Careers and the disabled in recessions
Disabled workers have been shown over and over to be excellent workers. Many jobs like IT do not require anything more than someone with a college education that is sitting at a desk with a phone and a computer. Since many paraplegics can easily do work sitting at a desk there is no reason that they should not be considered for the job. Unfortunately many bosses assume that the disabled are brain damaged and are incapable of doing any real work in any capacity. Many of us see this in our lives as we go to the mall. Someone will come up to us an d start to talk in baby talk to us because they think we are stupid because of the wheelchair. One would hope that Stephen Hawking does not have to deal with this type of idiotic behavior. Mr. Hawking is the epitome of smart people that are trapped in bodies that do not work properly. We are fully capable of doing amazing things if only we get the chance to do the work and are given the right tools to make our job easier. (Computer World).
It is quite sad that the disabled have the hardest time in getting a job and when they do it is usually a low paying job tied to a boss that thinks they are stupid. Even in the best of financial times it is difficult for the disabled to find a good job. In this complete meltdown of many sectors of our economy makes it all but impossible for the disabled to get good employment. We are competing with people that are over qualified for a position but is in need of money to keep their house and car that they will do almost any job. So the low end jobs are going to engineers with master’s degrees that would never take that job except that there is nothing available in their market and they have been out of work for the last 18 months. The only answers I can think of is schooling and working for yourself. Because many of us are on SSDI or worse, it is very easy to get money to go to school – all the way to PhD. That would give anyone a huge boost in their ability to get a job and to increase their income. Of course it is a lot of work over many years, but then again nothing that is worthwhile is simple or easy. So we get to decide what we will do with our lives, sit at home staring at the boob tube, or get off our collective wheelchairs and get back to school and work.
There are many positions for teching available for secondary as well as college and research. I have found that schools are much more willing to take a chance on someone that is disabled than a company and they are easier to work for. Some universities are willing to put you through school to fill a job that they cannot find qualified people for. At a public university in Florida I saw a position open for a mathematical researcher and the school was willing to put you through to a PhD for free if you were willing to work at the university for five years. Not a bad deal – you get awesome paperwork and schooling for free along with a good job with benefits for the next five years or more. Stuff is out there for us, but we need to look for it and let the able bodied know that we are no different than they are, we are just stuck in a movable chair.
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