According to the Department of Labor of the United States, the unemployment rate among disabled adults was twice as high as compared to their non-disabled counterparts in 2021. Despite the rising awareness regarding the rights of the disabled, many continue to face challenges such as discrimination and a lack of elaborate job training that would equip them with the right devices to reach their potential within the job market.
Barriers that Discourage People With Disabilities to Attend Job Training
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that more than 61 million people in the United States suffer from some form of disability. The stat implies that many have to deal with multiple barriers to attaining full employment within the job market in the United States. These barriers need to be recognized thoroughly. Only that way would organizations be able to assist disabled individuals in overcoming challenges to full employment.
- Attitudinal barriers: Perhaps one of the most common barriers is attitudinal. It is when non-disabled individuals stereotype, stigmatize and discriminate against those with some form of disability. This barrier often is a byproduct of a lack of awareness.
- Communication Barriers: Communication barriers tend to affect those individuals whose disabilities are associated with hearing, speaking, reading, writing, and or understanding. Examples include a lack of Braille, small fonts, long-running sentences, and oral communication accompanied without sign language.
- Physical barriers: People who have disabilities that relate to lack of mobility often suffer from physical barriers the most. Such barriers restrict the individual’s mobility even further by not offering them the space to move around.
- Policy Barriers: These barriers relate to the existing laws that discriminate against individuals with disabilities, such as denying them the right to become a functional part of society with their potential and capabilities.
- Social Barriers: Social barriers are associated with the environmental determinants and external factors that impact an individual with disabilities. For instance, according to the CDC, children with disabilities suffer from violence almost four times more than children without disabilities.
On the brighter side, because of the power of social media, the new generation has remarkably shown improvement in understanding the concept of disabilities. Increased comprehension of social responsibility helps in recognizing and addressing the challenges faced by the disabled community.
Establishing Policies for People with Disabilities
The concept of employment rights is not a novel idea. Before the 1950s, disability was a personal issue; therefore, there was no support for individuals with disabilities. The fight for equal treatment and challenging stereotypes began when the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibited discrimination based on disability. Since then, many organizations have developed and taken the initiative to spread awareness and provide training so that people with disabilities also can become active members of society.
Nonprofit Job Training Programs
Many nonprofit organizations such as Amplify, Goodwill, and Easter Seals, specialize in assisting disabled individuals with job training. Such organizations provide a keen understanding of the barriers disabled individuals face in their everyday lives and ensure that they can aid them in overcoming these barriers through extensive training curated to meet their needs. These organizations also offer assistive technology and accessible transportation support so that the individual is thoroughly equipped for full-time employment.
Some job training programs provided by the nonprofit industry carefully analyze agency workforce data. Using the data, they identify barriers in the numerous facets of employment. After that, they compile, develop, and disseminate information that provides insights to employers regarding the problems of accessibility and accommodation of individuals with disabilities so that it is easier and quicker for them to adjust to their workplace.
Building an Equal Opportunity Framework
However, providing job training to disabled individuals and spreading awareness about their challenges is not enough. The policymakers understand that to fully break the barriers that prevent disabled individuals from exhibiting their true capabilities is to offer equal employment opportunities. One of such measures that employers can take is to develop a quota system to ensure that abled individual do not have superiority over disabled individuals.
Conclusion
Organizations must continue to work toward offering training and resources. Each of us can become a part of helping disabled individuals by spreading awareness and taking measures within workspaces so that disabled individuals can overcome the challenges they have to face within the job market.
Amplify would like to partner with you if you value job training services for disabled individuals in Texas and nearby areas.