work programs do more than just hire individuals with disabilities. While these programs certainly create workplaces where a diversity of individuals may find opportunities for work, they go a step further by facilitating the development of these individuals. Creating a work program of this nature is not difficult. Further, successful disability work programs recruit a multitude of unique prospects and provide support systems that develop prospects into long term company assets.
Internal Preparation: Soft Skills and Sensitivity Training
The best way to successfully engage in disability work programs is to first prepare internally. It is important to assess the management structure of your organization, encouraging all department heads and other influential leaders to openly advocate new disability programs. This will spread awareness, build program support, and position office leaders to answer any questions employees may have regarding disability training programs.
Organizations may further prepare their members by scheduling regular workshops to review etiquette and disability workplace skills. Soft Skills Training, for example, helps individuals identify and improve areas of personality to better suit a diverse workplace. Sensitivity Training furthers these efforts by helping employees recognize the biases they may hold about persons of different ethnicity, sex, and ability. Once recognized, these biases can be overcome through sensitivity training activities that dispel common prejudices.
Hiring for Disability
Once an organization is adequately prepared to support a diverse environment, it must take steps to make employment opportunities accessible to those with disability. The Department of Labor is an ideal place to start. Organizations may review a wealth of electronic resources by visiting DOL.gov and searching for Compliance Assistance Materials.
Leveraging technology to recruit prospects is another sound option. However, it must be done with tact. To illustrate, consider that most businesses already have a company website that features employment information and sometimes an electronic application. This is a positive step towards extending equal opportunity to job prospects. It can, however, be taken a step further by optimizing the website to better achieve disability employment accessibility. Simple adjustments in website coding and design go a long way in enhancing usability for individuals with disability.
Disability Assessment and Evaluation Protocol
After internal preparation and equal opportunity outreach comes the need to address disability assessment and evaluation. Proper supports must be designed to facilitate the needs of those with disability; from physical structures like wheelchair ramps to ongoing disability education workshops, structures and employees must stay up to date and informed. Regularly reinforcing soft skills as well as sensitivity training principles goes a long way in supporting disability work programs.
Program Development Associates offers a range of disability videos to assist organizations in preparing disability employment programs. From soft skills and sensitivity training to disability assessment, PDA has the disability products necessary for creating effective, lasting employment programs.
Dec/100
Surpassing the Norm with Universal Design Strategies
Companies nationwide are turning to Universal Design to reevaluate growth strategies, and it is easy to see why. The rate of disability among American adults varies by specific condition, however, maintains a general upward climb (i). In the past, organizations have designed disability work programs and other internal panels to accommodate job applicants or current employees with disability. Now, however, organizations realize that such disability training has benefits that extend beyond the confines of the business itself. Internal disability education and training programs also put businesses in touch with local communities where disability is often times most prevalent.
About Universal Design
Universal Design is a method of planning that proactively creates structures, products, and atmospheres that are equally accessible to those with disability as they are to those without. As individuals live longer, research and trends indicate a corresponding increase in disability prevalence. Interest for Universal Design has thus grown as well, with businesses and consumers alike searching for ways to create inclusive environments.
Universal Design and Language
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what kind of price tag may a business place on a single disrespectful comment? More than ever, businesses are in touch with communities of consumers both locally and often worldwide. Information technology, in particular, unites consumers and makes reputation management a daunting task. A single disrespectful, disingenuous, or callous comment has the power to produce an incident that may destroy an organization’s good will overnight.
Sensitivity training is one area to which businesses may look to insulate themselves from potential downfall. This type of training teaches employees to recognize disability as the positive societal element it is, rather than a setback. In doing so, employees learn to identify the stigmas or prejudices they hold, counter them, and engage in etiquette means of communication with those with disability. Program Development Associates recommends the Principles and Practices: Universal Language DVD for business professionals looking to design disability etiquette programs with Universal Design principles in mind.
Proactive disability training with Universal Design concepts helps organizations prepare everything from buildings to customer service agents for interaction with a diversity of individuals. Proactive training carries with it disability education and awareness, two elements that pay added dividends to organizations looking to diversify their workplace. With the rate of disability climbing, it is hard to escape the notion that the modern workplace and ongoing disability education are a match made for long term success.
(i) http://www.allbusiness.com/labor-employment/workplace-health-safety-occupational/14267330-1.html
Dec/100
IDEA: Equal Opportunity Celebrated
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act celebrated its 35th year Monday, November 29th. The ground breaking piece of legislation shattered the long standing education boundaries for children with disabilities, opening public school systems and advancing disability awareness among students.
Remembering the IDEA
On Monday, President Obama released a statement in honor of the Act, expressing his commitment to equal opportunity in the schoolyard:
In America, we believe that every child, regardless of class, color, creed, or ability, deserves access to a world-class education […]. And as we mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of that law, we remember what it was all about. Equal opportunity. Equal access. Not dependence, but independence. We know that our educational system must hold children with disabilities to the same high standards as those without disabilities, and hold them accountable for their success and their growth. (i)
In honor of the 35th anniversary of the IDEA, Program Development Associates would like to highlight the disability products available to educators, business owners, and parents that aid in education and employment.
Disability Education Resources
The rate of learning disability among children ages 5 to 18 is growing. More than ever, it is important for parents and educators to learn about disability and create supportive, inclusive environments in which children can thrive. PDA offers a variety of texts, DVDs, and interactive media to help with these often challenging endeavors. Visit the PDA Learning Disabilities store to find the resources that are right for you.
Workplace Disability Training
The President’s words may have been in reference to the IDEA of 1975, but it is possible to extend their meaning to describe the level of disability employment for which we strive as a country. After all, why should we work so diligently to produce equal access and opportunity for schooling without working with equal diligence to create equal opportunity for employment?
PDA is proud to offer the following resource selections to help employers, those with disability, and organizations build a foundation for diversity and growth:
Building a disability employment program takes a steadfast commitment, and these disability training products help to refine internal interviewing, hiring, and training processes.
For individuals with disabilities, choosing a career path may require a lifetime of continual learning and preparation. These disability resources help individuals to identify their passions, work preferences, and suitable job opportunities.
Diverse workplaces rise or fall with the attitudes of those involved. These disability products help members of organizations to cultivate soft skills, engage in sensitivity training, and learn to communicate effectively.
As we reflect on President Obama’s words, let us remember that there was a time when disability precluded one from attaining an education. Let us remember the IDEA, and what it has meant for the 6.6 million children with disabilities who receive an education each year because of its enactment. Most of all, let us remember that equal opportunity does not end with school children.
(i) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/29/statement-president-35th-anniversary-individuals-with-disabilities-educa
