Persons with disability and disability advocates earned a seemingly small victory in October with President Obama’s passing of Rosa’s Law. Seemingly, that is, because the victory is only small in nature—a rephrasing of existing legislation, to be precise. The implications of the victory, however, may prove to be monumental.
On Friday, October 8th, President Obama signed Rosa’s Law, a bill that strips the terms mental retardation and mentally retarded from several Federal statutes. The former terms are to be replaced instead with intellectual disability and individual with an intellectual disability, respectively (i). This evidence of sensitivity awareness at the Federal level further illustrates the growing concern for individuals with disabilities in American society.
Though minor changes in legislative semantics, there is much to be gained through the restructuring of Federal legislation to more aptly reflect the individuals to whom the words refer. The butterfly effect is a well-known metaphor that can help explain the long-term benefits of this minor change. The flapping of the wings of a butterfly today, the metaphor teaches, may alter the atmosphere in ways that disrupt the weather patterns of the future. In the very same way, the changes employed by Rosa’s Law will have an affect on policymakers, the public, and persons with intellectual disabilities. This affect will likely be positive, as substituting mentally retarded with intellectual disability will help combat the stigmas associated with the latter.
It is important to diminish the stigmas associated with the term mentally retarded because it is simply too broad. The term leads individuals to infer that a person who is mentally retarded suffers retardation, or deceleration, of all processes involving the mind. This, however, is over generalized. Many individuals with intellectual disabilities have fully functional and fascinating mental abilities. It is individual, specific components of intellect with which individuals with intellectual disability may have challenges. Understanding the difference is crucial, as applying the definition of the term is instrumental in developing associated beliefs and attitudes.
Sensitivity training is one method of exploring these issues, particularly in the context of a work environment. Sensitivity training is becoming more broadly applied in diverse workplaces to facilitate disability education, teaching employees about different disabilities, disability etiquette, working with peers with disabilities, and servicing customers with disabilities.
(i)http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/10/obama_signs_rosas_law_mental_r.html
Soft Skills Training and Sensitivity Training are rapidly becoming integral pieces of most organizational development programs. Internally, these training methods help disability employers to train employees with disabilities to overcome many of the everyday obstacles they may face. The benefit of Soft Skills and Sensitivity Training is not limited to the internal aspects of a business, however. Sensitivity training, for example, develops employee skill sets to interact with persons with disabilities who may be external agents, customers, or friends of an organization.
Soft Skills Training
Soft Skills are related to the EQ, or Emotional Intelligence Quotient, of an individual. EQ can be measured along the dimensions of a person’s open-mindedness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and level of narcissism, to name a few. These skills are thought to be strong determinants of individual success within an organization. For example, the success of a sales associate may hinge upon their ability to be open minded and conscientious of their prospects more so than their knowledge of the goods they sell.
For disability employers, helping employees to develop soft skills can be key ingredients in increasing productivity and worker efficacy. Disability products that help individuals to get along with others, find passion in work, and maintain punctuality pay great dividends when leveraged within disability training programs.
Sensitivity Training
As the name implies, Sensitivity Training aims to make individuals aware of the prejudices the hold so they may become more aware, or sensitive, of others. Sensitivity training further helps individuals to develop proper etiquette when interacting with others, especially peers with disabilities. This type of training is ideal for inclusive work environments as well as businesses that provide goods or services to those with disabilities.
Soft Skills and Sensitivity Training are two methods of disability education that are becoming invaluable. The former augments the level of success an employee may reach, and the latter promotes effective internal and external collaboration. When properly cultivated, these workplace skills can greatly increase the productivity, efficiency, and community goodwill of an organization.
Decreasing the rate of unemployment is on the minds of business professionals and policymakers alike. President Obama issued an enthusiastic Executive Order in July of 2010, challenging the Federal government to reevaluate and optimize their role as disability employers. This Order fell on the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, helping to further disability awareness among American business owners and professionals.
But one question befalls most small to mid-sized businesses: how can we help? The fear of change, increased costs, and disability program failure has many employers stagnant, despite genuine interest in offering equal opportunity employment. Tough economic times make these fears even greater, tempting business owners to wait for the economic tides to turn before making major changes in business strategy and operations. However, an evaluation of internal business culture may provide hope for organizations of most industries. Analyzing the communication methods and level of worker autonomy can provide a sound indication of an organization’s ability to adopt a more inclusive workplace, hiring workers of varied mental and physical ability.
Disability Education: Increasing Communication Support
A diverse workplace will need standards of communication. When assembling teams of employees with richly varied abilities, it is vital for each individual to be aware of their peers and the communication methods necessary to support collaboration. Ongoing disability education is essential to promote such collaboration. Professionals will find interactive disability products likewise instrumental in educating employees in proper communication practices with their peers with disabilities.
Disability Products for the Inclusive Workplace
Additional disability products are available to business professionals who wish to supplement their disability training programs by providing individuals with disabilities the materials needed to help them develop professionally. The Discovering Your Personal Power curriculum helps individuals with developmental disorders identify their own unique dimensions of ability and worth. This disability product is ideal for training groups of employees; the CD-Rom comes with 30 activities that may be reproduced to facilitate training several employees simultaneously. This engaging product will help to build a sense of autonomy among workers with disabilities, smoothing their transition into the culture of an organization.
Though engaging in disability employment may be uncharted waters for most professionals, it is nonetheless a requisite for becoming an equal opportunity employer. Moreover, the employment level among persons with disabilities will likely keep falling until more small to mid-sized businesses proactively seek to hire persons with disabilities. However, disability products that cultivate worker autonomy can help professionals build the inclusive environments necessary to support workers with disabilities.
An overwhelming amount of A-list star took the stage last Thursday evening to raise charitable donations and promote national disabilities education and awareness on Comedy Central.
The telethon, aptly named A Night of Too Many Stars, successfully raised several hundred thousand dollars for a host of national organizations. Specifically, these organizations provide autism awareness and services for individuals with autism and their families. Hosted by Jon Stewart, the television special drew the participation of many celebrities including George Clooney, Naomi Watts, Steve Carrel, and Robin Williams, among many others. The event marked a noteworthy milestone as many high profile individuals stood together to spread disability awareness on the national stage.
