Companies can help workers with disabilities find their niche

There are plenty of things an employer can do to help a worker with a disability find success on the job and, in turn, make the business more productive.

Help is plentiful from sources such as the Bobby Dodd Institute (BDI), which provides training for disabled workers and helps put them to work. BDI helps employers by matching workers with the right job. The organization also provides job coaching and other services.

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Bobby Dodd Institute

Wayne McMillan, president and CEO of the Bobby Dodd Institute, says the key to integrating people with disabilities into the workplace is to match the right worker with the right job.

Here are some of the most common developmental, physical, mental and acquired disabilities.

• Alzheimer's disease
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Asperger's syndrome
• Attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Bipolar disorder
• Blindness
• Cerebral palsy
• Deafness
• Depression
• Developmental disability
• Down syndrome
• Epilepsy
• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
• Hard of hearing
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS)
• Learning disability
• Mental illness
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Muscular dystrophy (MD)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Spina bifida
• Spinal-cord injury (SCI)
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Source: Interfaith Disability Network

“We’re like a placement service but [we] don’t charge a fee to a company,” said BDI president and CEO Wayne McMillan.

During the last fiscal year, BDI placed 171 people with disabilities into jobs, including work with outside employers and BDI contract work such as data entry and mailroom staffing.

Employers also can look to the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) arm of the Georgia Department of Labor. It provides such services as placement, disability awareness among other employees, and help making and perhaps paying for accommodations in the workplace.

McMillan said the myth of expensive accommodations is a big misconception about employing workers with disabilities. Most accommodations cost employers less $100, according to the Labor Department. McMillan also noted that employees without disabilities often require accommodations, such as flexible schedules or special training.

Another misconception employers have is that hiring workers with disabilities causes high insurance rates, said Bobby Pack, a deputy commissioner with the Labor Department.

Educating the public and employers about bringing these workers into offices and work sites will be part of a special focus in October, which is designated by Congress as National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

One thing many people aren’t aware of is the variety of forms a disability can take, some of which may be hidden. You’d notice, for example, if the person at the next desk uses a wheelchair, but other disabilities, such as hearing impairment, are harder to notice.

Disabilities can be physical or mental and take shapes such as spinal-cord injuries, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, blindness, depression or learning problems. BDI has a glossary of 25 common disabilities, which can be found at Interfaith Disability Connection.

One key to integrating workers with disabilities into the workplace is matching workers with the right jobs.

“Everyone has strengths whether they have a disability or not, and if you can match those strengths with the right job, you’re going to be successful,” McMillan said.

Also important is interaction among employees, including those with disabilities. This frequent contact can go a long way toward dispelling the myth that disabled workers aren’t as capable on the job.

One BDI survey found that 82 percent of metro Atlanta employees with disabled co-workers thought their job performance matched that of their peers.

“If you spend time with anybody with a disability, you find they have the same wants, needs and interests as you do, and they become real and not just a label,” McMillan said.

He has found that some employers have been inspired to hire workers with disabilities after people who worked there volunteered at BDI.

Employing workers with disabilities goes further than tapping into an often underutilized resource for skills and knowledge. Putting these workers into the labor force also brings more dollars to Georgia’s economy.

Labor Department estimates show that putting to work 1 percent of the disabled population at the average VR salary means that $40 million in wages could flow back into the state’s economy during a year.

During each of the last five fiscal years, about 4,000 Georgia workers with disabilities were successfully rehabilitated and put to work through the VR program.