Why hire someone with a disability?

When employers are asked this question, they usually strum up some stuff about “doing the right thing” or “being inclusive.” Sometimes it will hover over to “retention,” sort of like being that if you hire someone with a disability, gosh darn it, they’ll be so grateful, they’ll just stay working for you forever, so you won’t have to pay as much with retention and recruitment!

…that makes no sense

All of that boils down to hogwash in the end, because you know as well as I do that there is no such thing as “doing the right thing” when you hire someone. You hire people you like, people you think are capable and qualified to do the job, and that’s it, full stop.

Furthermore, employees are not going to look around and be like, “oh geez, Ernst & Young hired another deaf guy, I think I love them and want to work extra hard for them because they hire people just like me!“

That being the case, let’s take another look at why anyone should hire a person with a disability.

1. Our Numbers

People with disabilities – I’m talking across the entire disability spectrum (deaf, blind, low vision, intellectual disability, neurodiverse, physically disabled, learning disabled, etc) represented some 19% of the US American population in 2010.

Now, that was 8 years ago, so you know that number has only gone up – you also know that many people were not even counted on the original number.

Americans with disabilities make up a huge portion of the population.  

What that means to me as an HR professional, is that certain careers are going to be really wanting/needing the perspectives and voices from the disability community.

Take marketing for example.

You saw what happened when Target started including kids with Down syndrome in their ads, right? The ads went viral, business boomed from within the target population, so much so that Target went and developed an Adaptive Clothing Line.

It makes sense to me that any and all businesses will want to have actual people with disabilities on their marketing teams to lend their professional perspectives on where and how to include us with disabilities in marketing campaigns. You are going to have Latinx, Asian and African-American on your teams, because no white dude can give accurate information on how to reach those populations.

Well, you can’t get accurate information on how to reach disabled populations – those 57+ million Americans with change to chunk – unless and until you really bring them and their expertise on board to your teams.

2. Our culture

This is where it can get a little weird, because of disability being (as they say) the only minority group anyone can join at any time.

There is a big difference between people born with their disabilities (or having acquired them very young) and those who become disabled as adults.

Those of us who grew up disabled tend to be savvy problem solvers. We have had to work hard all of our lives to figure stuff out, to be included, to make change, to attend that class, to get through that door. We’re also used to our respective disabilities. We know what types of accommodation we need, we know the flow.

This does need to be taken with the generational piece though, because, just like with the non-disabled, we have some pretty big differences between the baby-boomers who grew up with disabilities, gen x, y, the millennials and gen z’s coming around.

So, when you are looking at the disability community, you have to remember that cultural layers exist in our community, just as it does in every other mainstream community.

Within the disabled community though, there is culture. There are norms.

I hesitate to talk about the norms because I don’t want to promote stereotypes or the notions that we are what we call, “super crips.” Every person with a disability should be allowed the inalienable right to have really boring, dull lives without having to ever prove anything or be objectified as being “more than” on the basis of their disability (or worse, being an “inspiration” on the basis of their disability).

One of the norms, though, is being out-of-the-box thinkers.

Not all of us are. But a lot of us are.

We can’t help it, really, because we naturally think, hear, see, move, perceive, feel and sensate the world in ways that are less mainstream than most. We can’t help but be able to understand things that people without disabilities can’t.

Any HR professional worth their salt wants this on their team. Different perspectives and out of the box thinking equal new solutions to the same problems. It means being able to reach new audiences, it means an expanded market, it means MORE MONEY for the company.

3. Who we are and what that means

I chose this image as the featured image for this post because this is actually a hell of a lot more descriptive of a lot of people with disabilities than the one with the suited guy using a wheelchair.

The vast majority of those of us with disabilities have non-visible disabilities.

Now, as I’ve said, a “disability” is a particular way of seeing, hearing, moving, feeling, thinking, sensating, learning (for more on the definition, read this post).

The numbers of our population grow every day, often with the inclusion of new disabilities. Our culture – both disabled and mainstream –  likewise evolve. Lady Gaga comes out as having fibromyalgia, Mariah Carey is bipolar and Halle Berry is nearly completely deaf in one ear. The list of famous people with depression and mental illness is a mile long.

What does this mean?

