In the world of work, they are seldom seen.
Often, they are not heard and usually forgotten.
They are the 90,000 disabled people, about 3 percent of the population who could provide a potent manpower resource in a tight labor market.
Yet they are not being tapped fully or correctly, either because of ignorance about their disability or how far they can be trained for the workplace.
Quite the contrary: Current statistics paint a rather dismal picture of employment for the disabled. Most companies not only hire few disabled staff, they also do so mainly for low-skilled jobs. Even with the large corporations, managers only have about seven or eight disabled people on their payroll, mostly working as telephone solicitors, clerks, fast-food crew, car park cashiers, and the like. Only a handful of employers set aside jobs for the handicapped, according to the National Council of Social Service.
But help is on the way.
Disabled citizens can get as much help as they want from the Division of Rehabilitation Services, FMRS, or the Center for Excellence in Disabilities.
“People with disabilities need to know what resources are out there,” a job development specialist for FMRS explained recently. “The goal of supported employment is to match people with jobs where they can be successful.”
And yet, finding the right job for a disabled person is a process, the woman pointed out.
“People grow and we need to allow for that. We need to be flexible when working with people.
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According to the US Census 2000, some 49.7 million (19 percent) of Americans aged 5 and over are disabled. This is a ratio of nearly one in five residents.
The percentages break down this way:
- 5.2 million are between the ages of 5 and 20;
- 30.6 million are between the ages of 21 and 64 (57 percent of them are employed);
- 14 million are 65 and over. Those with disabilities comprised 42 percent of people in this age group;
- 24 percent of the total (age 5 and over) reside in Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and West Virginia, which represent the highest rates in the nation;
- 15 percent reside in Alaska, Minnesota, and Utah, representing the lowest rates in the country.
According to the March 2001 supplement to the current population survey, the average earnings among disabled persons between the ages of 16 and 64 amounted to $33,109 annually.
By comparison, those without work disabilities earned an average of $43,269.
At the same time, 72 percent of disabled persons between the ages of 16 and 64 had high school diplomas or higher education.
Eleven percent of disabled persons between 16 and 64 had college degrees or more.
And according to a report titled “Americans with Disabilities: based on a Survey and Income and Program Participation,” among people 15 and over:
- 25 million had difficulty walking a quarter mile or climbing a flight of 10 stairs, or used an ambulatory aid, such as a wheelchair (2.2 million) or a cane, crutches, or walker (6.4 million);
- About 18 million had difficulty lifting or carrying a 10-pound bag of groceries or grasping small objects;
- About 14.3 million had a mental disability, including 1.9 million with Alzheimer’s disease, senility, or dementia; and 3.5 million with learning disabilities;
- About 8 million had difficulty hearing what was said in a normal conversation with another person (even when wearing a hearing aid); of these, 800,000 were unable to hear what was said in a normal conversation;
- About 7.7 million had difficulty seeing the words and letters in ordinary newspaper print (even with glasses); of these, 1.8 million were unable to see words and letters in ordinary newspaper print.
Usage note: The word “disabled” is the clear preference in contemporary American English in referring to people having either physical or mental impairments, with the impairments themselves preferably termed disabilities.
Although “handicapped” is widely used in both law and everyday speech to refer to people having physical or mental disabilities, those described by the word tend to prefer the expressions “disabled” or “people with disabilities.”
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Top o’ the morning!