From the New York Times:

Employment agencies in 30 states have launched a national ad campaign that uses a light-hearted approach to encourage businesses to employ workers with disabilities.

The ads try to challenge misconceptions about workers with disabilities by offering humorous examples of “differences” among people who are already employed. Among them: a young man doing a victory dance who is labeled “rhythm impaired.” The accompanying ad copy reads: “Just because someone moves a little differently doesn’t mean they can’t help move your business forward.”

A related website, thinkbeyondthelabel.com, offers information debunking myths about hiring people with disabilities. The ads are paid rather than pro bono, and the agencies say they plan to raise a $10 million budget for the year. “We knew it needed to be disruptive,” said an organizer, “but we wanted it to be tasteful.”

(Photo from the New York Times)

Writing in the New York Times, Saki Knafo chronicles the life of George Kramer, who has worked at Kramer’s Hardware in Flatbush, Brooklyn, for 58 years.

Kramer has a developmental disability as well as a singular gift: he keeps all the arcane details of the store’s inventory in his head.

Three decades ago, when store owner Isaac Abraham bought the place from Kramer’s father, he promised he would keep Kramer employed until he was ready to retire. But now Abraham is turning the store over to a new owner and it’s not clear what will happen to Kramer, whose life revolves around the store’s routine.

(Photo from the New York Times)

From AP/ABC News, EEOC press release, EEOC data:

New federal statistics show the the number of workers claiming job discrimination based on disability rose to a new record in fiscal 2009. Statistics released by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission showed that charges of disability discrimination rose by ten percent to 21,451 claims, the largest increase in any category.

Complaints claiming discrimination based on religion or national origins also surged to record highs last year. “Equal employment opportunity remains elusive for far too many workers and the Commission will continue to fight for their right,” said the commission’s acting chairman, Stuart Ishimaru. “Employers must step up their efforts to foster discrimination-free and inclusive workplaces, or risk enforcement and litigation by the EEOC.”

The increase in disability bias claims coincided with the economic downturn and changes in the Americans with Disabilities Act that significantly broaden protections for people with disabilities.

Overall, the EEOC received more than 93,000 employment discrimination claims in fiscal 2009.

By Clark Kauffman in the Des Moines Register:

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has released federal statistics showing that the U.S. government fined only three of 797 employers that violated federal labor laws by underpaying workers with disabilities over a recent five-year period.

Critics say the new statistics confirm what they have long alleged: Companies typically have nothing to lose by violating wage-and-hour laws intended to protect disabled workers.

Other recent and related stories by Kauffman:

• Cuts, changes bring mixed impact on the vulnerable
• Across U.S., Social Security will launch investigation designed to spot Atalissa-like abuses

From the Chicago Tribune:

A convicted felon has been charged with the murder of a dementia patient at an Illinois nursing home, exposing the dangerous mix of violent and vulnerable residents at residential facilities in that state.

Ardyce Nauden, 62, has been charged with homicide in the beating death of 72-year-old Andres Cardona, who wandered into Nauden’s room and began eating his lunch. Nauden, who has a history of felony drug convictions and aggressive behavior, was described as “psychotic.”

Illinois is an outlier among states in its reliance on nursing homes to house adults with mental illness, including thousands of felons such as Nauden whose disabilities qualify them for Medicaid-funded nursing care.

A recent Tribune investigation documented numerous cases when elderly and disabled people such as Cardona were assaulted and even murdered by fellow nursing-home residents. The governor and state legislature have held hearings in response and are considering a series of reforms aimed at making the facilities safer and overhauling how Illinois houses and treats the mentally ill.

See also:

Convicted felons are regulars at sheltered workshop for the disabled – Salt Lake Tribune

Sheltered workshops in Utah serve the dual role of providing second chances for felons and jobs for people with developmental disabilities. Most states avoid mixing the two populations, but Utah officials said they have had no reports of clients being harmed.

A supervisor at a sheltered workshop said the ex-offenders are needed to keep such programs afloat because they bring the skills needed to attract manufacturing contracts.

From MSNBC:

Some revolutionary companies around the globe are leading a new movement to transform the unique attributes of high-functioning autism into sought-after job skills.

Companies like Specialisterne in Denmark and the non-profit Aspiritech in Chicago train people with autism to be software testers, data entry personnel and assembly workers. Such positions, which might be boring and monotonous for many, can capitalize on the detail orientation and repetitive nature that are often displayed by people with autism.

“My career would not have existed at all without the autism,” says Ron Brix (above), a longtime computer systems developer for Wrigley.

Robert Austin, a professor at Copenhagen Business School, wrote about Specialisterne for the Harvard Business School and says, “there’s no reason this couldn’t work in the United States.” He says that redefining conditions like autism as differences, rather than disabilities, is important for a developed economy.

… Austin says we need to recognize special abilities in people, realize that these may come with challenges to working in a traditional workplace, and find a way to minimize disabilities and take advantage of differences.

(MSNBC photo)

Project SEARCH offers hope amid massive unemployment

From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

Project SEARCH, a national job training program for young adults with developmental disabilities, is helping a dozen young adults polish their skills at Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The goal is to help the recent high school grads get long-term entry level jobs. It’s a daunting task at a time when the U.S. Census Bureau reports that more than 60 percent of people with intellectual and physical disabilities are out of work.

“There is a growing recognition, though, that individuals with disabilities have as much right to competitive jobs as anyone else, they just need the training,” said Julie Christiansen, the program’s coordinator in Rochester. She said the hospital hopes the program will help its workforce reflect the same diversity as is seen among hospital patients.