Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What is costly and maddening is paying for people to get SS disability who are using it as a substitute for jobless benefits and then go play golf and stuff like that.
Amen. I know several people who claim they have a personality disorder that makes it impossible for them to get along with others. And they've found doctors who, for a nice fee, will sign the necessary paperwork for them to get SSDI.
I also lurk on a couple of internet chat boards and am disgusted by the number of people who are on SSDI but post about how they do really physical work (like roofing, etc) and jogging/exercising every day. I presume they've found doctors who, again for a fee, will sign the paperwork for them to get SSDI.
I agree that the OP -- and any disabled person -- deserves "the chance to be self-sufficient in a discrimination-free environment". But, while I empathize with those who are truly disabled, I also understand why there's such a negative attitude about SSDI recipients.
This is a good video to watch for people who are against government assistance to disabled people. You hear all the time about disabled people living off taxpayers and getting called bums, but the side you never hear is those of us who want to be self-sufficient and the struggles we face. We want to be productive members of society but because of how we are percieved by the mainstream public and employers finding our place is not a fun road to go down. If we don't want people to be taken care of and we believe that "nobody is owed anything in life" then I believe the least our society can do is stride for equal opportunity. Employers can claim to be EOE all they want but the proof is in the hiring practices. Discrimination isn't the only problem some of us face, but also being able to keep up with working and not being fired for not being able to cope with a job.
I don't know what people in this country are expecting to happen or what they want to do, besides orchestrating another holocaust scenario for disabled people. I will probably be ordered to go in as well as anybody's disabled family member if this is how you want things to be. You don't want any kind of welfare system, and you apparently don't want disabled people to work, so I guess a holocaust is your only solution.
Some of us are bright, articulate, law-abiding, corruption-free and clean individuals who have strengths and weaknesses just like everybody else but for some reason we get lost in a mix of hopelessness, grief, despair, and living in a world that says we will never do better.
I guess my question is why are disabled people who want to be productive thrown to the side and laughed at? Is a new wave of Nazism rising?
First of all, thank you so much for this post! Sometimes I feel like there are so few of us. I know a lot of ambitious disabled people personally, but on the grand scheme, I feel like there are so many disabled people with no aspirations whatsoever. It's great to see a post like this on CD!
Anyway, to answer your question about why we get laughed at, my best guess is: because people believe we can't do it. They really don't trust that we can do the job as well as they can. Or that we can do the job at all.
I've had people call me on the phone and tell me my resume was great, and ask to come in immediately for an interview, only to have them stuttering for an excuse about why they couldn't interview me after seeing my cane.
I have had people try to prevent me from taking a test so I could apply to school, prevent me from getting the proper accommodations because they conveniently "lost" my documentation...twice...the day after registration closed, or tell me that they wouldn't give me accommodations at all cause school is "a choice". I had to advocate for my right just to go to college four times. Now that I'm in college, I still have plenty of people who either tell me I can't, or who are too cowardly to admit to me they think I can't.
When people try to tell me I can't, I just think of my role model, Dr. Bolotin. He was born totally blind and become a physician, long before we even had ADA or any kind of accommodations for people with disabilities.
We have to just not listen to people who think we can't do it. It's just a reflection of their own insecurities. They don't trust themselves to know that if they were disabled, they would be able to do it, so they don't trust that we are able to do it--it being whatever our goals and dreams and aspirations are.
At the core of it is ableism. Most people, on some deep, subconscious level, still think that doing it the able-bodied way is more reliable, trustworthy, and dependable. They get nervous when they see people doing something another way, not fully understanding that a blind person's hands are their eyes, a deaf person's eyes are their ears, a disabled person's wheelchair is their legs, etc. etc. Most people think that we will miss something, and that our senses and different way of perceiving the world isn't as reliable as their way.
A lot of people do want us out of sight, out of mind, because we remind them that they're not invincible. People like to think that they are above disability, and that it could never happen to them. But anyone can become disabled. It just takes a car accident, a diagnosis, a series of misfortunes, and you could become the person that you refused to hire a few months ago.
I think what we really need is training on both sides. Able-bodied employers need to be trained and educated about what disabled people can do. Disabled people need to be trained in skills that will help employ them. Vocational rehab counselors, teachers of the deaf/blind/etc., really need to trust that their clients can do it, and need to be willing to provide them the skills they need instead of saying "they can't" or "they don't need it". Parents of disabled children need to let their children discover independence instead of overprotecting them. Images of the poor disabled beggar on the street in the minds of many need to be replaced with images of disabled people who are like anyone else--just, disabled. And disabled people need to be paid the same amount for the same work because it is still legal to underpay disabled workers in this country, today. If disabled people want to be able to move ahead and make a living wage by working, they need to be encouraged by having the opportunity to have the same salary as their able-bodied counterparts.
At the root of it all is prejudice. People mean well, but even in their meaning well, they don't see their own paternalism.
I also think that we need to make a few sacrifices. If we want people to take us seriously when we ask to work and be considered as employees with the same chance, we need to stop taking benefits that able-bodied people don't have. When I pay a half-price bus fare, that puts me in a different category from an able-bodied person. When I move to the front of the line at the airport and get pre-boarded, that puts me in a different category from able-bodied people. And that categorization extends to HR. If we don't want to be put in our own category, then we should extend that to all areas of life. We need to stop claiming we are just as capable and that the crutch is with society and not with us...while we happily rely on VR support and SSI benefits, etc. If we want people to take us seriously, we have to start practicing what we preach. It's a huge hypocrisy I see in the disabled community that many people aren't willing to admit, but we have to admit it, face it, and change it, so that people really start to hear our message that we can do the same jobs they can, just differently.