It means that disability – both non-visible as well as visible – is a part of the big ticket now. It means that when you include disability as a component of diversity into your hiring initiatives, and when you value what disability brings to the table by dint of hiring someone with a disability, you are making a statement that you (as an organization) are growing, moving and evolving with the times.

4. Access: Go beyond “wheelchair thinking”

One of the most important things is for you yourself to challenge the way you construct “disability” in and of itself.

You have got to get your mind out of “wheelchair thinking” – we don’t all use wheelchairs, quit thinking we do. We don’t all need particular types of access; quit thinking you know what we need (we will tell you when the time comes, so don’t jump ahead of yourself there).

In that reframing of your “wheelchair thinking,” consider what good HR is really about. Good HR is about creating an environment in which people’s knowledge, skills and talents are being used to the best of their capacity. It’s about strengthening your organization through diverse expertise.

When you work with anyone in your organization within an HR context, you need to figure out how that person best works. The beauty of working with people with disabilities is that most people with disabilities know that already.

That is, we already know what we need to do well at work – we’ve had years of trial and error at school, years of honing our accommodation needs and access requirements. We make it easier for an organization to work with us by dint of our ability to articulate what we need.

People without disabilities, by contrast, also have needs but lack the experience of having to articulate or hone their needs, so often cause more hiccups with managers than a person with a disability would.

So access needs are actually a positive, not a negative.

So, Why hire someone with a disability?

First of all, hire someone with a disability because they are qualified for the job.

Hire someone with a disability because you think outside the box and appreciate others who do, too.

Hire us because we bring a unique perspective to the table.

Hire us because you care about your bottom line and you realize that we can help you meet your goals.

Hire us because we’ll probably make your life a little easier.

Hire us for our good looks. Hire us for our sheet talent. Hire us cuz we made you think. Hire us for all of these reasons and more – but don’t hire us because it’s the “right thing to do”; it’s not.

It’s just the smart thing to do.

This article is all about free stuff for adults with disabilities (and/or special needs*) Why? Because there are a more than a few lists of free things, resources and help out there for kids with disabilities (and/or special needs*), but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one for adults with disabilities.

Which is either flattering or really depressing. Flattering, because it implies that we adults with disabilities have it all together and don’t need help, or depressing because there just isn’t much out there, and resources think that they are promoting them so well that lists of this type don’t seem necessary.

Either way you have it, I think it’s time to compile a handy list, and to update it as often as possible.

Personal story: I was kicking myself after I completed graduate school (on my own dime, time and with private loans) and found out that being deaf is considered a disability! As an honors student straight through, I could have easily gotten a scholarship, but I had no idea that I counted as “disabled”. Don’t be like me. Check these out:

JLV Counseling’s Clearinghouse of Scholarships for People with Disabilities: Comprehensive list of scholarships available to people with disabilities, categorized by disability.

Ruby’s Rainbow: Scholarships for people with Intellectual Disabilities to attend higher education.

Department of Vocational Rehabilitation: the point of DVR/DOR is to help people with disabilities find and keep jobs that suit them. If you need higher education in order to find and keep a job that suits you, DVR/DOR should help. This is not a rule but it is definitely an avenue to explore.

Financial Aid at Your Local University:

• sit down with a financial aid counselor (not a student helper!) and request information on all relevant grants, scholarships, opportunities, etc related to disability.
• meet with the disability services at your local university and request all information related to grants, scholarships, opportunities, etc.
• meet with the career counselor who works with disability/disability services at your local university and request information related to grants, scholarships, opportunities, etc. They might also have information on work opportunities.

Financial planning is incredibly important for us adults with disabilities. Here are some free resources to help:

ABLE Account: understand the ABLE accounts. We can save money in an account that will not go against SSI/SSDI.

The Red Book: on the heels of understanding ABLE accounts is “The Red Book” – Social Security’s annual book on benefits. The link provided is to a pdf of the book.

Disability Benefits 101: tools and information on employment, health coverage, and benefits. Not all states are set up with the calculator, but World Institute on Disability has a lot of other information on financial planning and benefits – check out their books and resources here.

PASS Plans: “A Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) allows a person with a disability to set aside otherwise countable income and/or resources for a specific period of time in order to achieve a work goal. Any person who receives SSI benefits,or who might qualify for SSI, or any person receives SSDI (or a similar benefit) and could qualify for SSI, may be able to have a PASS. There is no limit to the number of successful PASS plans a person may use in a lifetime.”