At the onset of the event, host Jon Stewart reminded viewers that about 1 in 110 children are diagnosed as autistic (i). “Tonight isn’t about curing autism or fighting it,” he continued. “Tonight is about helping people that live with it now.” Mr. Stewart’s distinction exemplifies much of the mission of Program Development Associates, and his words resonate powerfully with us. Though finding cures for disabilities and disorders is imperative, proactive present-day action is perhaps more important. Each of us has the ability to impact the lives of others in profound ways. Spreading disability awareness is an essential catalyst, and none demonstrated this more than the stars of last Thursday night’s Comedy Central special event.
Just one of the beneficiaries of the event includes the Institute for Brain Development, based out of New York. This organization conducts ongoing research in an effort to address the daily needs of individuals with autism-spectrum disorders, as well as other developmental disorders of the brain.
Spreading disability awareness and advocacy is perhaps the best way to support efforts to fund, study, and ultimately cure developmental disorders. There are a range of disability products available to business professionals, educators, and parents who wish to become proactive advocates of disability.
(i) http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/ent-life/articles/Too_Many_Stars_to_help_raise_money_for_autism.html
This month Program Development Associates is proud to offer sizeable discounts on over 80 different disability products for teachers, professionals, and parents. This discounted resource collection spans a multitude of different topics and issues, making it more affordable than ever to pursuer disability education for personal or professional use.
Products for Caregivers
In our previous article, we discussed the challenges those with disabilities face in finding employment that is both congruent with ability and provides a high level of satisfaction. As a follow up, PDA is excited to share the discounted resources now available to caregivers and those with disabilities who need assistance finding employment. The Barriers to Employment Special is a two piece bundle that will help individuals identify the personal obstacles, formulate strategies to overcome them, and plan for career advancement.
Barriers to Employment Success DVD
The first disability product in this bundle, the Barriers to Employment Success DVD, helps those with disabilities identify specific obstacles that need addressing. From lacking a professional resume to inadequate job experience, this DVD teaches viewers to rise above their problems by recognizing that they are not excuses. Rather, they are simply problems with solutions. Using five different categories of obstacles to frame such pissues, this disability education product helps those with disabilities develop the right attitude and resources to analyze their options and form an actionable plan to gaining employment.
Barriers to Success Inventory
Solving a problem is rarely the most difficult part of moving forward. Rather, it is identifying the problem to be solved that is most difficult. The Barriers to Success Inventory is one of the most intuitive and effective tool for persons with disabilities to implement in identifying hurdles to fulfilling employment.
Spanning several distinct dimensions of lifestyle, this disability resource uses 50 basic questions to uncover the most difficult challenges beset upon the individual being surveyed. Once these challenges are identified, the Inventory helps the individual develop an actionable plan for overcoming the challenges while pursuing employment and career opportunities.
The Barriers to Success DVD and Inventory are superb complements and valuable tools to accompany persons with disabilities and their caregivers in seeking employment. Both are available through this Program Development Associates Employment Special along with other resources listed under the Specials or Clearance section of the PDA website.
Organizations often face the dilemma of strategic orientation. While this dilemma takes on many forms, the two most common are quality orientation versus production orientation. Providing high quality customer service, for example, usually consumes the time necessary to also maintain high quality internal production.
Overcoming Communication Barriers with Disability Education
One way to adopt high standards for both quality and production is to departmentalize operations. This is not a new concept; many companies have production departments that are separate and distinct from customer service departments. However, fragmented departments must be able to communicate effectively in order maintain overall operational efficiency. For disability employers, this issue takes on added difficulty because peer-to-peer communication is framed in an inclusive workplace with many challenges that must be met and overcome.
Employees of all ability levels must have a sense of disability awareness and advocacy in order to communicate effectively and maintain a streamlined flow of information. Employers who utilize disability education resources can help employees cultivate the skills necessary to work inclusively. The skills needed to work in inclusive environments are not attained overnight; ongoing disability education seminars are vital in bringing together and uniting employees of all ability levels.
Goal: Autonomy Through Disability Education
Disability education programs do more than build awareness and cohesion, however. For disability employers, ongoing education and awareness initiatives help to build a sense of autonomy in workers with disabilities. Studies are increasingly relating worker autonomy with increased job satisfaction, which in turn increases productivity.
Further, autonomy among individuals within separate departments drives quality production by facilitating worker communication and information flow. Managers are turning to programs and strategic orientations that increase worker autonomy for this very reason. For disability employers, the issue of developing worker autonomy is not so easily addressed. Internal disability awareness and education programs are instrumental, however they are just a starting point. Persons with disabilities often need supplementary disability products to aid in developing professional skills like autonomy and efficacy.
Program Development Associates offers a new product this month to help persons with disabilities cultivate these essential workplace skills: The Discovering Your Personal Power Curriculum. This guide helps those with developmental disabilities learn of their individual, inherent, personal power. With 30 full-scale activities on a CD-Rom that can be reproduced for use among several individuals, the Discovering Your Personal Power Curriculum represents an essential tool for disability employers looks to build worker autonomy.
Learning the history of disability and the evolution of disability awareness is the key driver towards inclusion, both in the workplace and in the larger context of society as a whole. Disability employment professionals may utilize resources that provide the history of disability in society to better frame contemporary issues for employees. The goal: to provide a story with which everyone may relate, regardless of the difference in mental and physical capacities.
Program Development Associates features a resource bundle that is ideal for disability education in the diverse workplaces of today. This 2 DVD pack first primes viewers with the history of disability from a medical and societal perspective, then moves to share with viewers an unrestricted view of the infamous Willowbrook State School for the developmentally disabled. The progression of this multi-resource bundle will not only give viewers a comprehensive history lesson, but will also provide a real-world examples for the necessity for ongoing disability awareness.
