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.
Does an individual have impairment because of physical abnormalities, or is an individual impaired by the society in which they live? Mike Oliver, a contemporary disability advocate and University of Greenwich Emeritus Professor, first articulated this distinction. His theory, named the Social Model of Disability, is a response to the Medical Model of Disability, the long held belief that individuals are primarily impaired by their physical bodies. It is very important to understand these two divergent ideologies and the way they have shaped disability awareness and policy.
Medical Model of Disability
The Medical Model of Disability asserts that “disability results from an individual person’s physical or mental limitations,” (i). This model views the ability of the body as being indicative of the overall ability of the individual.
Social Model of Disability
The Social Model of Disability states that certain societal barriers cause a person with impaired psychological or physiological impairments to be disabled (ii). Outside of societal contexts, the individual is functional in their own individual way. When framed within societal contexts, however, the individual is categorized as disabled because of their perceived inability to function within that society in a capacity that is labeled normal by the majority.
Moving Forward: Changing Attitudes with the Social Model
When contrasting these models of disability, it is important to consider their implications on both society and individuals with disabilities. Business professionals, particularly, need to be attentive to the difference; an organization is comparable to a subset of a society, and employees with disabilities are the individuals most affected by these differing attitudes.
Generally, the Social Model is preferable. The Social Model of Disability recognizes the intrinsic value of the individual, instead of labeling them is disabled in virtue of having abnormal mental or physical abilities. The latter breeds a negative stereotype, characterizing all individuals with disabilities and people who are disabled because their abilities are different compared to the majority.
Disability education programs that teach the Social Model emphasize that society has the power to limit the ability of individuals. Disability education productscan be used in conjunction with the Social Model, helping employees to identify the stereotypes they hold towards others so they may be discredited and overcome. Promoting the Social Model of Disability is instrumental in workplaces with an eclectic mix of individuals and represent a strong complement to any dsability training initiative.
(i) http://www.copower.org/leader/models.htm#medical
(ii) http://www.brainhe.com/TheSocialModelofDisabilityText.html
With the number of Americans with developmental disabilities surpassing 4.5 million in 2010, it is more important than ever to understand, engage, and help assimilate the disabled into the workforce. Program Development Associates understands this need and provides training resources to help social service agents, Human Resources departments, and other professionals communicate, train, and motivate those with developmental disabilities.
Developmental disabilities are an eclectic group of mild to chronic conditions characterized by severe mental or physical impairment. Individuals with such disabilities can have difficulty developing the skills to learn, communicate, move, and live independently. By definition, this spectrum of disorders manifests itself by the time the individual reaches twenty two years of age. The four most common forms include Mental retardation, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and Down syndrome.
Mental Retardation
Mental retardation is by far the most common of developmental disabilities. Typically manifesting itself before the individual reaches the age of 18, this condition is defined by the American Association of Mental Retardation as a significant limitation in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. Redefinition of the condition in 2002 paints a positive picture, placing heavy emphasis on the ability for the individual to become more functional and adaptive when provided with carefully constructed individual supports. With today’s advanced multimedia disability training resources, individuals can learn to provide these support systems and help mentally impaired individuals develop their intellectual capabilities.
Autism
Few disabilities are as complex and elusive as Autism. The variance in ability, from functional to severely debilitating, suggests miscellany in the causal factors depending on the individual’s unique genetic makeup. However, it has recently been proposed that the condition is deeply rooted in the abnormal architecture of neurotransmitters in the brain. Further, the degree to which the condition is expressed seems to hinge on the presence and extent of other impairments, such as mental retardation. Autism develops in about every one or two children per thousand, expressed most strongly during the ages of three to five years. The earlier symptoms are identified, the more likely the individual can learn effective communication and social skills. Symptoms may become more acute or progressively chronic as these individuals develop into adults. Thus, it is of extreme importance to understand Autistic professionals on a personal level as the nature of the disorder can differ profoundly from individual to individual. Human Resources professionals are encouraged to engage in disability training and education catered towards Autistic individuals in specific.
Cerebral Palsy
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, Cerebral Palsy is a broad, inclusive term for a group of capricious but non-progressive motor impairment syndromes secondary to anomalies of the brain arising in the early stages of development. A majority of cases are termed Congenital, caused by inadequacies of blood or oxygen supply to the unborn child, illness during pregnancy, or premature birth. The remaining minority of cases are termed Acquired, caused by head trauma, infections, or severe malnutrition shortly after the birth of the child. Whether Congenital or Acquired, individuals with Cerebral Palsy have the potential to be valuable assets to any company. Communication technology and mobility devices help these individuals to speak and move freely, however, the office environment and culture must also be built to foster physical accessibility and understanding of individuals with Cerebral Palsy.
Down Syndrome
Caused by a chromosomal defect, Down syndrome is seen in an estimated 1 in 700 people. These individuals exhibit physical characteristics unique to the syndrome, including low muscle tone and small stature, as well as a varying degree of intellectual impairment. Life expectancy for individuals with Down syndrome has more than tripled to sixty years since the early 1980s as researchers have made profound discoveries in the field of genetics and chromosomal development. In addition, cognitive delays are typically mild or moderate, making communication with an individual with Down syndrome easy relative to other chronic mental conditions. Several disability education resources are available to help professionals facilitate communication with these individuals, both in the workplace and in the home.
While developmental disabilities can vary in terms of severity, disabled individuals can nonetheless lead healthy, productive, and meaningful adult lives. The extent to which this can be realized hinges largely upon the unimpaired and our ability to promote disability awareness in the workplace. As disability training resources are utilized by professionals, more disabled Americans can transition into the office to make profound contributions. Disability education, whether taken on in the home or at the office, is a necessary for professionals in all industries to learn about and aid the disabled in their pursuit for fulfillment in society. Program Development Associates passionately links professionals with the educational resources necessary to help disabled individuals develop as professionals. PDA also offers a free disability education resource catalog of DVDs, CDs, videos, interactive board games, and gaming software.
References:
Kuban, K., & Leviton, A. (1994). Cerebral palsy. New England Journal of Medicine, 330(3), 188-195.
Huebner, R.A., and Dunn, W. (2001). Introduction and basic concepts. In Huebner, R.A., (Ed.), Autism: A sensorimotor approach to management (pp. 3-40). Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishing, Inc.
