Return to Article: Senator urges agencies, Congress to hire more disabled employees
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57528
I have a speech disability. I have lived with it all my life. I was lucky that I had a library manager who over looked my disability and hired me into Civil Service. However, over the years I know that I lost out on positions and promotions because I do not come across well over with telephone interviews. I could never prove it though.
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49027
I dont see why a recent poster thinks targeted (severe) disabilities and "less severe" are being confused in the article.
Also, although I agree that there should be a greater emphasis placed on hiring veterans, especially those with disabilities, one does not have to be given up to pursue the other. Additionally, just because someone has a disability and has possibly served our country does not qualify the person for a job.
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49003
I believe that we need to help those that have served in our military and have come back home looking and feeling different than before they served the American people. The people that serve in the military, especially during times of conflict, need to be acknowledged and the people who benefit from others serving need to ensure that those who become disabled for their country are placed in as many jobs as possible. If a message/action to/for people who serve is not conveyed, eventually there will not be volunteers but only the Draft.
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49002
Why does Govt Exec "re-run" some stories? Just curious.
Also, the article (or Sen. Durbin) seems to confuse "targeted disabilities" with all disabilities. The EEOC report showing the decline in participation rates was for targeted disabilities. The reason for the decline is generally attitudes. People focus on the disability of the applicant instead of whether s/he has the skills and abilities needed to perform the job.
Mr. Keenan, BTW, needs to get his act together. If he isn't getting promoted, it is likely because he isn't performing well, or he has a massive chip on his shoulder that people can see from a mile away. My guess is that his supervisor is a woman or a minority and finds his attitude insufferable. White men are now the minority. Get used to it!
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48811
I have been with the federal government for over 20 years. for 10 years of that time I have been becoming more and more disabled. I have experienced perjudice and everything else mentioned above. Some of my time has been really tough just getting through a day. Supervisors and Senior staff not really wanting to acknowledge that I was the same high producing employee before my genetic disease began to go haywire. I was now a completely different person.
But instead of wining and pointing fingers at everyone, I began to ask the question: What can I do to make my life better. i wanter to stay with my agency. So I began a campaign to sell the idea to the Agency Director that we could be a model agency for PWD. Sometimes working through the system and others through the influencers of my agency, the huge boulder of indifference finally began to move - bit by bit. Soon part of what I made my job was to look out for other PWDs and try to help them into better situations. Slowly. i am being recognized as a person who truely cares and can help both the PWD and the manager to make things work. In house, I have found resources for both to take care of some of the issues that were identified.
now I have a position that is specifically identified to work at recruiting and retaining PWDs in my Agency. I still have difficulties with the EEO office. Soon there will be another lead for disabilities in the Diversity Office to help expand the efforts to have a welcoming environment for our newly hired PWDs and if things get out of hand, there will be a couple of great advocates with open ears to help them solve any problem that comes along.
Don't you think my struggles were worth the outcome? I would not be where I am today, if I continued to be negative about what the organization was doing to me. I was strong enough to do something back -- tell them they were wrong and they needed to change. Not through a grievance, but through discussions and example. Some of you who complain the loudest should try it sometime. Stop! Think! Listen! Talk with others nicely! Keep on listening and talking until the idea is part of the normal everyday issues. Then you know you are on the right path.
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48706
I really don't want to hear this stuff; it's been shoved down my throat for decades, blocking me from my entry level opportunities for years. It's still alive and well. Our director's own performance appraisal even stated "Promoted 11 Indiv to higher grades, 8 of which were minority/women." If one came to my building these days, you wouldn't see much evidence of "Male/White Dominance". With a war on terror going on, can we really afford this issue any more? If not, there will be plenty more disabled Americans on the way.
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48698
I am blind and have over 12 years working at a high level for commercial and non-profit organizations. I can speak from experience that getting hired for a high-level position when you have the qualifications and a disability is not easy with any company or organization. I am not suggesting I should get the job just because I am blind, but it would be a great step forward if I knew I did not have to deal wth people's perceptions of what kind of job I can do. I , and others like me, do not need as much assistance as people think. Our brains are not impacted by the vision loss. The same is true for persons with physical disabilities not related to the brain. I lost a lot of my eyesight when I was half way through my Master's degree, working full time and contracting with several clients. I did not let any of those obligations drop as I was dealing with my degrading vision. For the most part, having the disability drives me to outperform those around me so I can show that I am as or more able than my sighted peers.
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48687
Mom of Disabled Grad Student writes: "He also says this is 'largely ignored talent pool of motivated, efficient workers at relatively low cost'. Is it his assumption that because someone is disabled they will work for less just get get the job?"
As someone who works to address these shortages in the federal government, I believe he's misquoting a "business case" argument that we use. The "low cost" we typically refer to is the relatively low cost of accommodations - i.e., the typical cost of an accommodation (when there is a cost) is around $500, but almost half (46%) of all accommodations are cost-free. So the "low cost" statements are usually not referring to lower pay, but lower costs assocaited with accommodations than the perceptions out there.
I'm glad the Senator is addressing this issue and hope that the next President will consider renewing the executive order and bring some high level attention to the issue.
