hiring people with disabilities, more people
identifying themselves as such, and more
accessible technology.
And on a cultural level, media is reshap-
ing how we think of this group, says Mr.
Kahn-Pauli. “Television reflects and shapes
how we think about each other,” he says,
pointing to shows like “Born This Way” and
“Speechless.” Research shows authentic
portrayals of minority characters can pos-
itively influence people’s attitudes, he says.
In 1990, Congress enacted the landmark
Americans with Disabilities Act, which pro-
hibited employment discrimination on thebasis of disability. In 2014, President Barack
Obama signed into law the Workforce In-
novation and Opportunity Act, which pro-
motes work for disabled people that is fully
integrated with colleagues who don’t have
disabilities and makes sure they receive
comparable wages and benefits.
“However, policy change doesn’t neces-
sarily equate to culture change,” says Min-dy Deardurff, dean of career development
at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.
“Getting hired with a disability ... can be
incredibly challenging.” Statistics confirm
this. Some 36 percent of adults with disabil-
ities had a job, compared with 77 percent of
people without disabilities, according to the
2017 Annual Disability Statistics Compen-
dium. Part of the problem is educational at-
tainment. RespectAbility says 65 percent of
students with disabilities finish high school
and less than 7 percent complete college.
The good news is that certain states and
corporations offer lessons. North Dakota,
for example, leads the nation with 54 per-
cent of its people with disabilities employed,
followed by South Dakota (52 percent),
Minnesota, and Alaska (both 48 percent).
Kahn-Pauli attributes their success to strong
state leadership, a recovering economy and
legislation including tax incentives for hir-
ing or making adaptations for such people,
state goals for contracting with businesses
owned by people with disabilities, and man-
dates for accessible transportation.
The private sector star: Walgreens. In
2007, the company launched bold goals for
hiring people with disabilities. In 2016, more
than 900 Walgreens employees identifiedthemselves as such, while 1,300 people with
disabilities completed retail training.
What Walgreens and other corporate
leaders like Starbucks, Pepsi, and IBM
know is that hiring people with disabilities
isn’t an act of charity. Data show this group
has higher productivity, lower turnover, and
a better safety record than people without
disabilities. “At the end of the day, our nation
was founded on the principle that anyone
who works hard should be able to get ahead
in life,” Ms. Mizrahi says. “People with dis-
abilities deserve the opportunity to earn an
income and achieve independence just like
anyone else.”- Husna Haq / Contributor
NATI HARNIK/AP
ON THE JOB: Justin Bainbridge works at the
Prairie Life Fitness Center in Omaha, Neb.‘PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES DESERVE THE
OPPORTUNITY TO EARN AN INCOME....’- Jennifer Mizrahi, RespectAbility
points of progress
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