I can take what life throws at me, but it would help if someone pitches me a ball first.” From a professional with a disability talking about the lack of employment opportunities and prospects who are willing to give her the opportunity to show her competencies
I wanted to get a new start in life and increase my employability, so I entered a co-op based graduate program to get that fresh start. Up until then, I had a history of short-term positions and long-term unemployment. I also wanted to get beyond only working in the disability non-pro
Teamwork was a big part of my masters degree program. Learners were expected to find a team that would accept them as members. As a result, people were included based upon similarities and excluded for differences. This may explain why the handful of people with disabilities that ente
An employer was simply bubbling over in enthusiasm by how many persons who used wheelchairs wanted to work in her call centre office. She told me that she felt it was something THEY ALL had a predilection and career desire for and she was going to start a hiring campaign to get more p
People can say and do the most insulting things to professionals with disabilities. The following is only a taste of what I have personally experienced. In an employment interview I was asked by a manager, “Will you die?” Once an employment equity officer told me over the
Most of my employment interviewers lately have told me that they were related to people or had friends who had disabilities when they found out earlier that I was disabled (or took a very good guess that I was by reading in between the lines of my application beforehand). They also to
People with disabilities are still portrayed in many fund raisers as stereotypes of polar extremes – the “super disabled person” or the “charity case”, as they are very emotive visuals and stories used to open people’s wallets. Yet, these very model
As a rehabilitation and employment counsellor for people with disabilities, I thought I understood how much pain and suffering my clients with disabilities had to face. That was until I lost my sight. I now understand firsthand how my world as a person with a disability more often tha
I was in a team project with other professionals who were all relatively new to each other. We had to decide who would be the team leader. One other person and I wanted to hold that position. Under the veil of concern and supposed understanding, the other team member vying for the pos