Disability History
The first DVD of this resource bundle, A Little History Worth Knowing, provides a background in disability stereotypes spanning from early medical dilemmas to current day assistive technology breakthroughs. This DVD uses a multitude of resources, including the diaries of real individuals with disabilities, to follow the development of disability awareness through the past century.
Willowbrook: Lessons for Today
The Unforgotten: 25 Years After Willowbrook DVD provides the quintessential follow-up for this disability resource bundle. This award-winning expose was shot in 1972 by Geraldo Rivera and is widely considered a major catalyst for the widespread reform in the treatment of people with disabilities. The hour long DVD, available in Closed Captioned format, also includes a 30 minute Geraldo Rivera bonus feature that will give viewers insight toward the making of the documentary. Above all, the critically acclaimed film is a valuable tool for disability employment professionals because it shows viewers of the horrific shortcomings of the Willowbrook State School, teaches them of the inequities of such treatment, and provides impetus for ongoing disability awareness training.
Additional disability training resources may be viewed through the Program Development Associates product catalog, which may be downloaded for free on the Disabilitytraining.com.
Whether transitioning into the workforce for the first time or making a career change, finding jobs for people with disabilities may be a challenge. Caregivers and advocates see firsthand, for example, the difficulty people with learning disabilities face in trying to find employment that is both fulfilling and congruent with ability. The most effective way to make this transition is to first gauge the ability, talent, and interests of the individual. This personal assessment must then be used to compare real world employment options to confidently make career decisions.
Disability Employment Evaluation
Identifying the interests and abilities of an individual is crucial in determining the field of employment to pursue. The Career Evaluation DVD has been a popular disability product; this resource is available in Closed Captioned format and helps individuals relate occupational tasks and work environments to their own unique values. Education level, skill set, personal values, and lifestyle are all explored in the context of employment opportunities to mesh the attributes of an individual with an ideal area of work.
Disability Job Advancement
Many persons with disabilities are currently employed and may be happy with the environments in which they work. Still, these individuals may need assistance in evaluating how to progress as a professional in their field. The Career Advancement Strategies and Tools textbook will serve as a guide for these individuals to better identify their desires and to construct actionable steps towards achieving employment that is more satisfying.
Whether employed or seeking employment, career management is a necessary element for persons with disabilities, caregivers, and advocates to consider when seeking and evaluating career opportunities. Active career management can not only help with disability employment, but it can also aid in job retention. As studies like the Unnecessary Boundaries report produced by TeleWork Exchange indicate, it is the lack of disability job retention that has driven unemployment to such high levels in recent years.
Disability videos are an indispensable tool for any business. Workplace diversity is gaining momentum. The Unnecessary Boundaries study, conducted by Telework Exchange, offers clear evidence that employers are committed to furthering disability employment and equal opportunity for qualified job applicants. However, the study also illustrates that although employers are open to hiring qualified personnel regardless of background, ethnicity, and disability, they at the same time fall short of retaining the range of talent they recruit (i).
A Lack of Infrastructure
The conundrum uncovered by Telework’s Unnecessary Boundaries study is nevertheless hopeful. The study asserts that employers are open to disability employment. Despite the increasing rate of unemployment among persons with disabilities, 71 percent of individuals surveyed reported that their respective organizations makes genuine efforts to recruit and hire prospects from richly varied backgrounds, including those with disabilities (ii). Given this insight, the problem can be reduced to a lack of proper infrastructure to aid in training, assessing, and advancing new hires with disabilities.
Disability Videos: Infrastructure for Organizational Growth
Program Development Associates recognizes the need for organizational infrastructure that supports the vocational development of a range of individuals. Diversity in the workplace cannot flourish without internal supports that facilitate growth for many individuals of varied backgrounds. Without tools for disability assessment and evaluation, individuals with a disability cannot be expected to communicate, learn, and develop within an organization. Unfortunately, this often leads to high turnover among those with disabilities, contributing to the recently increasing level of unemployment among persons with disabilities.
The hardest battle has been won. The Americans with Disabilities Act celebrated twenty strong years of disability awareness and advocacy this past July. Disability employment has grown. Organizations must now utilize tools for disability assessment and training to retain persons with disabilities. Moving forward, disability videos, CD-ROMs, and assistive technology are all necessities in maintaining a diverse workplace. Disability advocates agree: Disability unemployment will fall as organizations build the proper infrastructure to leverage the power of diversity.
(i) http://www.teleworkexchange.com/unnecessarybarriers/landing.asp
(ii) see above.
This month, Program Development Associates features the Diversity: Face to Face D.V.D., a unique an innovative tool that explores the four main aspects of diversity in the workforce: stereotypes, similarities, unity, and benefits. Organizations watch, together, and learn the stories men and women who truly live in diverse environments. Through their stories and thoughts, viewers see not only what it is like to live with diversity, but also learn their roles in supporting a courteous and inclusive work environment.
Diversity in the Workforce and Stereotypes
Stereotypes affect both the person acting as well as the individual receiving. The Diversity: Face to Face D.V.D. helps employers and employees recognize signs of stereotyping with the goal of identifying and diffusing it before severe problems arise.
Finding Similarities
Next, the role of similarities in a group is explored. The motivation to pin point differences among people is dispelled. Instead, viewers are challenged to consider what common ground they share with one another.
Managing Workforce Diversity Through Unity
Next, the diversity D.V.D. uses similarities as a basis to cultivate a newfound sense of organizational unity. Each member of the organization will be challenged to bond in a way that seeks a common goal and purpose.
Benefits of Diversity Training
This featured diversity product ends with an exploration of the benefits of diversity in the marketplace of today. A talented pool of individuals with varying abilities has much to offer in our global and digital business world, and the Diversity D.V.D. surveys this idea through the eyes of workers in inclusive, diverse workplaces.
