Hi all!
Hope all is well – so sorry it’s been a while since my last post! Things have been pretty busy but I’ve also been trying to research quality content so that I’m not talking about the same things twice to you all! 🙂
This blog means the world to me and so does all of your support, so of course I will continue writing until I literally run out of things to write about (let’s hope never!)
As a little update to you all:
I have been lucky enough to receive a scheme called Motability here in the UK so I finally have the opportunity to drive an adapted vehicle! This has been such a long time coming as one of my dreams since a little girl has been to be able to drive just like everybody else.
That’s why updates have been slow, so please forgive me! And if any of you see me on the roads, don’t be shy to say hi! Haha 🙂
Anyway, today’s topic is something I do feel very strongly about which is Disabled Workplace Discrimination.
I will also touch on discrimination in schools – as I know many readers may not have had the opportunity to work yet.
What is Disabled Workplace Discrimination?
Disabled workplace discrimination is discriminating against someone in a workplace purely because of their disability.
This can be things like not letting the disabled person have the same opportunities as everybody else in the workplace just because they are disabled; or not having an accessible workplace.
I am choosing to write about this topic because it breaks my heart to see workplace discrimination against disabled people like myself, it’s shocking to believe that it occurs but the statistics prove it’s much closer to home than we all think.
Here are some useful pointers from the helpful website: ACAS ORG
Direct discrimination
Is when someone is treated differently and not as well as other people because of disability. For example, an employer does not employ a disabled person just because it does not want disabled people in its workforce.
It breaks down into three different sorts of treating someone ‘less favourably’ because of:
1)Their own disability (ordinary direct discrimination)
2)A perceived disability (direct discrimination by perception)
3)Their association with someone who is disabled (direct discrimination by association).
Indirect discrimination
Can occur where a workplace rule, practice or procedure is applied to all employees, but disadvantages those who are disabled. A disabled employee or job applicant claiming indirect discrimination must show how they have been personally disadvantaged, as well as how the discrimination has or would disadvantage other disabled employees or job candidates.
In some limited circumstances, indirect discrimination may be justified if it is necessary for the business to work. For example, an employer may reject an applicant with a back problem severe back problem where heavy manual lifting is an essential part of the job.
So.. there are two main types of discrimination against disabled people in the workplace, but what are the statistics? According to these UK statistics from GOV UK – disabled people are actually less likely to be employed in the first place! Look at this:
Disabled people remain significantly less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people. In 2012, 46.3% of working-age disabled people are in employment compared to 76.4% of working-age non-disabled people. There is therefore a 30.1 percentage point gap between disabled and non-disabled people, representing over 2 million people.
And what about the statistics of discrimination at work? Again, from GOV UK
Disabled people are significantly more likely to experience unfair treatment at work than non-disabled people. In 2008, 19% of disabled people experienced unfair treatment at work compared to 13% of non-disabled people.
The statistics are horrifying, and we have to keep reaching out to businesses to ensure that they are treating all workers fairly!
The question is always “What can we do to help?” but in theses many cases I think the best message that I can send to fellow disabled people that happen to be experiencing discrimination is to fight back!
Please, report all discrimination to your local police force and keep logs of everything.. it is a crime to discriminate especially in a place of work, you are definitely not alone and the only way things can change is if we all come together to fight against this discrimination.
As for schools/education:
Personally, I have never experienced discrimination throughout my education history but what I did experience was a huge lack of ignorance from some teachers and peers.
As I have said sometimes before – I never felt fully comfortable joining in with sports activities and I did have some teachers really try to force me to join in, some even saying “I’ve taught amputees before, you’re just being lazy” which really did nothing for my already low self esteem.
On a whole my schools did try their best to include me and NOT discriminate, as most of you know I was born with only 8 fingers, and it’s common for children to learn to count to 10 on their fingers.. I had teachers put gloves on my hands so that I could follow the lesson which I look back and think was incredibly sweet!
I also wasn’t able to sit on the floor with the rest of my class for things like story time or assemblies, so I’d get to sit on a chair with a rest for my prosthetic leg (which at the time didn’t bend, just stuck straight out) again, I look back and think how lovely this was of my teachers.
I think that all teachers and tutors in education should have some experience with disabled students before they are thrown straight in to teaching, this way they will have vital first hand knowledge of the complications but also the heartwarming rewards that come with working with disabled students – the main message I’d send out to any teacher working with disabled students, or even students in general is please know every two disabled people are not the same! We all have different personalities and are not defined by our disabilities.
Why?
Why?
Rarely does inspiration come in a single defined moment of clarity where all your thoughts are defined into a single goal; becoming an advocate is one of those rare moments. It occurred at 0900 on September 6th 1996. Most parents would agree that your world changes when you have kids. When you have a child that needs an advocate that is exactly what happens. Its easy for me to point to when Devon was born for wanting to support the Down syndrome community, when your children are young you think about potential, you do everything you can to make sure they can achieve all that they can achieve. The reality of them growing up is much harder. This is particularly true when you have a child that has to apply for social security disability and you have to face the reality that no matter what their potential is there will be hurdles that you simply don’t yet have the tools to deal with.