National Park Service: free lifetime pass to US national parks and more. There are some requirements and stipulations, so read through the application – which is linked here.

State Park Service: state parks have a disability discount – look up your state for more information and for the application. California’s is linked here.

Disney Disability Pass: this is changing as a result of the abuse, but it still helps us adults with disabilities.

I’m deaf, with PTSD & TBI and I have never had much money. I’m also a travel junkie. I have found ways to travel the world for free or cheap on numerous occasions.

Obviously, my travel parameters are going to be different from those who have disabilities different from mine – I don’t use a wheelchair, I don’t use an attendant, and I can speak for myself.

BUT the first rule of travel is something like, “If you don’t believe it, nobody will.”

You have absolutely got to hold tight to what you want and what your vision is. There is a way to accomplish it, if you are willing to do the research to figure out how to make it happen (on a dime that is not yours).

Here are some places to start:

MIUSA: Mobility International. These guys are awesome – I want to work for them! They have a ton of information on traveling abroad, financial resources, etc, listed clearly and cleanly in their fantastic website. They also have staff that you can contact with  more direct and trip-specific questions. I did, when we were going to Mexico, and they were helpful. Furthermore – they have information for Americans going abroad and people outside the US coming to the US.

The Foundation Center: search foundations to apply for funds. Don’t forget your intersections – that is, if you are poor or a female or a racial minority or LGTBQ, search under those groups as well for foundations that apply to you.

Transitions Abroad: one of the king-beasts in websites for living/working abroad (along with Dave’s ESL Cafe) – definitely opportunities to find free ways to travel or jobs.

Google: I don’t mean to be flippant, but you have to research. A simple query of “free travel” led to this good (and recent) article.

Articles like that are good but don’t feature people who use wheelchairs in the photos, nor do they have people walking around using canes and service dogs! Here we go back to the first rule: “If you don’t believe it, nobody will.” You have to see yourself doing what you want to do, and really believe you can do it – and then reach out. Do you disclose? Do you have to? You can treat a lot of these travel opportunities as a job, and use JAN’s handy disclosure articles to help you. Linked here.

Deshae Lott Quality of Life Grants: “works to help American citizens with severe mobility limitations maintain hopeful, purposeful, engaged lives by providing some financial support for medically-necessary home-health-care services not covered by insurance, private or governmental, and not covered by any other non-profit organization.”

Medicaid: from a friend, “the full range of benefits from medicaid sometimes goes overlooked. they will pay for changes in your house so it is more accessible (5k every 5 years), they offer rides to appointments, reimbursement for travel to appointments, a case worker you can contact directly, and in-home caretaker hours..”

Easterseals: I feel a little guilty putting this in because the site is so vague and huge. Evidently though, they can be useful? You are supposed to find the branch office close to where you live, and see what they are able to offer you. Sounds like fun!

REquipment: wow, ’bout time. Used medical equipment, for free, without hassle from insurance.

Department of Vocational Rehabilitation: the point of a DOR/DVR is to help people with disabilities find and keep jobs. If you need some medical equipment (or something along those lines) in order to find and keep a job, they will usually help you. I got my digital hearing aids that way, years ago, and those bubbas aren’t cheap.

Department of Rehabilitation: The point of DOR/DVR is to help people with disabilities find and keep jobs (I know, I sound like a broken record player, I think that’s the 3rd time I’ve said that in this post). It’s an enormous goal and huge in it’s variables. Say you need a speech device in order to go to school so you can receive training so that you can be a train operator? = DOR will consider paying for your speech device AND tuition that is not covered by financial aid. A blind stylus? What about an iPad for deaf people, for Facetime/Skype online learning? I mean, DOR covers a lot of stuff, but you need to be able to fit what you are asking into the framework of being able to find and keep a job.

Center for Accessible Technology: they have an iPad loan program (and more, they are awesome, make sure you get to know them).

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (gotta love that name!): their description of what is out there is comprehensive and pretty accurate. It’s a good place to read through, then move on to their list of helpful organizations to reach out to, linked here.

National Library Service (for the Blind & Physically Handicapped): free library program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail.