An instrumental part of training diversity is building courteous and respectful behavior among all members of an organization. A richly varied group of individuals cannot function cooperatively without mutually respecting one another. Program Development Associates’ diversity resources provide the perfect medium for employers and employees alike to learn more about the importance and benefits of working within a large and heterogeneous group. This month P.D.A. offers the Diversity: Face to Face D.V.D. to help organizations recognize, embrace, and monetize their diversity.
A lack of diversity and equality may cost an organization billions of dollars over time. The damaging affects of inequality may manifest themselves within an organization in several ways, including losses in productivity, increases in employee turnover, and a dampening of employee moral. The Is It Bias? Making Diversity Work D.V.D. addresses these issues through a critical examination of organization biases, large and small, and how they affect company growth.
However, an organization may take proactive measures to define, recognize, and reduce even subtle biases among employees to pave the way toward long term financial stability.
Organizational Productivity
Increasing company diversity can increase both short and long term productivity. In the short term, a company culture built on equality works with exceptional cohesion. Cohesion provides the groundwork for peer-to-peer collaboration, a necessity for future growth.
Minimizing Turnover
Company diversity slows employee turnover. For example, the greater the variance in worker age, the slower the rate at which organizations lose employees to retirement. This is an issue to which organizations must pay close attention as the baby boomer generation of the 1960s nears retirement. Additionally, workplaces that hold principles of diversity in high regard are better able to retain and develop young employees. Managers, and their organizations as a whole, must instill a sense of equal opportunity among workers regardless of age, ethnicity, and other extraneous characteristics. Failure to do so can cause deeply rooted feelings of resentment, anger, and helplessness, each major contributors to losing human capital.
Inspiring Moral
Great leaders show their followers through action. Organizational leaders who utilize diversity activities inspire moral among their employees by setting estimable precedent. These activities come in many forms, but they each share the same goal: to teach employees to identify and diffuse even inconspicuous biases that lay the foundation for feelings of inequality and other counterproductive thoughts.
Properly utilizing diversity resources is the first step towards safeguarding against loss. Organizations may begin training diversity through many multimedia products. Program Development Associates offers the Is It Bias? D.V.D. to help management define, recognize, and reduce biases among their workforce. Only once biases are uncovered can they be disarmed—a critical step towards an inclusive work environment.
Last week, we began our diversity training article series with a look at the use of modern assistive technology. In our second installment of Modern Diversity Training, we will explore the necessity for making the workplace accessible to complement the emergence of assistive technology.
First, an explanation of Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, will be presented. Then, we will move to investigate how UDL techniques can help disability employers and other professionals design training materials for individuals with disabilities.
Universal Design for Learning was developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology to help teachers identify with the vastly differing special needs of students with disabilities. UDL provides a blueprint for creating goals, methods, materials, and assessments that accommodate learner differences (i). Utilizing recent neurological studies, CAST asserts that there are three dominant brain networks responsible for acquiring knowledge: recognition networks, strategic networks, and affective networks (ii). Each network has a different function, yet together they move an individual to gather, process, and learn concepts. Moreover, CAST asserts that each of these networks function differently for each individual. Thus, only by accounting for learner differences can teachers, and by the same token business professionals, assist persons with disabilities in acquiring knowledge.
Disability employers must embrace the concepts set forth by the UDL methodology in order to create a diverse workplace. Specifically, disability training programs must employ the three core components of UDL: multiple means of representation, multiple means of expression, and multiple means of engagement (iii). In creating multiple means of representation, employers present information pertaining to individual work tasks in various formats. For example, a disability employer may present a single piece of information through visual presentations, written manuals, aural recordings, flow charts, and other mediums to account for learner differences and increase the rate at which knowledge is ascertained.
Most importantly, the multiple means component of UDL provides an opportunity for the communication to be tailored for the individual receiving it. To illustrate, consider that a trainee with a visual impairment can be issued an audio recording containing instructions specific to a single task. Another trainee with a learning disability like dyslexia can receive instructions for the same task by way of a visual illustration with minimal written instructions. In this way, each learning style is accommodated for, each disability is overcome, and the diversity of the workplace is maintained.
Simply investing in assistive technology falls short of effectively diversifying a work environment. Disability employers must delve deeper and consider the degree of accessibility their business provides for persons with disabilities. Evaluating accessibility requires identifying the ability of employees, areas of exceptional talent, individual learner differences, and unique support needs. Disability and diversity training initiatives that harness the power of UDL have a significant advantage in making the workplace accessible.
(i) http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html”>http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html
(ii) see above
(iii) see above
The desire to employ persons with disabilities is growing. In honor of the recent twentieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Program Development Associates Disability Training Blog is proud to present a look towards the diversified businesses of the present. This coverage will be completed in two installments.
In this article, titled Modern Business Training: Assistive Technology Products, we will take a closer look at the assistive technology that is enabling persons with various mental and physical disabilities to gain employment. Next week, we will follow up with Modern Business Training Part II, a look at the Universal Design for Learning and its application in complementing assistive technology and broadening the scope of employment opportunity for those with disabilities.
Assistive technology can be considered any of a variety of instruments used by individuals with disabilities to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or altogether impossible (i). This is a broad and somewhat conceptual definition that has many applications. For example, mobility devices including manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, power scooters, and walking aids are all consider assistive technology. In this example, the technology is somewhat primitive compared to digital gadgetry but nonetheless enables the mobility of an individual who would otherwise have some degree of difficulty moving about.
Assistive technology goes beyond mobility devices to also include hardware, software, and other information technologies. For example, consider that individuals with physically impaired hands or fingers can utilize custom designed keyboards and computer mice to operate computers. Individuals with moderate to severe visual impairments can likewise overcome their unique sensory deprivation with software that reads digitally displayed messages aloud, like emails and other lines of text on a computer. In both of these examples, individuals are able to overcome their unique disabilities and perform work specific tasks.
