Disability  (Page 3/3)

Other resources that provide valuable information and assistance to employers and disabled persons are the internet and the advancement of technology. Government websites, as well as state-based websites now exist and offer instructions and assistance to disabled persons in the areas of employment, health care, education, taxes, job training, housing, transportation, emergency preparedness, benefits, technology, community life, and civil rights. Businesses can find websites that guide them through the process of locating, interviewing, and hiring disabled individuals. Several informative and useful websites are: DisabilityInfo.gov, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice/ADA home page, and the City of Houston eGovernment Center. Cutting edge technological advancements such as voice-recognition systems, voice synthesizers, computer screen readers, telecaptioners (closed captioning), and telephone TTY devices make it much easier for the disabled world to function and assimilate into the non-disabled world. Additionally, as more and more of these devices become commonplace, the stigmas associated with the disabled person will dissolve, and they will not be seen as different, unusual, unable individuals. Two excellent websites are the U.S. Department of Justice, ADA, and ABLEDATA. Both provide valuable information regarding these devices and how to purchase them which can aid in eliminating the stress, guesswork, dread, and overwhelmed feeling a person may face when he/she must deal with these issues.

Positive images

Another positive stride in the employment of disabled persons over the past few years is their visibility in newspaper ads and television commercials. The national retail chains Home Depot, Walgreens Pharmacy, and CVS Pharmacy all promote hiring disabled individuals and encourage other businesses to do the same. Home Depot is one retailer who features disabled employees in many of their newspaper ads and television commercials. This marketing tool is encouraging to other disabled individuals because it illustrates success stories. It also demonstrates to other employers that disabled persons are competent, valuable employees who are easily integrated into the work environment. Randall’s and Kroger grocery stores also endorse hiring disabled persons to perform jobs such as stocking shelves, sacking groceries, and loading groceries into customer vehicles.

As visibility of competent, qualified, dependable disabled persons in the working environment increases, more business owners will have confidence in selecting future employees from the disabled community, thus creating social change and dissolving old stereotypes. Disabled individuals will be seen as valuable employees and will be afforded improved education, housing, and transportation opportunities. The disabled community will no longer be dependent on others to take care of them or speak for them. They will be independent members of society who have equality, autonomy, and confidence in knowing they are viable members of the world in which they live.

Almost one in five people has a disability. An estimated 19.4% of non-institutionalized civilians in the United States, totaling 8.9 million people, have a disability . Almost half of these people (an estimated 24.1 million people) can be considered to have a severe disability. Activities considered to be major are: children under age 5: playing; persons 5-17: attending school; persons 18-69: working or keeping house; People age 70 and over: ability to care for oneself (bathing, eating, dressing, or getting around the home) and one's home (doing household chores, doing necessary business, shopping, or getting around for other purposes) without another person's assistance.

Almost one out of every seven people has an activity limitation. Activity limitation: In the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), each person is classified into one of four categories: (a) unable to perform the major activity, (b) able to perform the major activity but limited in the kind or amount of this activity, (c) not limited in the major activity but limited in the kind or amount of other activities, and (d) not limited in any way. The NHIS classifies people as limited (groups a-c) or not limited (group d). Persons are not classified as limited in activity unless one or more chronic health conditions are reported as the cause of the activity limitation (see also chronic health condition and major activity).

An estimated 4.0% (9.2 million) of the non-institutionalized population age 5 and over in the United States need personal assistance with one or more activities. Over 5.8 million people need assistance in "instrumental activities of daily living" ( IADL ), while 3.4 million need assistance in "activities of daily living" ( ADL ). ADL includes bathing, dressing, eating, walking, and other personal functioning activities. IADL covers preparing meals, shopping, using the phone, doing laundry, and other measures of living independently. If someone has a need for assistance in ADL, it is assumed that they will have a need for assistance in IADL also. One in 25 people age 5 and over needs assistance in daily activities.

The number of non-institutionalized people in the United States with a work disability is estimated to be 16.9 million, which represents 10.1% of the working age population (16 to 64 years old). Higher percentages of blacks are work disabled than whites or Hispanics: 15.4% of blacks have a work disability (3.2 million people) compared to 9.6% for people of Hispanic origin (1.6 million), 9.4% of whites (13 million) and 8.5% of other races (700,000). Work disability increases in frequency with age. At 16-24 years, 4.2% are work disabled; for 25-34 years, the proportion rises to 6.4%; for 35-44 years, 9.4%; from 45-54 years, 13.3%; and for 55-64 years, 22.9% are work disabled. Technical Note: The Hispanic category can include people of any race. Blacks report the highest rates of work disability.

Works cited

ABLEDATA (External Link)&top=13436&deep=2&trail=22

Disability Info. 2007. (External Link)

The Disability Rights Movement. 2000. (External Link)

Medline Plus (External Link)

US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. 2007.

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics. 2007. 2006 Disability Status Report. Ithaca, New York. Cornell University. (External Link)&CFTOKEN=51397315#top

The U.S. Department of Justice, ADA Home Page. 2007. (External Link)