People with disabilities finding work

Thanks for sharing

It is more like being unemployed in this economy.. I got laid off in september and in Feb was diagnosed with a neurological disorder... I couldnt find a job before, and now it seems to be getting harder.. I did a term paper on ADA last semester for my Employment Law class, so I do have some knowledge of what is legal and illegal, but I have just kept my mouth shut about anything re: my issues... Not easily recognized yet.. but I have lost some function in my hands and legs.. I am just looking at work that I can do comfortably, and with a slim job market, mine is even slimmer. not sure how it will all turn out.. I am optimistic though.

Thanks for posting a very informative article. Unemployment is bad for everyone indeed but for this that may have a disability it all the worse.

Thanks for posting this!

My husband is disabled and he went to school after his back and open heart surgeries to be a school teacher. He graduated in 1996. At age 46, To date he can only get substitute teaching jobs. He is still on social security and now 60. He learned discrimination is alive and well in the field of education and very hard to prove without money for an attorney. They want $2500 to $5000 for a case. Pro Bono don't care and Legal aide is even worse.

The chances of him ever getting a full time teaching contract are near zero. Subs get NO benefits, no retirement, low pay, no unemployment in the summer due to a 1954 federal law. They are expected to find summer employment. Which for a disabled older man is nigh impossible in an area that has two community colleges, five universities. Young college kids and high schoolers get the jobs for summer. Plus most jobs are beyond my husbands physical capabilities. Try living on $900 per month for 3.5 months and your mortgage is $620 a month. I have no medical and have fibromyalgia. I cannot get SS yet not for seven more years and then it will be half of $1100 per month. if we even have it then. We live from pay check to pay check. Not what we wanted to do. He thought he would get a good teaching contract. Three teachers who got jobs all younger in the area have turned out to be pedophiles they hired. Several moved on after two year contracts. The letters come back "Sorry we have hired someone more qualfied" How are they more qualified having just graduated and very young? They admit they discriminate and know you don't have the financial means to take them to court. They laugh and think it is a joke. They DO not hire the more qualified teachers. They hire those who will work the cheapest and they claim older women and especially men "Cannot relate to the students well" The truth is 90% of the kids my husband works with wishes he were their full time teacher. Why because he can get work out of them the others have not got all year. He cares, he takes time and he really teaches but they won't hire him with a contract he is too old and disabled. It is the only job doctors, physical therapists and counselors felt he could do with his disabilities. He has applied in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Montana and Alaska. Nada. Same thing. Oh yeah it is hard on those who are able bodied and twenty times harder on older disabled people and especially men.

Thank you for sharing this.

Instead of commenting on MPR, I'll comment here because I live in Ohio, not Minnesota.

My back became broken and twisted when I was two years-old; something I did not find out about until I was twenty years-old. I have always tried to pretend that it was not a problem; and for most of my years I would not disclose or admit to my condition as it made employers reject me over liability concerns. I only had to avoid back x-rays in order to gain and keep employment; and that became harder and harder over the years.

I am now fifty.

I very much appreciated hearing about Mr. Fullerton's work. I feel inspired to go and contact my state's unemployment counselors for help. I've been unemployed for some five years now.

I don't collect disability payment from any source, so Thank You for giving me some hope that I might be able to find an income.

Peace --

Thank you for sharing this with us

It's common for companies to try to hire the best qualified candidates for the lowest salaries. That is why AIG's "retention pay" bonus plan was so ludicrous. For every employed person, there are hundreds who would do the job for less money. That is the sad state of our current economy.

It's so much more difficult for those with disabilities to compete now. We're all at risk for losing jobs and there are so few jobs available. Our country's elderly are also suffering. Employment is not an option and Obama will be reducing social security and medicare benefits. It seems that our current administration is only working for able-bodied young people.

I have been 'unemployed' for a long time and so this downturn in the job market hasn't impacted me as much as most, to that I am thankful, now all my formerly employed friends take tipes from me on how to live well without that paycheque!

I'm 57 and haven't been gainfully employed for going on 2.5 years. Someone NAME a company that will hire a person my age, train them and pay them a liveable wage, with insurance and all the bennies. From my experience... just ain't going to happen. I'm much more intelligent than my typing here, implies. My IQ is "up there", so to speak, so trainability and mental functions are better than I imply with my style of writing. Just an FYI.

My body/back and legs are giving out on me more each year. I've lived on pain meds for so long, I can't even remember. I now take 5, 5mg tabs of Oxycodone, three times a day... going through withdrawals between each dose. I was on Oxycontin, but since losing my insurance, I've had to rely totally upon the VA for meds. They are now sending me collection notices. If I lose my meds from them, I become more than 100% disabled. I will be bedridden, in agonizing pain 24 x 7 and may finally give a serious look at the "final solution".

I've been fighting my so humble government for SSDI and am still awaiting a decision from Montana's worst Social Security Judge. He has more NO's to his credit, than yes's. A confirmed fact.

So, I am slowly trying to enclose my carport to make a little shop that I can carve out of, without making a filthy mess of my home's inside. I don't expect to make a lot of money by selling on ebay, but ANY income is better than none whatsoever, like I am now.

Getting a job is a tough thing anywhere. Being disabled makes finding a job much harder, regardless of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Employers can get around that so easily that it's no laughing matter. Plus... at my age, who is going to hire me and train me, when most employers want you young, strong and healthy folks, who will make a career with their company?

I've no clue as to how to get a job doing something that I know or will pay a living wage. Even when I was younger, it was tough to get a good job in Montana, where there are a hundred applications for almost every job.

IF I get disability, then it will make it much easier to accept a minimum wage job, providing my legs and body will allow me to function for the hours needed. Currently I do chores here at my HOA, to help pay my dues, but I am allowed to take as many sit down breaks as I need. Doing a simple job that used to take me maybe an hour, now takes me 3-5 hours, depending on the job and how many times I need to sit and recover, before going on.

Life sucks at this age and condition. For those of you who are not disabled, I strongly suggest you take good care of your back. Pinching nerves don't react to pain meds, unless you are completely knocked out. So far, when my nerves pinch ( and there's a huge difference between my "normal pain" and a pinching nerve. ) no pain med touches the pain. But I sure do get goofy by the time the ER has tried everything they've got, before giving up and sending me home.... still in extreme pain.

thanks for sharing. My husband recently became disabled and lost his job. they held onto it as long as was necesarry by law, then let him go. We don't have any insurance now, don't know how we are going to be able to pay his medical bills. there is no work and I can't find anything. It takes a long time to apply for disability and no guarantee he'll get it. we are literally living on prayers.

Yeah, all true. I was lucky. When I lost my job at 52, a major utility hired me. It was likely my last and only chance to pull in a job that would give me insurance and a pension. I sympathize with every one of you.

If employers aren't discriminating against people based on their disabilities, then the economic crisis and all of these layoffs we are having shouldn't affect disabled workers any more than it affects able bodied workers.

If two people can both perform all of the functions of a particular job, then not hiring one because he or she is disabled is illegal discrimination. Now, if an able-bodied person can do the job better, that's a different story.