Without these kinds of enabling technologies, these individuals would be hard pressed to find work environments in which they could actively pursue objectives, contribute as team members, and develop into working professionals. The expanding application of assistive technology, however, provides the groundwork for individuals with disabilities to do just the opposite. Indeed, the proliferation of assistive technology establishes the opportunity for businesses to diversify their workforce and cultivate the talents of a range of individuals. Moreover, employers are better able to retain valuable human capital; individuals who spend years learning, training, and contributing within a specific company can more easily retain their position should unexpected, devastating accidents occur. This adds a tremendous value for businesses rich in human capital; unexpectedly losing capital for any period of time can be costly, derail growth strategies, and undermine core business objectives.
Disability employers must know, however, that assistive technology is just that: technology. The effective application of assistive technology hinges on the ability of a disability or diversity employer to consider access. Technology is of no use if it is not accessible to the users for which it is intended. This is particularly important when considering the application of assistive technology, as it is specifically designed for persons with unique mental and physical impairments. Nuances that make one piece of assistive technology accessible to one individual may not make that instrument equally accessible to another individual with a similar impairment.
Since effective application of diversity training depends largely on accessibility, it is of great importance for employers to consider the needs of each of their employees. In the second installment of Modern Business Training, we will investigate how employers can best identify the unique needs of each employee to make assistive technology, and the workplace in general, more accessible.
(i) http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?109
A movement towards disability studies has begun to build momentum. Over the past decade, graduate study programs at universities across the nation have started to develop specific courses of study to better understand mental and physical impairments. From Georgetown University to the California Baptist University, these courses are being defined as a holistic study of the phenomenon of disability through a multidisciplinary approach (i).
Topics addressed include the social, cultural, and political role disability has played in society. Students learn the role people with disabilities have played in the development and implementation of several disciplines, from literature to social policy. Such programs aim to arm students with a knowledge base that will increase disability awareness and, ultimately, promote social change. The emergence of disability studies programs is important for at least two reasons.
First, disability awareness will only grow as these professionals enter society after completing their courses of study. Georgetown University explains that a critical component of their Master of Professional Studies in Disability Studies program is to provide students with the tools to educate and increase awareness across various audiences (ii). Graduates will attain the skill of communicating disability awareness and tolerance to a variety of audiences upon graduation, an invaluable skill necessary in spreading the message for any subject. In this way, graduates will have the ability to communicate awareness and tolerance to demographically or otherwise starkly differing groups of people. This promotes the proliferation of disability education by increasing the effectiveness with which it is taught. More effective disability education, in short, paves the way for awareness and understanding.
More importantly, however, it is a sign that large scale social change is on the way. The near future will see a growing population of working professionals with a deep understanding of different disabilities, across a range of different societal and historical contexts. These professionals will be instrumental in helping to assimilate those with disabilities into the workforce, in counseling persons with disabilities and their families, and in furthering the field of disability education and research. Moreover, the growing number of disability studies courses and the bodies that fill their lecture halls illustrate a growing interest and empathy for persons with disabilities, a critical component to spreading awareness.
The trend in disability studies programs is indicative of a growing number of working professionals with substantial disability training and education. This translates to narrowing the gap between those with a disability, and those without. Graduates will have the resources and experience to collaborate with individuals with disabilities, helping them to become active community members. Business owners must take note of the growing number of disability studies programs and their resulting societal implications. These graduate schools, for example, represent prime recruiting outlets for Human Resource departments, managers, and other professional positions. Disability study program graduates serve exemplary consultants, as well, for businesses looking to implement inclusion training to solidify their company culture.
(i) http://www.sps.cuny.edu/programs/spscourses/programdescription.aspx?pid=6&sid=DSCP
(ii) http://scs.georgetown.edu/departments/32/disability-studies
Creating an inclusive workplace fosters a variety of talents that increase productivity and keep companies on the forefront of innovation. The success of the inclusive workplace, however, hinges on the ability of business owners and managers to correctly identify the strengths, weaknesses, and unique talents of each employee. This managerial ability becomes even more important when the employee has a disability. The Becker Work Adjustment Profile, or BWAP, provides an observer rating assessment of the vocational ability of an employee with a disability, and it is an essential tool for managers of any business with a diverse culture of workers.
The Becker Work Adjustment Profile gauges the work readiness of an individual by measuring their habits, attitudes, and skills, collectively recognized as vocational competency. Moreover, this tool identifies where additional supports are needed with respect to different work areas, and to what degree. It is a reliable test, appropriate for teenaged children over 15 as well as adults. Its application is suitable for workers who are learning disabled, physically disabled, emotionally disturbed, economically disadvantaged, or mentally retarded.
The primary advantage of the BWAP is in its nature as an observer rating instrument. A professional who has had experience observing the subject in their work environment administers the test, greatly reducing the potential for subject-driven error. In addition, the BWAP is exceptionally comprehensive. Vocational competency is ascertained by measuring 63 different items allocated to four separate sub scales, or domains: Work Habits/ Attitudes, Interpersonal Relations, Cognitive Skills, and Work Related Skills (i). After the employee is evaluated, areas of dissonance between ability and work behavior are identified. Additional, task-specific training is then administered, working to eliminate the dissonance between ability and behavior.
Administering the BWAP is easy and intuitive. Evaluators utilize three main materials including a Questionnaire Test Booklet, an Individual Profile Form, and a User’s Manual. The observer uses the Profile Form to rate the subject with respect to the behavioral items listed in the Questionnaire Booklet. The Score Summary and corresponding Vocational Competency of the subject is recorded on the Profile Form as both a raw and derived score for each domain. These values are then cross referenced with the BWAP Manual to determine the level of work readiness and necessity of work supports for the subject.
Keeping a business productive, efficient, and ready to innovate requires strong attention and appreciation for human capital. Paramount to effectively integrating human capital is the capacity for personnel managers to assess each employee as an individual with unique abilities. The need to measure the work readiness of each employee and construct appropriate supports is particularly critical for workplaces rich with persons of varying abilities. The Becker Work Adjustment Profile, or BWAP, is an industry standard for such assessments. The instrument, when coupled with ongoing disability training and education programs, provides a foundation for placing and retaining employees with disabilities.