My “aha” moment was the transition of Devon finishing hight school and beginning her college/transition program. Trying to figure out how much Devon was going to need to live and what kind of employment she had access to was a reality we were trying to face with as much knowledge as possible. Unfortunately, there is a tremendous amount of information regarding employment for people with intellectual disabilities. The numbers are terrible, not just based on how many people are legitimately gainfully employed, but how much they are paid. The line is clear in that most people with intellectual disabilities want to have an independent life. We also know that, for most, the road to independence runs through employment.
At the NDSS conventions, and our time with Down Syndrome International’s World Down syndrome day we have been exposed to several public service announcements (PSA) regarding inclusion and employment. Some were very factual and some very artistic, but all tugged at my part to try to be a better advocate for my daughter and family.
My desire to produce a PSA for the Down Syndrome Community began when we met Melinda Raebyen through a disability group asking for representation in music video about diversity. This was a project by Shui Productions is where people of different abilities, ethnicities, and genders would be represented in a project with a local band trying to promote inclusion and acceptance. Through the course of filming the video I was awed by the professionalism and artistry that this group of people brought to bear creating a thing of beauty and inspiration. Watching Melinda use this tool to express her vision I thought this would be the perfect vehicle for the Down Syndrome Community to send a message to the the puget sound population about what are loved ones have to offer. Inclusion and acceptance is a road to employment and independence and all of us deserve those opportunities.
Melding art and a message to create momentum towards a common goal was the intent. I wanted to help the Down Syndrome Community of the Puget Sound represent our loved ones in a way that we could all be proud. What makes each of us special is unique regardless of our chromosomes, gender, or color. The more we make this message clear the more all of us can enjoy the true potential our lives afford us.
The Pay Gap That Nobody Talks About
By Amy Grana
Follow @APFFDJourney
Hi everyone! Hope you’ve all had a fantastic week, as usual.
Today I’m going to be talking about the few organizations and companies that purposely single out disabled people (not necessarily in a negative way) and discuss whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, in my opinion.
I’ll start off by talking about my own experiences of inclusion when I was younger, and how I feel this impacted by social life, school life and personal life in the future.
I was always happy to be involved with most activities in school – but sports was something I could never enjoy as I felt so self conscious about my disability that I wouldn’t be able to join in as well as everybody else. This was of course due to low self-esteem… but what would really upset me was the people who tried to force me into joining in activities JUST because they wanted to look good for persuading the disabled girl to join in.
As I grew older I withdrew from activities more as I didn’t feel I could compete in the physical aspects of them as smoothly as everyone I was comparing myself to, but does that mean I should be respected any less… or even, secluded from society? Of course not!
I haven’t had a chance to work in the community as of yet, but the thought of being paid less because I have a disability is terrifying. Once I am well enough and able to work in the community, I would love the same respect, treatment and pay as everybody else… I’m pretty sure everyone wants this, disabled or not.
This may be hard for you to believe… but there are STILL places in the USA that pay people with disabilities a lower wage than everyone else doing the same job as them.
I know, it’s disgusting.
There is a documentary called Bottom Dollars that explores this subject and focuses on a few disabled people living in the USA doing their jobs, it closely follows their stories.
It’s awful to think that in the 21st century there is still a wage difference – originally, this ‘lower wage for people with disabilities’ was bought out to persuade employers to actually employ disabled people; the fact it’s still around is unbelievably discriminatory.
In 2016, nearly 250,000 people are legally paid less than the minimum wage, on average, less than $2 an hour.
“Bottom Dollars” is an hour long documentary that exposes the exploitation of people with disabilities through personal stories and expert interviews. It also presents clear employment alternatives with competitive wages and community inclusion.
The name of the places that employ people with disabilities at this dreadfully sub-minimum wage is called a sheltered workshop. The term sheltered workshop refers to an organization or environment that employs people with disabilities separately from others. The term ‘sheltered workshop’ is considered outdated in the U.K. and the U.S., and increasingly in Australia. If even the terms are outdated, why are these places still running?
I couldn’t find many acceptable reasons but here is an opinion that I did find:
Many parents, guardians, and employees themselves say that the advantages of sheltered work-shops include that they are safer alternatives to outside employment, they are less demanding for people with disabilities in terms of work and social skills, they provide greater opportunities for fostering friendships, they ensure structure during the weekdays, and they ensure assistance for life without affecting disability benefits.
Safety has also been cited as a positive for workshops as many parents and guardians are concerned about the vulnerability of their loved ones in an integrated setting in the community.
I do see how they could be a benefit in the short term, and maybe even for training a disabled person in the very early stages of their first employment – but no way would I subject a disabled family member or even myself to somewhere that I wasn’t treated fairly by being given the minimum wage!
To make things easier for disabled people, employers could simply make their workplaces more accessible, invest in to specialized equipment that people with disabilities can use and more training exercises.