Bookshare: An accessible online library for people with print disabilities.

Learning Ally: Audio books and learning tools.

There are a ton of discounts out there for us, way too many to list. I think instead of listing, it might be helpful for me to remind you to just ask.

Now, that can be a real pain in the butt, and you have to have enough spoons on hand to go through that whole, “hey! do you have a discount for people with disabilities?” and wait while they kind of look you up and down while searching through their memory banks.

If this is trying for you, some tips:

1. Do you have a kid? Say it’s for your kid, until they are old enough to glare at you (‘Mom, why are you asking for a discount on your bifocals for me?‘)
2. After you ask, look pointedly at your companion. Extra points if your companion doesn’t seem to have a disability!
3. Do a little homework first and find out if the place has a reputation or not for being good community members – if not, then you are “offering an opportunity” and if so, you are “glad to be doing business with people who care.” Or something like that. 
4. Keep it light and friendly. If you can’t, don’t ask because it’s not worth the energy.
5. Keep notes! Take down the person’s name and address them by their name! Write a thank-you note if they were awesome.

Want more? Here’s a HuffPo article on discounts/disability (thanks, Amy!)

That’s all I have now.

Many thanks to everyone on Facebook who helped with leads. Since this is the first “Free Stuff for Adults with Disabilities” post that I’ve ever written, it would be incredibly helpful to me and to everyone reading if you would add whatever leads you know of in the comments, along with the link.

Sharing is caring, right?!

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*Note: 

“Special Needs” do not equal disability. These words should not be used interchangeably. Some people may have a disability but no special needs; others may have special needs but no disability. “Special Needs” is an education term; “disability” is a physical/cultural term.

There are  a lot of disability related organizations out there that do strong work. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it’s a good starting point, if you want to find non-profits to financially support.

Here are some more organizations that I think are fantastic, and that are 501 (c) 3’s:

Disability Related Organizations:

1. DREDF – which is always at the top of my list, as it goes across the disability spectrum, helping to protect all of us with disabilities.

2. Portlight: These are the good people who are behind the disaster relief efforts in the US/Puerto Rico. Your direct donation makes a direct difference.

3. ADAPT: Make no mistake about it: the disabled activists from ADAPT and their partner groups are the ones who saved Medicaid this year. The work they do is powerful, life-changing and absolutely necessary.

4. a. DeafHope: Domestic Violence shelters are not often accessible to d/Deaf women: they are based through the telephone. DeafHope helps d/Deaf survivors of domestic abuse get help.

b. Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates: I just found out about this organization! Holy cow, where have I been?! Super awesome. Check it out.

5. Yo! Disabled and Proud: Love, love, love them and their work, empowering youth with disabilities. They have a rad store too (I just had to edit my Gift Guide so that I could include it).

6. Disability Rights Advocates: These guys are wonderful. They are the ones who sued Target over access – and won.

7. HEARD – Helping to Educate and Advance the Rights of the Deaf – Their mission to help facilitate communication between the d/Deaf/hard of hearing community and the justice system. They are also committed to d/Deaf prisoners, correcting wrongful convictions and ending deaf prisoner abuse.

8. ASAN – Autistic Self-Advocacy Network – an American organization by and for Autistic adults advocating for systems change and ensuring that the voices of Autistics are heard.

9. Language Acquisition and Equality Project for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K): as a deaf woman, I absolutely must mention this. There is a crisis in the deaf community over deaf-education and our kids learning ASL (or rather, not learning ASL, not having exposure to language they can understand). Nyle DiMarco is also trying to raise awareness over this and funds to help LEAD-K with it’s work.

10. Senior and Disability Action: organize and empower seniors and people with disabilities on housing, health care, transit justice, and more.

11. Bookshare: an accessible online library for people with print disabilities. Like my friend who recommended this said, “I can’t get far without information.”

12. Learning Ally: a national organization “dedicated to bringing parents, teachers and the community together to empower students who are dyslexic, blind or visually impaired to succeed.”

13. Sins Invalid: Social change through the arts: “A performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and queer and gender-variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized.”