(i) http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-71316809/measuring-rehabilitation-outcomes.html
Disability awareness propagates in the wake of President Barack Obama’s most recent Executive Order to increase the Federal employment of individuals with disabilities. The order, released Tuesday July 26th, was issued just one day after the Americans with Disabilities Act reached its twentieth year since enactment. In those twenty years, despite previous presidential orders and Federal initiatives, the unemployment of Americans with disabilities has only risen (i). President Obama, however, hopes to reverse that trend. Different from prior initiatives, Mr. Obama’s Executive Order focuses primarily on retaining individuals with disabilities and learning impairments. An emphasis on disability training and education for Federal agencies and personnel is to be the point of difference that primes this Executive Order for success.
Recognizing the Federal Government as the largest employer in the nation, Mr. Obama begins by addressing the need for government to lead by example. In opening the Order, Mr. Obama states that the government has an important interest in reducing discrimination against those who live with a disability, eliminating the stigma associated with disabilities, and in encouraging individuals with disabilities to seek Federal employment (ii). The importance of these interests cannot be understated. Reducing discrimination and the stigma associated with individuals who have a disability is an important first step in reducing the unemployment rate. The ideal workplace for individuals with disabilities to prosper has core elements of regular disability education, inclusion training workshops, assistive technology integration, and mutual respect among coworkers. In achieving these core elements of an inclusive workplace, Federal agencies will establish strong paradigms that will work to welcome those with disabilities as potential employees.
Mr. Obama’s Executive order moves on to state specific requirements Federal agencies must meet in providing opportunities for persons with physical and mental impairments to gain employment. Most noteworthy, the President calls for the mandatory drafting of strategies to hire and recruit those with disabilities within 60 days of the Order’s enactment (iii). An essential part of these strategies includes outlining disability training programs for Federal Human Resource departments and other hiring professionals. This portion of the Executive Order aims to better prepare agencies to promote job availability as well as to provide hiring professionals with the disability education needed to recruit and train workers with disabilities.
Most importantly, the Executive Order sets the groundwork for long term success by setting standards for retaining workers with disabilities. Mr. Obama charges the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, with the responsibility of identifying and assisting agencies in implementing strategies to retain Federal workers with disabilities. Paramount to the success of this initiative is the ability of the agency to conduct thorough disability awareness training internally, developing an inclusive workplace that will help those with disabilities develop into industry professionals. The President’s Order will help in this regard, specifically detailing the duties of the Office of Personnel Management to include helping with internal training, using centralized funds to provide reasonable workplace accommodations, increasing access to the appropriate assistive technologies, and ensuring the accessibility of the physical and virtual workplace (iv).
In the twenty years that have passed since the enacting of the Americans with Disabilities Act, unemployment among individuals with disabilities has actually grown. Despite Executive Orders, initiatives, and disability awareness programs, the American public is ill equipped to recruit, train, and develop into professionals those with disabilities. Disability training resources are a necessity in reversing this trend. As Mr. Obama’s Order makes clear, responsibility lies in the hands of company owners, internal managers, and other business professionals to utilize inclusion training and other techniques to hire and keep workers with disabilities. Disability awareness training is a vital first step towards creating business environments in which this goal is attainable, and the Federal government’s push to lead by example is inspiring.
(i) http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/stats.htm
(ii) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-increasing-federal-employment-individuals-with-disabilities
(iii) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-increasing-federal-employment-individuals-with-disabilities
(iv) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-increasing-federal-employment-individuals-with-disabilities
Rapidly evolving technologies and an ever-changing political landscape make today’s business environment a dynamic challenge. In the face of such volatility, organizations thrive on the depth and diversity of their employees. A workforce rich in racial, cultural, and ethnic tradition keeps ideas fresh, varied, and constructive. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and never before has generating multiple solutions to a wide variety of problems been so valuable.
Finding unique individuals to help carry a group to an end goal is a difficult challenge. Fortunately, the Civil Rights movements of the early and mid 1900s revolutionized the cultures of businesses large and small. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities increasingly gained recognition for their inherent value, deepening the talent pool from which organizations could draw. The archaic ideals of the 1800s and early 1900s have become footnotes in the history books. No longer are men the breadwinners, women the homemakers, and the minorities the disadvantaged. Further, advances in technology have made the workplace more accessible, particularly for individuals with mental and physical impairments.
Even more daunting than finding a talented workforce is the task of managing workplace diversity to maximally achieve that end goal. This difficulty is faced by a host of different leaders in various organizations, from collegiate coaches to Fortune 500 Executives. However, recruiting talent is only the beginning. Distributing, uniting, and retaining talented individuals is a long term process that will graduate mere managers to the level of wildly successful, esteemed leaders.
While a richly varied talent pool in an organization’s culture is of paramount importance, a leaders ability to unite and retain that talent is the critical it factor. Diversity awareness and respect is the foundation on which any endeavor to unify a diverse mass must be built. Herds of unique individuals with equally unique ideas and solutions are of little value if the herd cannot move together. In this way today’s business leader is under more pressure than ever to educate employees of their coworkers’ differing backgrounds, ideologies, and lifestyles.
Diversity awareness training fosters an understanding of the multitude of differences that make each person a one-of-a-kind individual. With awareness comes education, and with education sprouts the opportunity for appreciation. To further encourage appreciation among employees, leaders within an organization can engage in regular workforce and employee diversity training. Diversity training seminars and workshops offer an invaluable occasion for individuals to learn about one another and cultivate a respect for ethnicities, ideals, and traditions that differ from their own.
The ultimate end goal for any diversity training program is to perpetuate a feelings of reciprocal awareness and respect among employees. Without both awareness and respect, leaders cannot hope to have employees work effectively. In a business environment laden with dynamic challenges, organizations simply cannot afford to have anything other than a unified and diversified talent pool. Disability and inclusion training D.V.D.s, C.D.s, and other resources offer a vital first step towards developing diversity awareness programs to bring employees together, maximizing output, and enrich their work experience.