It’s about time the world woke up to the idea that disabled people are perfectly competent doing the same jobs as everybody else; most importantly doing the jobs just as good, making the same amount of friends and gaining the same amount of social skills as anybody else, so of course their pay should be equal. Our culture spends a lot of the time talking about equal rights but where are the rights of these disabled people that are getting paid pennies?
There have been studies that have found that people with disabilities that were working in sheltered workshops actually thrived when they were given the opportunity to work out in the community, surely this says something! As for the safety aspect of these sheltered workshops, I completely understand that many parents, guardians and caretakers feel at ease knowing their loved ones are being cared of around the clock while at work, but surely something could be put in place so that they could have a caretaker while working in the community? Or maybe they could be placed close to others in the workplace, so that they weren’t left alone? Either way, I’m sure something can be done to stop this disgraceful pay gap.
As many of you know, I live in the UK and I don’t believe there are any sheltered workshops here that pay people with disabilities less than the minimum wage, but that does not mean we can’t all come together no matter what country to fight against this form of discrimination. It’s so important as disabled people (a minority group) to stick together, help each other and not forgetting learning from each other. Maybe one day we can end this sort of discrimination and live happily side by side with everybody else! It’s time to get the world to wake up!
Have a great week everyone, I hope you enjoyed this post and would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Join in the discussion on Twitter using #EnlightenNotInspire
source: http://eitas.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Newsletters-Fall-2014.pdf
The Equalizer
The Great Equalizer
The “American Dream” is an ideal that those born in the United States and those who come here as immigrants are supposed to have. That means different things to different people; it isn’t the dream itself that is important, but having the dream. People who don’t have dreams or purpose tend to do poorly, or feel lost. Teenagers who have a dream or goal have a reason to go to school, push themselves and persevere.
One of the things as parents we have to do is foster those dreams. I know this sounds like an obvious thing to say, but it is often one of the hardest things about being a parent. Your kids are different then you and you may not be able to understand or even agree with what they want. The thing is, you still have to foster their hopes and dreams because having purpose is crucial to success. Success may mean different things to different people, but you will never be able to define another person’s success, or at least what it means to them.
What makes a successful society? The altruistic model of looking at a successful society would say that the mark of a great society is how they take care of their disadvantaged. The practical model would say that having every member of said society contribute in some way minimizes charity and adds to the stability. Globally, for a society to be successful everyone in that society has a role to play and in our society that means employment. Much has been written about employment rates as predictors of economic growth and the strength of a countries economy. In our time, employment isn’t just about a job, but having a purpose. Unfortunately, it has also been clear that the type of employment and pay vary greatly based on gender, race and zip code.
At this point, I suspect, most of you reading this are asking your selves why I titled this blog “The Great Equalizer”. To begin, we have to ask ourselves, what is the largest minority in this country, and the world for that matter. I will give you a hint, it is a portion of society that does not discriminate based on color, gender, or zip code. Since much of what I write about is disability advocacy you can correctly assume it is our disabled brothers and sisters that make up this minority.
While we talk about nationwide unemployment rates hovering around 5%, it is not an accurate reflection of all of society. In 2014 a study found that the number of people with disabilities in the U.S. who were actually employed was 12.9%. That isn’t unemployment, that is employment of people ages 18-64 who are classified as having a disability. What is also pertinent is that this rate isn’t affected by gender. In most studies, including US census data your employment opportunities are not affected by your gender if you have a disability.
This means based on the study, only 2.1 million out of 16.3 million (or about 1 in 8), civilian, non-institutionalized men and women with a work limitation, aged 18-64 in the United States were employed. This is really important because it’s not only hard on the individuals, but the Social Security and disability trust fund almost went bust in 2016, and was saved only by funds being diverted. Unfortunately, it is on track to go bust again by 2023. With more then 14 million people with a disability who aren’t employed collecting benefits, its hard not to believe this is important.
Even though most people with a disability receive some sort of governmental aid they still make far less money then their peers, and are more than twice as likely to live in poverty. We raise our children with hopes and dreams of what their lives will be like. After all, we live in the United States, home of the dream that regardless of the class you were born into, you have opportunity. No one wants to tell their child that they will likely not have a job and will live in poverty.
No matter what the family’s resources are, without social security, kids do not have access to job coaching or healthcare, as well as many other benefits. No matter what, this is currently one of the only paths in our country to independence for people with disabilities. To maintain their benefits, people receiving benefits from social security can only have $2000 to their name at any given time, forcing many of the people who may be able to work more to accept less work so that they don’t lose their benefits.
A purpose, we all deserve a purpose. Being employed gives people a purpose and has been shown to improve the physical and mental health of those gainfully employed. Thus not only is someone who has a purpose less dependent on the government, they are likely to be healthier and thus less likely to drain their healthcare benefits. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
*based on statistics provided by VonSchrader, S., Lee, C. G. (2017). Disability Statistics from the Current Population Survey (CPS). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Yang Tan Institute (YTI). Retrieved from Cornell University Disability Statistics website: www.disabilitystatistics.org
