Upgrading Advocacy For Persons with Disabilities: ADA to Best Practices

Best Practices for People with DisabilitiesBy: Christopher Canela Evelyn C. Alvarez

United States Hispanic Advocacy Association Fellows 2016 at Gibbons P.C.

Accessing Greatness

Jacki e

Marquez

What Classifies as a Disability? A disability is an impairment that may be:Physical CognitiveSensory EmotionalDevelopmental Mental OR some combination of theseVisible/Nonvisible

Barriers

Wages Discrimination Insufficient policies and standards Rapid technological advancementMisconceptions about disabilities Over protection in labor lawsLack of accessSelf-identification

Americans with Disabilities Act Highlights:Attendant servicesConverting printed matter to alternative media and reader services for employees who are blindWorkspace and furnishings appropriate to the nature of the disabilityInterpreters for deaf and hearing-impaired employees A quiet workspaceFlexible work arrangementsFrequent breaks

ADA

“You have in your hands the key to the success of this act, for you can unlock a splendid resource of untapped human potential that, when freed, will enrich us all”.

- President George Bush, Sr. remarks at the signing of the ADA Act 1990

Statistics Largest minority in the United States 53 millionWorking age Americans with disabilities drop out of the labor force at a rate 5x higher than those without disabilities. Unemployment rate for persons with disabilities (PwD) in 2015 10.7% (2x the figure of 5.1% for those without disabilities. Poverty rate for PwD in the U.S. 27.3%Poverty rate for PwD receiving SSI benefits 72% 15% of accommodations cost nothing and 50%

of accommodations cost less than $500.

Accommodations

890 interviews of employers in the U.S. showed: Increased employee productivity (73%). Eliminated need to train a new

employee (55%). Improved company morale (60%). Increased company productivity (57%). Increased profitability (29%).

“It is not my job to be everyone’s inspiration. Let me be the best I can be at what I do. That’s what I’m trained for.”

The Big Question

What are the best practices companies have in place to insure that they are inclusive of people with disabilities?

Best Practices Hiring Eliminate hiring biases Disabilities awareness training during orientation

Recruiting Hire co-op/Student interns Job/ shadowingAdvertise jobs openly

RetentionOpen communication is keyJob coachingmentoringCross training

PromotionDevelop training for skills needed for promotions Promoting People with disabilities within company Other

Corporate interest and Organizational ReadinessTime off - Back to work Advertisement

Assistive Technology

Embossers & Braille Presses

Conversor Pro

Telephone Type Writer

ALVA Comfort Braille Display

Assistive Tech.

Continued

Reading Pen

Voice Recognition Software Touch-free Smartphone

Smart Prediction Tech

Interning & Shadowing IBM “Entry Point” program Booz Allen Hamilton - Emerging Leaders Telenor Open Mind

Recruitment

Advertisement

Employment agencies/ recruiters

Career fairs Advertise PwD to

help further hiring purposes and appeal to customers with disabilities

Mentoring & Job Coaching Mentoring is a powerful business tool that

will help your employees maximize their personal and professional growth and add tangible value to your business

Role models Strong leaders Good communication Technical skills Enthusiastic attitude Good work ethic

Develop Training for Skills Needed for Promotions When employees have opportunities for training and

professional growth, they develop a greater sense of self-worth and dignity.

There are two main types of training: Formal training: Employees learn outside of their

normal work routines. Examples of formal training include: conferences, lectures, seminars, workshops, courses, case studies, on-line/interactive learning programs.

Informal training: Employees are trained while working at their jobs. Examples of informal training include: orientation programs, cross-training or job rotation, coaching, apprenticeships and internships.

Promotion

Employees with disabilities may miss out on training opportunities for a variety of reasons:

They are not aware or informed when training is available because they are not well integrated into social or business networks in the workplace.

Employers assume they don’t have the ability to learn new skills.

Employers are unwilling to invest in training because they believe the employee has limited career potential.

Corporate Interest and Organizational Readiness

Fundamental to any effort to increase workforce diversity, including workers with disabilities, is an organizational environment that implements the policies and practices that will drive change.

Commit to the public to hire PwD. Collaborate with companies that share

similar values.

Emphasize PwD in corporate diversity policy statements, initiatives, and strategies.

ERG’s

Benefits

Access to a new and vital talent pool. A diverse workforce gives you a competitive

advantage by adding new ideas, viewpoints and approaches to solving your business challenges.

Make the work environment more inclusive. Companies earn an average return of $28.69

for every dollar invested in making an accommodation.

PwD control discretionary income of nearly $200 billion (2x teen market).

Indirect benefit for not having to distribute social security payments to PwD

Q and A?