Swimming in the Mainstream

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July 26, 2005

Dispel a Disability Employment Myth

Yesterday, 743 state and national disability organizations entered a “statement of solidarity” proclamation into the Congressional Record on the 15th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Two paragraphs from that statement are pertinent to this week’s discussion here on eSight’s “Swimming in the Mainstream” (SiM) blog.

Consider these words:

“The ADA has begun to change the landscape of our cities and towns, but a civil rights law alone does not create the kind of transformation of attitudes that Americans with disabilities, their families, and allies are fighting to achieve. This kind of change requires widespread discussion, education, and consciousness-raising.”

The joint statement also points out that, “in 2005, fears, myths, and stereotypes continue to artificially limit understanding and acceptance of disability as a form of human diversity.”

These two observations may be effective for the Congressional Record, but personal accounts about actually living within the confines of those artificial limits (and knocking them down) always seem to resonate better with me.

That’s why I enjoy this SiM blog. It’s full of personal-experiences stories. Last week’s discussion about misconceptions, which particularly irk you, for instance, brought out some very interesting perspectives.

Here’s one snippet from Jan:

“One of the things I have found working in various places and being visually impaired is that people treat you as if you are either mentally challenged or you cannot hear. So they yell. It is impossible for some individuals to comprehend the nature of one's handicap.”

In that light (and on this 15th ADA anniversary month), think of yourself as an educator for employers as you answer this week’s discussion question on eSight’s SIM blog:

What one myth about employing people with disabilities do you wish to dispel among employers?

Posted by Jim at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2005

Learning From our Own Misconceptions

One of the benchmarks in my maturty as an individual with a disability (it only took 50 years) was the realization that I’m plagued with a range of misconceptions about what other people (abled and disabled) can do.

It’s mostly a matter of being misinformed or operating under a set of false suppositions.

This week, I cite one of my personal but not uncommon misconceptions in "Obvious Limitations, Hidden Potential."

People of all abilities are in the same boat. We have false assumptons about one another. Disability just adds another dimension to what probably is an extensive list of presumptions we all sometimes make but which are probably only half true or entirely false about an individual.

So, although it may be easy and comforting to lament the false notions employers may have about a job candidate with a disability, I always have to bite my tongue. I’ve been there myself as an employer, trying to decide if the individual with a disability across from me would be the best person to meet my department’s needs.

Perhaps we can learn from our own misconceptions and use that insight to understand and address the false assumptions an employer may have about our ability to thrive in a mainstream job.

Remember, to get a job, you only need to show one hiring manager that the assumption distracting him from what you can offer his company is not true in your case.

That’s not easy. To accomplish that task, you need to be an astitute observer, a learner and a teacher –- and to be aware of your own prejudices.

In that light, here is this week’s topic to kick off a new discussion on eSight’s "Swimming in the Mainstream" (SiM) blog:

What misconception about working in the mainstream particularly irritates you?

Posted by Jim at 06:16 PM | Comments (5)

July 13, 2005

Summary for June: Avoiding Condescension

Participants in the discussion on eSight’s “Swimming in the Mainstream” blog during June began by citing condescending behavior toward people with disabilities in organizations.

Through their synergy, they ended with material for an employer feature article about tips for avoiding that condescension on a corporate level.

Take a look at "'Swimming in the Mainstream' Insight: Avoiding Condescension."

This new article in eSight’s Employer Resources section illustrates these three benefits you gain by joining the discussion on eSight’s SiM blog:

1. You grow personally and help other eSight members find meaningful work.
2. You generate insights which can be transformed into employer resources, such as this week’s featured article.
3. You fully tap the Internet for showcasing your career accomplishments in a rapidly growing network.

We will again e-mail this week’s new Employer Resources article to our extensive outreach e-mail list, which includes a wide range of employers.

Note that this week’s featured article includes links to the offering statements of the eSight SiM blog participants it quotes.

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.

If you have further thoughts to add to the discussion capped by "'Swimming in the Mainstream' Insight: Avoiding Condescension." please do so here.

Posted by Jim at 02:34 PM | Comments (5)