Employment Tips

By Dena Polston

 

 

 

Growing up as a person with a disability, I always sought to achieve, having the same dreams, goals and aspirations as my sister and other non-disabled individuals. Included amongst those aspirations was the desire to obtain competitive employment.

            Unfortunately, the opportunities were somewhat limited when it came to acquiring the skills and experience needed to promote my success later in life. Thus, I had to get creative.  To that end, I took advantage of every volunteer opportunity I could find as a teenager.

While attending the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI), I volunteered as a tutor for elementary school aged children and a childcare provider for preschoolers while their parents attended meetings and other activities. I worked on the ISBVI switchboard during the evenings as well.

While in high school. A friend from ISBVI and I volunteered at Methodist Hospital on Saturdays and were tasked with a variety of assignments. We both put in over 200 hours there. While these volunteer opportunities didn’t necessarily lead to other employment after high school, those jobs gave me opportunities to meet new people and learn about workplace skills.

I was fortunate to find summer jobs in my home community through the Program for Economically Disadvantaged Youth,

and also worked with the Youth Employment Training Program as a receptionist/typist. These opportunities provided a feeling of accomplishment, allowing me to keep pace with other teenagers.

While attending college at Ball State University (BSU), I took advantage of volunteer opportunities both on campus and throughout the community. Some were for college credit and others for the purpose of giving back. I have continued to volunteer throughout my working life as well, holding leadership roles in various organizations. Volunteering may not give you the job of your dreams, however, it provides a means of networking with other people, learning skills related to employment, and adds experiential credit to be included on a resume.

Vocational Rehabilitation agencies help people with disabilities,  who are eligible,  find and retain employment.  (To find out if you are eligible, contact the vocational Rehabilitation agency for your area.)  

Below are some additional suggestions that I, as a former Vocational Rehabilitation Services consumer and counselor would offer:

  1. Take An active Role. When attending a meeting with your Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC), to discuss your 504 and/or Individualized education Plan (IEP) be forthcoming and specific in defining your goals so that you can establish a rapport with your counsello
  2. Avail yourself of experiential learning and other opportunities that will assist you in ascertaining your future goals.
  3. Consider becoming involved in a blindness or disability-related consumer organization such as the American council for the blind (ACB), National Federation of the blind (NFB), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) or the Autism Society of Indiana to name just a few. These groups have mentors, special-interest affiliates for high school and college students and conventions where you can learn a mind-blowing amount of information. There is a plethora of exhibitors who display Adaptive Technology and other items along with many resources.
  4. Get involved with your Disabled Student Services (DSS) support office if you plan to attend college in order to familiarize yourself with services offered on your campus as well as obtaining the necessary accommodations. The accommodations you were offered in high school will not carry over to higher education without determining your specific needs. This is another way in which your VRC can assist you. As one of my former supervisors used to say: “You are the one driving the bus” once you are out of high school. In other words, you have to assert yourself and ask for what you need.
  5. Be honest with your VRC about your doubts and fears; see what accommodations the VRC would recommend and/or take another person with you who has been involved in the VR process to better assist in articulating your needs, hopes and dreams. Please know that VR will do all they can to assist you with necessary training, obtaining and retaining employment; however, you have to participate fully in the process and meet with your VRC as often as needed and required. Remember that your goal(s) may change, or VR may not be able to support your original goal. But keep communicating with your VRC in order for you to understand the reason that your goal may not be supported.
  6. Lastly, if a job coach/employment specialist  is needed to assist you in determining your vocational goal, assist you in finding places where you and your coach can evaluate your skills and interests and/or assist you in learning tasks for the job you want, work closely with your job coach just as you would your VRC. Don’t assume that your job coach knows your needs. You are the expert on you. If the job coach is not a good fit for you, talk with your VRC to see if another company and/or coach would be a better fit.

 

The object is to find a job that you will enjoy and want to keep.

Whether you want to work for the purpose of socialization, just to have a little bit of money in your pocket, for a long-term career, or to make a living wage, involvement in your plan is the key.

Remember, your VRC won’t know what you need unless you participate fully and communicate as needed and required. I wish you much success in your training and/or future employment.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dena Polston

I am Dena Polston who is a 2012 graduate in the Adult & Community Education Master’s program from Ball State University. I worked as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for 6.5 years both in the Muncie and Marion regions.

I am from a small town here in Indiana which is Shirley. But I went to the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually-impaired in Indianapolis where I graduated from high school in 1981.

I enjoy singing, loving my pet Golden Retriever, collecting recipes and reading books. I also enjoy volunteering in my community and sharing resources that may assist people in their daily lives.

This is a picture of Dena Polston and her former service dog Vern. Dena is a white woman with short brown hair, wearing a pastel floral blouse. She smiles broadly as she hugs Vern. Vern is a black lab, wearing a red harness. Their faces are pressed against each other's.

 This is a picture of Dena Polston and her former service dog Vern. Dena is a white woman with short brown hair, wearing a pastel floral blouse. She smiles broadly as she hugs Vern. Vern is a black lab, wearing a red harness. Their faces are pressed against each other’s.

