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A few months ago, I attended a workshop on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and employment. This workshop was directed toward employers and covered employer responsibilities under the ADA.
I attended as an observer and I was surrounded by about 20 employers and human resource professionals. Out of everything said in this workshop, I remember first and foremost the two employers who were angry and bitter about employing people with disabilities.
Those two employers weren't always so bitter. However, both of them had recently experienced difficult situations with employees with disabilities. They each described those situations in detail. In both of their cases, their employees with disabilities had a sense of entitlement.
Unfortunately, there are people with disabilities who don't know what the ADA actually says. There are some people with disabilities who think they are entitled to special treatment. They think they should be given preferential treatment. They think they shouldn't have to be responsible for the same things as other employees.
That's not what the ADA says. The ADA does not require affirmative action. The ADA states that qualified employees with disabilities who are able to perform the essential functions of their job, with or without accommodation, are protected from discrimination. Nowhere does the ADA require preferential treatment. Nowhere does the ADA say that employees with disabilities are excused from performing the essential functions of their job.
So there I am, sitting in my wheelchair at this workshop, listening to these two employers complain with anger and bitterness about their two employees who expected preferential treatment. Then I realized that these two employers would probably never hire me, because they will see my wheelchair and assume that I also have a sense of entitlement and that I would be as difficult to work with as their previous employees.
That makes me angry. I will be judged by the poor attitudes of others.
Why do some people with disabilities expect preferential treatment and have a sense of entitlement? In continuing with the discussion I started in my previous column, I would suggest it is the paternalistic attitudes of our systems and social structures toward people with disabilities.
Our disability service organizations, charities, medical establishments, and educational systems are set up so that people with disabilities are continually told that we are “special", we can't take care of ourselves, we need to be guided, we can't have meaningful and productive careers, and our only hope is social security benefits.
We are told that we can't. We start to believe it. So when we do show up at jobs, we think we can't. We think we have to have special treatment to manage. We think we can't take care of ourselves and we need you to take care of us.
We think we are entitled to special treatment.
I would point out, however, that although two of those employers had negative experiences with employees with disabilities who had a sense of entitlement, there were about 18 employers who had positive experiences with employees with disabilities.
Somehow we always hear about the two negative experiences. We never hear about the 18 positive experiences. It is the two negative experiences that set the tone and the mood for everything.
Let's get rid of the two negative experiences. Let's get rid of the sense of entitlement. We do so by getting rid of paternalistic systems. We do so by knowing that people with disabilities can take care of themselves, can contribute in a meaningful and productive fashion, and can do so without preferential treatment. It's about equal treatment, not preferential treatment.
I attended as an observer and I was surrounded by about 20 employers and human resource professionals. Out of everything said in this workshop, I remember first and foremost the two employers who were angry and bitter about employing people with disabilities.
Those two employers weren't always so bitter. However, both of them had recently experienced difficult situations with employees with disabilities. They each described those situations in detail. In both of their cases, their employees with disabilities had a sense of entitlement.
Unfortunately, there are people with disabilities who don't know what the ADA actually says. There are some people with disabilities who think they are entitled to special treatment. They think they should be given preferential treatment. They think they shouldn't have to be responsible for the same things as other employees.
That's not what the ADA says. The ADA does not require affirmative action. The ADA states that qualified employees with disabilities who are able to perform the essential functions of their job, with or without accommodation, are protected from discrimination. Nowhere does the ADA require preferential treatment. Nowhere does the ADA say that employees with disabilities are excused from performing the essential functions of their job.
So there I am, sitting in my wheelchair at this workshop, listening to these two employers complain with anger and bitterness about their two employees who expected preferential treatment. Then I realized that these two employers would probably never hire me, because they will see my wheelchair and assume that I also have a sense of entitlement and that I would be as difficult to work with as their previous employees.
That makes me angry. I will be judged by the poor attitudes of others.
Why do some people with disabilities expect preferential treatment and have a sense of entitlement? In continuing with the discussion I started in my previous column, I would suggest it is the paternalistic attitudes of our systems and social structures toward people with disabilities.
Our disability service organizations, charities, medical establishments, and educational systems are set up so that people with disabilities are continually told that we are “special", we can't take care of ourselves, we need to be guided, we can't have meaningful and productive careers, and our only hope is social security benefits.
We are told that we can't. We start to believe it. So when we do show up at jobs, we think we can't. We think we have to have special treatment to manage. We think we can't take care of ourselves and we need you to take care of us.
We think we are entitled to special treatment.
I would point out, however, that although two of those employers had negative experiences with employees with disabilities who had a sense of entitlement, there were about 18 employers who had positive experiences with employees with disabilities.
Somehow we always hear about the two negative experiences. We never hear about the 18 positive experiences. It is the two negative experiences that set the tone and the mood for everything.
Let's get rid of the two negative experiences. Let's get rid of the sense of entitlement. We do so by getting rid of paternalistic systems. We do so by knowing that people with disabilities can take care of themselves, can contribute in a meaningful and productive fashion, and can do so without preferential treatment. It's about equal treatment, not preferential treatment.