Last edited by nimchimpsky; 07-05-2012 at 07:23 AM..
its about money.
those ramps and lifts cost a lot of money.
as long as we got the money it is fine but when u r broke it gets tough to accomodate.
also there are those who are disabled and do lots of law suits for supposed discrimination, employers dont wana get
sued i am being sued right now. its not fun and i did nothing wrong. people that are prone to doing law suits are not
people you are guna hire or in general do business with. its sort of like the cops. do u really wana answer a 911 when u
know that neighborhood filed a complaint and law suit every time a cop showed up?
.
Why is it that people think about how much the ramp will cost, but never think about how much profit that disabled employee will bring to the company?
I know a lot of disabled people, and none of them are suing anyone. It's unfortunate that there are some disabled people who sue, sue, sue, but that is really the minority, and it is not fair to paint us all with that broad brush. There are many incidents where I could have sued someone (like that time I was refused service at a McDonald's for not driving a car and the other time my university didn't want to provide me braille because school is a choice). But I chose not to cause it's just not who I am. I really don't know any disabled people personally who have sued anyone, and I know probably about a thousand people with various disabilities.
Agreed. I have a severe hearing loss, though I have a cochlear implant right now, but I'm still legally deaf with hearing issues. Not only have a dealt with discrimination when trying to get jobs, but it's so expected and common, that it's killed my desire to even keep trying and hoping one single employer will happen to not be a greedy douchebag. For instance, most of job experience is doing clerical duties and data entry, but my first boss was understanding of my hearing loss and just had me never answer the phones (cause I can't communicate on them anyway), and had me just avoid customers. But anywhere else, most clerical positions require the person to handle multiple phone lines, so I don't even try and get these jobs that state that because I'm certain the employer is just going to obviously, realize I can't handle that, and there are no decent accomodations for HoH/Deaf people to handle phones in the workplace, therefore, I won't get the job.
So here I am, now, working overnight retail since I don't have to do either of those things. And trying to get jobs that don't require them (like, becoming a medical coder, who just types all day in a back office, mostly). But eh. Resources suck, and so do most employers.
I know tons of Deaf people who are pursuing Ph.D.'s, who are professors, at the cutting edge of research. They just stay in touch via email, VRS, texting. It's really not that difficult to overcome the phone issue. I think people really make that a bigger deal than it has to be, especially given the fact that email is more popular for business communication these days anyway. People prefer email because they can check it when they have a moment, have time to think of a reply without being the "ticking clock", and all communication is recorded and can be referred back to.
The majority of the public do think that way. Disabled people need to be given the chance to be self-sufficient in a discrimination-free environment. If you are against safety nets but don't hire disableds in my opinion you have no right to complain about where taxes are going. For some people they have no choice. Then (like me) they have to suffer all because an employer won't hire.
Either be willing to hire us or don't complain about the fact that we end up having to rely on benefits.
Come on, this is a depression. Millions of able-bodied unable to find a job despite years of looking. Why would anyone think a disabled person can find a job. And regarding the comment on Nazism: The Nazis, swept into power amid extreme unemployment, put people to work building autobahns (even though few Germans even owned cars, and Hitler himself had no drivers license).
I don't think you understand, though. What is the unemployment rate among able-bodied people, 10%?
The unemployment rate among blind people is 70%.
I don't know the stats for other disabilities. But it just doesn't even compare. Disabled people struggle with finding employment, no matter what kind of economic times we are in.
I am handicapped college educated and a hard worker. It means almost nothing today. Handicapped people are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to being hired. It has only gotten worse over time. The rate of handicapped working keeps falling down to 17.9% from 20%. Only about 9% work full time some worry about getting sued. But the real deal is most could care less about the handicapped. There are 100 of others out the door who are normal. You know what they do not need to be trained or need any accommodations. Most normal people think nothing bad will ever happen to them. Their invincible nothing bad can happen to them their special. The funny part is you can join our ranks one car accident or sickness you can join us. People do not like to think about that they want us out of sight and mind. Their are a few posters here that think do A to Z you will be fine. But in real life things do not work out nice and neat. Being handicapped is like having your legs tied in race. And they just gave everybody else a 2 mile head start. Not everyone is given the same cards in life. You play the cards you are given the best you can. Because you can forget about getting any help in America everybody is out for themselves. And the handicapped are at the bottom of the list. We are a forgotten minority. And society wants it that way.
its about money.
those ramps and lifts cost a lot of money.
as long as we got the money it is fine but when u r broke it gets tough to accomodate.
also there are those who are disabled and do lots of law suits for supposed discrimination, employers dont wana get
sued i am being sued right now. its not fun and i did nothing wrong. people that are prone to doing law suits are not
people you are guna hire or in general do business with. its sort of like the cops. do u really wana answer a 911 when u
know that neighborhood filed a complaint and law suit every time a cop showed up?
.
That is a convenient excuse, but it turns out buildings built since 1991, that's quite a few, have to be accessible to the handicapped. Not just for employees but customers too. Can you imagine a store deciding that disabled customers are not worth the trouble? That would be like hanging a big "SUE ME" sign at the entrance.
That is a convenient excuse, but it turns out buildings built since 1991, that's quite a few, have to be accessible to the handicapped. Not just for employees but customers too. Can you imagine a store deciding that disabled customers are not worth the trouble? That would be like hanging a big "SUE ME" sign at the entrance.
I agree.
Every job application asks for gender, race, military experience, and if one is disabled.
I don't think disabled people are being singled out.
It's tough for anyone to find a job now.
Actually I do feel they are being singled. See my post above some fear getting sued some the medical cost in terms of benefits. Any time I go in for and interview they get this look on their face like they smelled something bad. Things go downhill from there.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