The Importance of Having People with Disabilities at the Decision-Making Table

By Dee Ann Hart

 

 

What is the importance of having people with disabilities at the decision-making table? 

 

Disability inclusion allows for people with disabilities to take advantage of the benefits of the same activities experienced by people who do not have a disability. Inclusion should lead to increased participation in socially expected life roles and activities – such as being a student, worker, friend, community member, patient, spouse, partner, or parent. The importance of disability representation in leadership fosters a more inclusive and belonging culture. 

 

Disability inclusion means understanding the relationship between the way people function and how they participate in society, and making sure everybody has the same opportunities to participate in every aspect of life to the best of their abilities and desires. 

 

Decision making is an essentially social process adopted by individuals or groups to identify and choose the best choice among several alternatives. Decision-making choices are influenced by the preferences, values, and beliefs of the individuals or groups involved in the decision-making process. 

 

Social inclusion is the state of having the resources and opportunities to participate in social, economic, and cultural life, and to enjoy the standard life considered normal in the society in which we live. 

 

Making decisions is vital to a person’s sovereignty and their spirit of personhood. It is a key component for enabling individuals to exercise their authority, have control over their lives, and interact with others in society.

 

The rights-based model focuses on the equal participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of their lives, becoming productive members of society. 

 

The service delivery approach was changed to a rights-based approach in the late 1990’s to enable people with disabilities to exercise their civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights on an equal basis with others. The rights-based approach aims to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people with disabilities within the national legal framework. This framework tries to overcome exclusion and inequity at institutional, attitudinal, physical, legal, and communication levels. 

 

Participation in decision making is an essential factor in measuring the social inclusion of individuals and groups, especially concerning people with disabilities. Each person with a disability can make decisions for themselves’ or participate in family- and community-level decisions. Participating in decision making at these three levels creates a sense of ownership among people with disabilities concerning familial, communal and societal activities. The personal decisions enables people with disabilities to improve fundamental aspects of their lives such as with respect to food, clothes and other basic needs. At the second level, the decisions help people with disabilities make choices regarding their health and education. Therefore, it is mandatory to involve people with disabilities in all decision-making processes that impact them. 

 

Participation in decision making is a fundamental human right for all, including people with disabilities. Active participation in decision making at the personal, familial, and communal levels gives hope to people with disabilities that they can be productive members of society, and can consider themselves as a valued part of society, compelling their social inclusion in mainstream society. 

 

In addition, it is important to ensure participation of people with disabilities in decision-making processes in family, community, school and other relevant institutions in order to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are properly integrated at all these levels, and that their needs are satisfactorily provided for at each institutional level.

 

“Nothing about us without us” is a slogan used to communicate the idea that no policy should be decided by any representative without the full and direct participation of members of the group affected by that policy. The motto ”nothing about us without us” relies on this principle of participation, and it has been used by organizations of people with disabilities throughout the years as part of the global movement to achieve the full participation and equalization of opportunities for, by and with persons with disabilities. The concept of “nothing about us without us” signifies the belief that disability rights should not be created without including the voices of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations. The observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons will focus on the active involvement of persons with disabilities in the planning of strategies and policies that affect their lives. This is the importance of having people with disabilities at the decision-making table! 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Dee Ann Hart

 

 

Dee Ann is 59 years old. Born with severe low vision/visual impairment, 20/200 or worse. Thanks to developments in low vision rehabilitation Dee Ann has enhanced her visual function and improved her quality of life. Dee Ann has experienced the personal impact of irreversible severe vision impairment, delayed motor, language, emotional, social and cognitive development, with lifelong consequences. Dee Ann’s severe vision impairment has also impacted educational achievement, employment and mental health. 

 

Dee Ann has found advocacy and leadership to be among her true inner callings – an internal feeling that drives the passion for her purpose in life. 

Dee Ann Hart, a white/caucasian female, short (collar length) brown hair, blue eyes, outdoors on a sunny day in late Fall 2022. The sun highlights her hair and reflects off her skin. 

Dee Ann Hart, a white/caucasian female, short (collar length) brown hair, blue eyes, outdoors on a sunny day in late Fall 2022. The sun highlights her hair and reflects off her skin. 

 

Ableism in Public Health Discourse: What is the Effect?

By: Gwen Strickland, MPH

I went to a conference recently and witnessed a very ableist presentation about lead poisoning in children. The researchers were well-meaning. They looked at how lead poisoning altered the development of the human brain and body. The researchers found that children exposed to higher concentrations of lead had higher rates of ADHD and developmental delays as they got older.  Over the course of the rest of this presentation, the public health professional was less well-meaning. The main presenter, who had a master’s degree in public health, took a very specific angle in how she approached the prevention of lead poisoning in children. She consistently used scare tactics throughout that were reminiscent of Autism Speaks advertisements. She highlighted the behavior issues in children who had been exposed to lead and talked about how greatly this disrupted families. She started her presentation/slides with a story about a boy in South Bend who “suddenly, one day” stopped developing and it took another year after that to determine he had lead poisoning. His developmental delays, she said, lead to their family falling apart and losing their house. That this “was the reality” for children and families affected by lead. She seemed confident that lead was “causing” ADHD and autism in her healthy community. If you replaced any of the times she said “lead” with “vaccines,” she would have been called an anti-vaxxer. This speech was not, in the end, about lead. It was about finding something else to target to eradicate “problem children.” It was “I did not sign up for a child with disabilities” and lead was the scapegoat.