A planted seed cannot grow without the nurturing power of sunlight and water. In the same way, employees cannot grow without the support of their organization. In our previous article, we explored a study conducted by the Federal Managers Association that had an alarming message: managers are perceived as ill equipped to foster a work environment where employees with disabilities can develop into valuable professionals.
Unemployment for individuals with disabilities has risen, despite the strong legislative push to abolish discriminatory hiring practices.[i] A clear reason for this contradictory outcome is a general lack of the proper disability education and advocacy among managers, an argument advanced by the Federal Manager Association’s Unnecessary Boundaries study.
Fortunately, the hardest hurdles have been cleared. The Federal government has led by example through the 1990s, starting with the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. President Clinton furthered efforts with his Executive Order 13163, a commitment to award 100,000 Federal jobs to persons with disabilities by 2005. Organizations are now responsible to follow suit, not only by equitable hiring practices, but also by establishing inclusive work environments where persons with disabilities receive the supports necessary to advance and grow.
The first and most essential step in providing support for an employee with a mental or physical impairment is to evaluate their level of competency. The mysterious and complex nature of mental illness coupled with a personalized manifestation per individual places extreme importance in management’s ability to assess employees and their varying abilities before attempting to create environmental supports to encourage their growth. A multitude of tools are available for gauging competency and can be classified by how employees’ abilities are measured. Self-report instruments, for example, rely on the employee’s ability to display aptitude through written questionnaires or workplace simulations. Observer rating instruments, on the other hand, rely on an observer to rate an employee’s aptitude based on how well he or she displays an ability to perform specific tasks, either through written questionnaires or simulated work situations.
Self-report instruments are most useful when a mental health professional is helping a person develop social skills across a variety of social contexts.[ii] While a work environment is considered a social context, self-report instruments are not ideal as they require the involvement of a trained mental health professional. Observer rating instruments, by contrast, work well in the business context. The observer need not be a professional counselor or psychologist. They must, however, have a substantial opportunity to observe and learn about the employee and his or her condition prior to administering an assessment.[iii] Managers and other Human Resources personnel are ideal candidates for the role of an observer as they have ample opportunity to get to know new hires before administering an observer-rating assessment.
Once the competency of an employee with a disability is ascertained, management can begin to tailor the company culture in a way that maximizes the employee’s ability to participate, communicate, learn, and develop. Disability job and career development tools are available to help organizations assess the competency of their workers, and they represent vital tools in creating an inclusive work environment. Other disability training and education resources can be utilized to spread awareness in a diverse organization, a necessary complement to helping persons with disabilities develop as professionals among their peers.
[i] http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/stats.htm
[ii] http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-71316809/measuring-rehabilitation-outcomes.html
[iii] http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-71316809/measuring-rehabilitation-outcomes.html
Advocacy education and disability awareness have become major drivers towards the creation of inclusive workplaces for individuals with richly varied mental and physical abilities. Both the political and social landscapes in America have progressed towards providing equal employment opportunities for persons with disabilities since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Still, however, obstacles prevent a fully equitable environment for employment; nearly 45 percent of Americans with disabilities were unemployed as of 2000, according to the United States Department of Labor.[i] Studies conducted in late 2004 showed an alarming rise in unemployment among those with disabilities, projecting a rate of 65 to 70 percent.
At first blush the blame is easily placed on management. Studies seem to imply managers, Human Resources Departments, or other administrative bodies charged with hiring personnel for organizations are not welcoming persons with mental or physical impairments. However, a closer look reveals a more startling truth.
The Federal Managers Association in conjunction with Telework Exchange, an organization committed to demonstrating the emerging value of remote telecommunication operations, surveyed over five hundred Federal employees in January and February of 2010 to gauge institutional advocacy and awareness for hiring, developing, and promoting workers with disabilities. The resulting study, titled Unnecessary Barriers, provides insight as to why unemployment for persons with disabilities has risen so dramatically.
Contrary to intuition, it is not managerial gatekeepers thwarting the assimilation of those with disabilities into the workforce. Of the employees surveyed, an overwhelming 71 percent said their institutions had made a full and steadfast commitment to hiring employees with disabilities.[ii] However, only a mere half of respondents felt that officials had the tools and knowledge to retain and ultimately promote these employees.[iii] With the remaining half of managers and decision makers ill-equipped to provide the supports necessary to advance a worker with a disability, retention and advancement become impractical if not altogether impossible.
In the wake of the Unnecessary Boundaries study, it is clear to see the rising unemployment level among those with disabilities is not linked with an unwillingness to hire. Rather, it is a lack of tools, knowledge, and interoffice environmental supports that makes difficult the retention and advancement of workers with disabilities. Specifically, it may be a general lack of advocacy education that contributes most to persons with disabilities attaining short-lived employment.
Legislation like the A.D.A. is not enough. Industry professionals from Capitol Hill to Middle America must support disability education and awareness in the office. The lofty ideals that have been penned on paper must now manifest themselves as committed actions. Proactive interoffice advocacy education programs are the foundation for promoting knowledge and empathy among employees, two qualities necessary to unite coworkers in an inclusive work environment. In a unified company culture with ongoing disability training, each employee receives the support they need to develop as a professional, enhance their skill sets, and maximize value for both themselves and their company.
[i] http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/stats.htm
[ii] http://www.teleworkexchange.com/unnecessarybarriers/landing.asp
[iii] http://www.teleworkexchange.com/unnecessarybarriers/landing.asp
Successful communication creates the groundwork for an inclusive company culture. The inclusive workplace is one that thrives on diversity and accommodates individuals of various mental and physical abilities. Disability training that emphasizes communication and networking skills is necessary for creating a unified, valuable, and positive company culture.
Without courteous communication, the inclusion model breaks down. As a result employees may feel disrespected, undervalued, incapable of performing job related tasks, and unfulfilled. Thus, disability training programs must first and foremost equip employees with the knowledge and skill to communicate with one another, regardless of mental or physical differences.
