A Disability Is Not a Disadvantage

It always comes down to what you do with what you have. People with disabilities have not always had the same opportunities as everyone else in society. This is because for a long time society didn’t even recognize its disability community. Just look at how people refer to someone with a disability. They often refer to someone with a disability as being “handicapped”. The term “handicap” refers to someone who stands on sreet corners with their cap in hand asking for money and was coined to refer to someone standing on street corners with their cap in hand asking for money in the early part of the 20th Century.

The truth is that people with disabilities, when given the opportunity, can compete on an equal playing field with everyone else. in 1977, The Iindividual Disability Education Act, (IDEA), became law and for the first time people with disabilities were guaranteed the right to an education up to the age of 21. Then in 1990, the Americans With Disabilities Act became law to make sure people with disabilities had equal opportunity when it comes to employment.

Society has been slow to embrace the disability community and guarantee them equal opportunity. That is evident when it comes to both the Olympics and Paralympics. Since 1960, a country that bid for the Olympics also bid for the Paralympics. But when Atlanta, GA’s olympic committee formed to bid for the Olympics, they refused to bid for Paralympics.

The disability community came together to fight to bring the Paralympics to Atlanta, GA. They were successful and then Samaranch, who at the time was president of the IOC, changed the by-laws to guarantee when a country bid for one they were automatically bidding for both.

This year, for the first time, when corporate sponsors promote the Olympics in the UK, they’re also promoting the Paralympics.

It doesn’t matter who you are, no one is perfect. Everyone has something something wrong with them even the most beautiful person. The real issue is that when someone looks at themselves they see their own flaws, but when they look at someone else they see perfection.

When it comes to employment and competition in the workplace, the evidence of someone’s insecurities are the most evident. For instance, everyone can compete in the new workplace if they just change their mindset of a job. To compete the workplace today, everyone needs to utilize technology. That means being able to use a computer to do business.

Today, we are truly a international economy. Through the Internet, we can connect with and do business with anyone in the world. This makes it a level playing field when it comes to income, especially for someone with a disability. Therefore, when someone has issues with using a computer and technology, they are being left behind when it comes to the ability to earn an income.

There are opportunities for employment, but not the old traditional ones the older generation is used to that’s the real reason for high unemployment. Until the government addresses these issues, or until the older generations leave the workforce for good, there will be no change in the employment problem.

People with disabilities find it easier to adapt to the new workplace because they find it easier to incorporate technology into their lifestyle.