Later it was confirmed the effect that this had had. Someone asked what to do if they had a child with ADHD or autism and if it was lead that caused it. The researchers said “there is no way to determine that” but the other lady was clear that lead could be behind it and to test their child immediately. She was not a scientist and not able to give that sort of correlation/causation statement. Everyone in the audience left with the message that lead could cause ADHD and autism and that we could erase “problem behaviors” from those by addressing lead poisoning. I heard so many people in the hallway talking about how they just had to share with everyone they knew about this threat. I felt so stigmatized and like this was just going to increase the erasure and masking of people like me.

I only recently discovered I am autistic and in the past few years have been diagnosed with/put on medication for ADHD. I have been so high masking (hiding and over-compensating for my autistic/ADHD behaviors) my entire life and have had the privilege of being able to maintain that up until this point, but that comes at a cost. I have only just been able to start unpacking how much damage and trauma have occurred as a result of masking for this long and not recognizing what my needs are. Not even knowing that I had different needs, because as far as I knew I was allistic (not having an autistic neurotype) and the reasons that I wasn’t completely fitting into that box were a myriad of character flaws. What caused this? People like this speaker, who punish or medicalize needs like these as “problem behaviors” instead of having compassion and realizing that not all “abnormal” behavior is inherently a problem requiring a fix.

I think researchers and health advocates get the wrong idea. They think we need to be “saved” from our disability, that preventing other people from experiencing disability is the highest priority. The reality is that I don’t need to be “saved” from my autism or ADHD. I need society and our structures to accept me the way I am and meet me where I am rather than creating arbitrary rules that keep me from being able to participate fully. The reason, in large part, that my autistic/ADHD experience is that of disability is that society is not built for the way my brain works. It is also inherently traumatic to live in a world that is not built for you. And it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to make those adjustments and be cognizant that other people may have different neurotypes than you. Everyone loses when we squash the neurodiversity our species is capable of.

Though I struggle a lot with my mental disabilities even outside the constraints of a society not built for me, when I am able to be as fully my authentic self as I can, I am capable of amazing things that my allistic and neurotypical peers are not. Contrary to the pervasive narrative that autistic individuals have no empathy, most autistic people I have come across have an over-abundance of empathy and an innate sense of justice. We are often creative, have great attention to detail, and think about problems outside of the box. Autistic brains tend to do what is called “bottom-up processing.” This means that when we approach a problem or question, we collect as many details and smaller pieces of information about the problem as we can to then form broader conclusions about the problem. Allistics tend to do what is called “top-down processing,” which is the opposite. They approach a problem by finding generalities about the problem, typically based in what they already know, and then move into the details. It is valuable to have both approaches, as they can come out with differing perspectives to be considered for the problem or question.

I will end this narrative by emphasizing that if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic experience. We exist on a spectrum (which looks more like a radar chart, not a line from “more autistic” to “less autistic”) for a reason. We all have our own unique support needs, strengths, and struggles. But we are valuable to the human species just like everyone else and should not be erased or suppressed. If there were a magic button right in front of me that could “cure” my autism or ADHD, I would walk away. (Not everyone with my disabilities may feel this way. I have lower support needs than some and can be relatively high masking when needed, which gives me privilege.) I know my worth and I’m going to keep fighting for it, regardless of what people like this public health professional have to say about it.

Bio

Gwen haas white skin and long brown hair. They are wearing glasses aaand a dark top.

Gwen (she/they) is the Violence Prevention Program Evaluator for the Indiana Department of Health. They did their undergraduate degree in public health and bioinformatics at Miami University in Ohio and Master of Public Health in epidemiology at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). They are AuDHD (autistic and ADHD) and proudly part of the LGBTQ+ community. Outside of public health work, Gwen likes to engage with her special interests and spend time with her spouse and dog. Together with their spouse, they go to comic conventions and play Dungeons and Dragons. They also occasionally volunteer for a dog rescue.

In Honor of Disability Pride Month

July is Disability Pride month, and IDJ was honored to do a podcast in honor of it, thanks to OAESV- the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence!

This podcast includes subjects such as ableism, sexual violence prevention, isolation, and disability pride.

Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams and Jody Michele share their knowledge and perspectives. Cierra is the co-founder of IDJ and has non-apparent disbilities. Jody Michele is the website and communication coordinator for IDJ and has both non-apparent and apparent disabilities.

IDJ would love to invite you to join the conversation by emailing us after you listen to the podcast. Tell us what you think about the conversation, or tell us how you define disability pride.

To find the podcast and its transcript, go to http://www.oaesv.org/tealtalk. We are Episode 4. You can email us at indisabilityjustice@gmail.com.

So excited to engage with you!

A woman wearing a form fitting, bold, colorful outfit, which includes her shoes, is sitting in a wheelchair that is equally bold and coloful.