Tremendous responsibility rests on the shoulders of able-minded individuals to get to know coworkers with disabilities in order to facilitate courteous communication. Disability education programs are essential in providing employees with information about specific conditions as well as corresponding etiquette guidelines. As Program Development Associate’s new training DVD (dis)Ability Awareness makes clear, effective communication hinges on individuals and their ability to relate to one another. Managers and disability training consultants must keep this fine distinction in mind for two important reasons:
Humans Categorize by Nature
Human beings categorize individual elements of reality simply in virtue of having a conscious mind that strives to make sense of things. As humans categorize, prejudices are formed to efficiently assimilate the overwhelming amount of sensory inputs encountered daily. While these shallow snap judgments allow for the processing of an immense amount of sensory inputs, they fall short in that people tend to favor their own category while undervaluing things that are perceived as different.
Humans Exhibit Affective Display
According to the American Psychological Association, Affective Display is a person’s ability to display thoughts, both conscious and unconscious, through verbal and nonverbal communication. Tone of voice, body language, and facial expressions may all indicate an individual’s conscious or unconscious feelings, regardless of the message they intend to transmit.
Since the categorical nature of the human mind creates prejudices and the Affective Display phenomena communicates these preconceptions regardless of the communicator’s intent, disability education in the workplace must work to rid employees of predetermined thoughts about persons with physical or mental impairments. Once the slate is clean, education and training programs have to help employees understand one another on a personal level. General background information on certain conditions and corresponding social etiquette provides a substantial starting point. However, able minded individuals must endeavor to understand coworkers with disabilities on a personal level. Once this deep level of understanding is ascertained, employees are well suited to respectfully interact with one another.
Once coworkers with disabilities are understood on an individual and personal basis, networking can occur to further the inclusion of the office environment. Asking a coworker what one may do to make them feel included or offering to escort them to a department meeting are two examples of simple acts that can help solidify and develop friendships that perpetuate value for the company as a whole.
Inclusion training DVDs are an unparalleled medium for helping employees understand how their preconceived notions may affect and ultimately hinder their ability to communicate with their coworkers. Program Development Associates also carry a diverse set of disabilities training resources to assist businesses in creating a company culture where diversity is valued, respected, and embraced.
Reference: American Psychological Association (2006). VandenBos, Gary R. ed., APA Dictionary of Psychology. Washington, DC.
Creating an inclusive work environment is the best way to ensure both accessibility and productivity are fully realized in our dynamic business world. No two persons have the same problem solving processes, ideals, or passions, regardless of physical or mental ability. An inclusive environment accommodates workers of various ability levels, in turn providing a diverse assortment of individual talents and strengths that can be utilized to develop new ideas. The celebration and respect for diversity among coworkers are essential components in developing new ideas, and new ideas are the foundation for future growth across all industries.
At the heart of the inclusive workplace lie the management team and their ability to implement environmental supports to encourage an accepting and communicative company culture. Behavior, individual workers’ attitudes, and internal processes must be harnessed to support environmental inclusiveness, as determined by the unique landscape of each institution or company. Managers serve a vital role in aligning themselves with the resulting vision while leading employees through the implementation of inclusive practices.
Managers must consider the uniqueness of each individual when designing a program to help employees of all physical and intellectual ability levels engage with one another. The following guidelines, as shared by the Canada Secretariat, provide an outline for managers and disability program advisers to lead employees in respectful communication with coworkers with visual, aural, physical, and developmental disabilities, respectfully:
Communicating with Coworkers with Visual Impairments
- Identify yourself as well as anyone accompanying you
- Mention any previous interactions to help the employee remember prior engagements he or she may have had with you
- Name the individual with whom you are speaking when speaking to a group of coworkers
- If the conversation has ended, indicate you are moving to another location
- Courteously clear the area of obstacles
- If necessary, describe the environment to the coworker
- If offering to lead the coworker to another location, invite the coworker to take your arm
- If the coworker would rather walk independently, walk about a half step ahead and listen intently for instructions and questions
- Offer to read written information when appropriate
- Do not pet or play with guide dogs, if present, as it is distracting and inappropriate
Communicating with Coworkers with Aural Impairment
- Identify the language required if employing interpreter services
- Speak clearly and at a moderate pace that allows the interpreter to use sign language to relay the message to the coworker
- Allow the coworker time to communicate in return, through the interpreter
- Use written or clear nonverbal body language when communicating one on one
- To facilitate lip reading, face the coworker and keep hands and objects away from your face
- Face the coworker and speak in a clear and slow voice
- When possible, converse in a quiet environment and move to eliminate disruptive background noises
Communicating with Coworkers with Physical Impairments
- Facilitate movement via wheelchair, scooter, or other mobility aid by rearranging furniture in the room
- When standing in close proximity, do not lean or excessively touch another’s mobility device as it is considered personal space
- Always conscientiously consider what may or may not constitute accessible for those in wheelchairs and other mobility aids
- Do not push or move a coworker in his or her wheelchair unless asked to do so
Communicating with Coworkers with Developmental Disabilities
- Inclusion starts with a fundamental knowledge of the person, their background, and their general personality: Get to know the person so that you may include them
- Offer assistance when necessary
- Slowly and articulately repeat information when necessary
- Speak directly at the coworker
- Listen actively and intently
Managers, disability program advisers, and disability training consultants are charged with developing and clearly communicating policies that provide an unwavering framework for respectful employee diversification and interaction. Policies must first seek to maximize the range of talent and unique strengths among workers by hiring individuals of all abilities.
Essential to management’s creation of an inclusive workplace is their ability to provide diversity education for employees. Tantamount importance lies in management’s ability to foster an environment that encourages courteous and independent communication among persons of all physical and mental abilities. Several disability training resources and disability training DVDs highlight the importance of fostering an environment where all individuals, ranging from those with high intellectual capacities to persons with mental and physical disabilities, feel accepted, unified, and valued. Ongoing disability education is crucial in ensuring all members of the company or institution are up to speed on the nature of different disabilities, the availability of training resources, and evolving strategies for inclusion in the workplace.
Reference: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/hrpubs/tb_852/cwwed1-eng.asp
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.