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48657
Well, it's nice that SOME commenters "get it." There are people with severe disabilities who make the "Best Qualified" list but are not hired because of attitudes. Managers are uncomfortable, or they think the individual will need all kinds of expensive assistive devices. Hopefully, that fallacy is what the senator was referring to when he said the cost would be relatively low.
pjj, I am sorry you've had such a hard time. Please consider filing an EEO complaint. If you have good doucmentation of the harassment and the refusal to provide training etc on an equal basis with your fellow employees, you should win your complaint.
As for the comment about people with disabilties performing support services; those who are well educated belong in professional positions. If the employees has mental (developmental) disabilities, it was a violation of EEOC guidelines to contract out. An agency must assess whether a planned change will have an adverse impact on one or more groups with low participation rate.
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48632
In line with the comments of Sen. Durbin, the Phildelphia firm of Berger & Montague, PC is pursuing a pending class action brought against the Social Security Administration on behalf of employees with targeted disabilities who allege they were unjustly denied promotions. And this from an agency with a mission to assist the disabled?
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48627
Durbin cites EEOC report stating there are "only 90 people with targeted disabilities..in senior pay grades in the federal government." He also says this is "largely ignored talent pool of motivated, efficient workers at relatively low cost." Is it his assumption that because someone is disabled they will work for less just get get the job?
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48625
Hey I agree with Austin. I have 30 years as a disabled person. When I was forced out of the AF due to a base closure, I ended up in my current agency that treats the disabled like retards. I have more education than most of management, but I also have an accommodation so every effort is made to ensure I don't have the training I need, resourcees, and all efforts are blocked. I am looking forward to another job and also retirement. I also know that factually disabled workers leave federal service. We don't want to be in position for just a statistic on paper and nothing more.
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48606
I think it is about time that people understood that there is more to a person than just their outside appearence. As a person with an aquired disability, I know only too well the before and after world of employment. Before they looked at my skills after they look at my disability (which is a history of strokes starting at 25). My hat goes off to Senator Durbin and I will be voting for him in the upcoming election. Yes people with disabilities can and should vote!
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48601
The meanness of the 1st 2 comments notwithstanding, "disabled" by no means equates to "unable." Naturally, some people in the disabled group as a whole will not be great workers, just as in any defined group there will be all kinds of variety. The broad brush view misses this, and it's a shame. I must agree with the commenter that there are some worthless able-bodied Feds, because that's just the way generalizations are. Focus on the very competent, qualified people with disabilities - it's just that simple. And yes, they're out there, open your minds. You, after all, are not perfect in all ways, and you're either a competent Fed or an incompetent one regardless of physical abilities.
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48594
Holy Smokes! My employer lets workers with disabilities go! Imagine this! I'll have to send this to a Wisconsin east coast health care provider (and it is not Froedtert, the Medical College, OR Bellin) as they don't seem to know this! (perhaps they really just don't care.)
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48589
The comments thus far are pretty disappointing when you think of the men and women serving in the military. This past weekend I had the honor of meeting Eric Avila who was the victim of a land mine in Iraq. He lost a leg and part of his hand in the explosion. It is disturbing to know that there are people out there who he fought for that wouldn't support hiring this fine gentleman.
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48578
I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the ignorant comments of some posters. The article is obviously about people with disabilities who can do the jobs -- in other words, qualified people with disabilities. Due to advances in technology and colleges making accommodation more readily available to students, more and more people with disabilities are available and qualified to fill a growing number of Federal vacancies. With a retirement wave upon us, it makes even greater business sense to reach out to the disability community to find talent. I commend the EEOC and Sen. Durbin for raising awareness, and hope that managers throughout the government take advantage of hiring flexibilities available to them to quickly fill their vacancies.
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48577
also, many of the support staff positions that were filled by disabled workers in our area have been eliminated or contracted out. How will he fix that?
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48570
The focus should be on abilities; not disabilities. Persons with physical disabilities may possess all kinds of abilities. We should look for how a person fits in with the duties of a job. Selecting a disabled person to do a job they are not capable of doing is counterproductive. It only serves to cause resentment. Selecting a disabled person to do a job they're able to do well creates respect not only for that person, but a greater appreciation for the abilities of disabled persons in general.
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48568
Government hiring disabled people is just for show. My sister was a 19 year govmt employee , was disabled and the management made her life miserable through harassement and difficult work assignements. They forced her to retire on disbaility. All this talk is just for show.
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48560
I do not agree with Senator Durbin; the federal government DOES hire many disabled employees and in spite that these numbers may be donw from past guidelines; there should be MORE opportunities at the Stae, County and City levels. Why must the federal government ALWAYS me the one to do more?
We are constantly under the scrutiny of the Congressmans' peers to reduce cost and increase productivity. In some, now many, but some, this becomes increasingly challenging when disabled persons are unable to meet production standards, even they are reduced to allow for their disabilities.
I ask, how many disabled employees are there in the State of Illinois, their counties, and their cities versus the federal govenrment? Are your numbers as godd as the fed?
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48552
Is "disabled" similar to "unable?" If so, the government already seems to have an overabundance of employees "unable" to do their jobs.
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48545
Blah, blah, blah. What is the Senator's record on hiring disableds, women, etc.?
How about hiring those who can do the job? Not special interests, not good-old-boys, not campaign contributors relatives.
Jeez.
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