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February 22, 2005
Summary for February: Telltale Signs of Inclusion
Thanks to all of you who generated some interesting insights on eSight’s “Swimming in the Mainstream” (SiM) blog about incidents which show you’re at a point where your co-workers are looking beyond your disability and seeing the “real” you.
I believe the incidents you mention illustrate at least six concrete measures for including employees with disabilities that employers can use to benchmark their diversity efforts.
"'Swimming in the Mainstream' Insight: Telltale Signs of Inclusion" details those six inclusion measures.
Here’s another reason to take a look at that new article in eSight’s Employer Resources section: It illustrates three unique benefits you gain by joining the discussion on eSight’s SiM blog.
Benefit one: By sharing your experiences with others on eSight’s SiM blog, you grow personally and help other eSight members find meaningful work.
Benefit two: Through eSight’s online collaboration, you generate insights which can be transformed into resources, such as this week’s featured article, for helping prospective employers expand their perceptions about the potential they can find in job candidates who happen to be disabled.
Benefit three: As an eSight SiM blog participant, you can fully tap the Internet for showcasing your career accomplishments in a network which includes prospective employers in the U.S. as well as across the globe.
Note that this week’s featured article includes links to the offering statements, web sites or resumes of the eSight SiM blog participants it quotes.
To increase an awareness among employers about disability employment issues and facilitate networking between prospective job candidates and prospective employers, we will e-mail this week’s featured article to our extensive outreach e-mail list, which includes a wide range of employers.
If you had not yet submitted your thoughts to February's SiM blog, you can do so now.
You can also gain immediate visibility for yourself under this ongoing eSight networking initiative by submitting a two-sentence "offering statement" which describes what you can do for a potential employer.
Read the offering statements others have posted.
This networking opportunity is made possible by a grant from the American Express Foundation.
If you have further thoughts to add to the discussion capped by "'Swimming in the Mainstream' Insight: Telltale Signs of Inclusion," please do so here.
Posted by Jim at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2005
Where’s the Line Between Your Private and Public Lives?
You may not have celebrity status at work due to your disability.
But you may find the eSight article, "Drawing the Workplace Spotlight Due to Your Disability: How to Handle 'Celebrity Status'" interesting, particularly if you’re struggling with the question about how much to reveal about yourself to co-workers.
Carrie, SiM blogger, says she believes there’s a line we could each draw between our private and public lives, especially on the job. She writes:
"I just wanted to say that depending on whether you have a visible or hidden disability really affects whether this is appropriate (memo from you to co-workers, explaining your disability). Because of all of the talk shows, reality-TV craziness etc, there is usually a subtle undertone these days that others need, want, should or can know about your disability. We all need to have a bit of privacy, and I do not believe our lives need to be open books in order to gain acceptance in the workplace."
So our discussion question for this week is:
Where do you draw the line between what you think should be private and what co-workers need to know about your disability?
Posted by Jim at 09:28 AM | Comments (5)
February 09, 2005
Explaining Your Disability to Co-workers
Last week, Lauren, eSight blogger, commented:
"One incident on one former job ... did show me that upper staff in my particular area were wanting to help bring about acceptance... They asked me to write a memo which would be sent to all workers, explaining blindness, ... how it is for me ... (and) ways to help others feel less frightened about me and my disabilities. The fact that they allowed me to write this memo was really remarkable at the time..."
Such a memo is another tactic to add to the "straight talk" of an article by Nan Hawthorne on eSight titled, "What to Say to Co-workers About Your Disability."
Lauren’s comment also introduces this week’s discussion question here on our "Swimming in the Mainstream" (SiM) blog:
How have you taken the initiative to explain your disability to your co-workers?
Remember, while you’re blogging, you can gain immediate visibility for yourself and increase your networking opportunities by submitting, on eSight, a two-sentence
"offering statement" (describing succinctly what you can do for a potential employer).
Also check the offering statements others have posted.
Jim
Posted by Jim at 10:26 AM | Comments (5)
February 02, 2005
When Do You Know You’re Accepted on the Job?
When do you know you’ve finally been accepted by your co-workers on the job?
That’s our discussion question for this week. I have a hunch that, if we compare our stories, we can come up with a short, helpful list of what we can do so our colleagues are not always walking on eggshells, ignoring us completely or acting downright belligerent when they’re working with us.
I have two stories that may help us get the ball rolling on this question about acceptance while at work.
First, take a look at a true story from my book, "Break Out: Finding Freedom When You Don't Quite Fit the Mold." "A Bent Fork" is my personal-experience story about acceptance while at work. You can read it at http://www.esight.org/View.cfm?x=1755
Second, the film, “Ray,” shows Ray Charles on the road with a band when he first started his career. He’s not playing cards in the back of the bus with the other members of the band or going out for a drink with them during their free time. Instead, he’s alone, and he begins to develop his distinctive music at the piano during those “alone” times.
In fact, we don’t see people relating to him on an adult level until he gets his own band, his own agent and his own recording contract.
So, here is our “Swimming in the Mainstream” discussion topic for today:
What incident in your work life has been meaningful for you because it shows that your co-workers had finally become comfortable with your disability?
Posted by Jim at 09:05 AM | Comments (12)