14. National Federation of the Blind: Resources, advocacy, publications, events and more.

and disability related organizations you should bookmark:

15. WID: World Institute on Disability

16. Through the Looking Glass: for parents with disabilities as well as children with disabilities

17. Disability Rights California (formerly Protection and Advocacy, Inc): CA specific but still with excellent cross-disability and cross-state information

18. Mobility International: for travel/disability/exchange/education information

19. JAN: Job Accommodation Network – A-Z of disability and accomodation

20. ODEP: Office of Disability Employment Policy: disability and job information (for a government site, this is actually pretty good)

21. disability.gov: Also a good, cross-disability site with a ton of information

22. Center for Parent Information and Resources: serving families of children with disabilities in every American state and territory

23. National Council on Independent Living:  disability-led organization that “advances independent living and the rights of people with disabilities” by working with policy, advocacy and supporting member Centers for Independent Living.

24. Association of University Centers on Disability: “A network of interdisciplinary centers advancing policy and practice for and with individuals with developmental and other disabilities, their families, and communities.”

But there are more disability related organizations 

Most people want to donate to an actual non-profit, with legal non profit status, but some of the most cutting edge projects are not certified 501 (c) 3’s .

25. Disabled Parents Rights is another one. “Disabled Parents Rights is a small organization dedicated to combating discrimination that impacts parenting for parents with disabilities. We provide direct representation, advocacy, and technical assistance to disabled parents, as well as their advocates and attorneys.” As a deaf mother (with TBI and PTSD), this hits home.

26. The Disability Visibility Project Alice Wong is doing fantastic work with the #CripTheVote project and in gathering people across the disability spectrum under her fold. That project isn’t “certified” but it’s very worthy, and something worth contributing to. Here’s where you can donate.

27. Southerners on New Ground (SONG) – they seem to be an organizing-for-change group, and are led by disabled people of color. They have a toolkit for change and work on advancing the rights of some very vulnerable people in the south right now. They are going to need help in the coming future.

28. Two Thirds of the Planet : cross-disability community-building, advocacy, website development tutorials, career development for people with disabilities, information and resources. Here’s where you can contribute.

There are also some very deserving disability-specific and parent-led organizations out there. Here’s a short list of a few that I have connections to:

29. Lettercase: I’ve loved them forever (remember this post?!) You know why? Because I was once literally sitting at a table with a doctor telling me that ) should abort my unborn child because she was going to be coming with Down syndrome. When I asked him for more information about lives lived with Down syndrome – a brochure? meet someone? See what Down syndrome is like? The doctor said, “we don’t do that.”

Lettercase is trying to change that all-too-common scenario by putting accurate and up-to-date information in the hands of medical practitioners. It’s fabulous and very worthy of your money. Donate here.

30. Down syndrome Diagnosis Network: A grassroots parent-led group that connects and supports. Good people, good work.

31. Down syndrome Adoption Network: Fantastic work connecting families who want to adopt a child with Down syndrome with a child with Down syndrome. Shoe-string budget, run mostly on the sweat of a couple of women.

32. Ruby’s Rainbow: “dedicated to the higher educational needs of adults with Down syndrome.” They provide scholarships to adults with Down syndrome who are seeking post-secondary education, enrichment or vocational classes. This is fantastic since so few programs do that.

33. Parents Education Network: “Parents Education Network (PEN) is a coalition of parents collaborating with educators, students and the community to empower and bring academic and life success to students with learning and attention differences.”

And More Organizations!

34. Julia’s Way: “dedicated to inspiring parents, medical professionals, and the general public to reimagine what’s possible for those living with Down syndrome through education, advocacy, and awareness” – They are currently promoting breastfeeding and Down syndrome.

35. NMD United: “a non-profit organization composed of adults living with neuromuscular disabilities. This peer-led organization fosters meaningful interactions and provide informational resources to increase self-direction while promoting independence”

Lastly

My friend Andrew wrote a great post on “How to Choose a Disability Charity” – he’s got some great suggestions on things to think about as you move forward and select the disability related organization (s) that you would like to support.

This site is also in need of financial backing – if you want to help with keeping it alive and myself able to create these types of informative posts, as well as posts on website development, career counseling, and disability community, please visit my Patreon account – thank you!

If you know of more great disability related organizations or movements  to bookmark, know about and/or support, PLEASE leave the link in the comments of this post so that everyone can benefit.

Thank you.