A deaf waiter clears plates from customers at a cafe in Nairobi. Proof that not all inclusion is ... [+]
In the U.S. there is a reluctance to embrace inclusion in the workplace—but a new global generation isn't having it. Meet the change-makers from across the country who are leading the way:
As part of his role as a marketer, Bryan Stromer has gotten to travel internationally and regularly attends conferences. He describes Cerebral Palsy as a part of his identity. “When people see me coming down the hall, they can immediately see that I walk differently.” says Stromer. He uses humor as a way to help break down the stigma that having a visible disability can sometimes create. If someone is struggling to describe him, he says, I tell them it’s totally fine to use the word disability. Really, just say the word disability,” he says. “If someone has already written me off because of the way I walk, it gives me the opportunity to prove them wrong and exceed their expectations, while also hopefully redefining how they think about disability.”
I’m not telling his story because I think he is inspirational. I’m telling it because he is part of a generation of people with disabilities, growing up in the decades after the Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. These young people, many just entering the workforce, have grown up with enormous pride and an expectation that they will have equal opportunities in the workplace for success. (They’ve also faced stigma and discrimination, it’s not an ideal world yet by any measure.) Bryan’s visibility and success are vital to making sure that the next generation of employees—and maybe those already working—aren’t wasting time and mental energy on battling stigma. As a woman with a disability, I wonder: Why would we waste our time worrying about how other people feel about disability? Disability is our story to tell—no one else's. We don’t live with autism or with ADHD or MS or CP—it is part of who we are, and often there is no hiding a physical or non-apparent disability. Stromer, along with other Millennials and some Gen Xers, grew up learning to advocate with the help of parents, teachers, coaches and friends. The adults in their lives were ardent supporters of equal access and opportunity.
Creating A Movement
This is not a traditional change-starts-at-the-top situation. That would be impossible, according to research. Only 7% of business leaders identify as disabled. Research also shows that only 3.7% of C-suite leaders with a disability feel comfortable admitting their disability to colleagues. The ones who are open about their disability? They are not yet in the workforce in large enough numbers to be a powerful group. Employment estimates vary but either way you crunch the numbers, only 9 to 13 % of people who have a disability have a job. To recap: The C-suite is staying mum. Most managers aren’t making any bold moves—yet. A lack of trust and a fear of being stigmatized or bullied is pervasive. As for new talent, the pipeline is clogged. We’re just not getting in to the workforce in large enough numbers—yet. But we are doing a lot outside of the traditional 9 to 5 to change the status quo and to be fair, so are many businesses. Next Generation and mentoring programs are ground zero for inclusion and they work spectacularly well. That may be because they work collaboratively to help connect the right candidates to the right jobs.
Speaking Truth With Pride
Unfortunately, many stories of success are often written up as inspirational pieces that still use the hackneyed against-all-odds trope. Tragic is not in this generation’s vocabulary. We are focused on ability. Still, sometimes it may feel like we are also dragging the rest of America kicking and screaming by their feet to meet us in the middle. Take Imani Barbarin (aka @crutches&spice on Twitter) as an example. She wrote this Tweet on the anniversary of the ADA, “It’s difficult to celebrate the ADA fully knowing how many organizations ignore, erase or demonize experiences of disabled BIPOC. Her compromise: “So today, rather than simply celebrate it, let’s make an effort to show #ADAinCOLOR. Drop a pic to show we exist.”
The message for the corporate world: Listen to people with lived experience. Collaborate with us. See our talent. From fashion and film to tech and technical outdoor gear, this demographic is 1 billion strong and not shy about what they want. Barbarin hit a nerve when she wrote #whenIcallmyselfdisabled, your opinion does not count. The hashtag has gone viral. More people outside of the disability community are hearing her truth.
In a DiverseAbility magazine piece titled, My Disability Isn’t A Tragedy writer Annika Ariel describes an experience she had at Amherst as a student. She went to pick up her laundry, left the room and heard this: Is she blind? If I were blind, I would kill myself. Welcome to adulting with a disability. People will say the strangest most unkind things right to your face and not even know they are doing it. The difference? Disability change-makers are clapping back.
Emily Ladau is a writer, filmmaker, speaker and editor-in-chief of @rootedinrights. Her Twitter bio reads: I live life on wheels and write about it. I am #DisabledOutLoud. After Ladau moderated a panel on etiquette recently at the 2019 Disability:IN conference in Chicago, I was curious to see what she took away from it (the attendees raved about the session as incredibly helpful). “I realized that people are in very different places on their journey to be inclusive in the workforce. I saw people who were at the beginning and those with more experience. I try to meet them where they are and do it a positive way.” (There were 2000 people from 16 countries at Disability:IN, a sign that corporate America—from Microsoft, Google and Facebook to Bank of America, Prudential and McKesson—is getting the message.)
Ladau is also one of three people proposing a panel for 2019 SXSW in Austin. The proposed topic is Disability Swipes Right: How the Disabled Form Community in Online Spaces.
Finding Rebel Mentors
No one disability or experience is the same as another, so it makes sense that showing pride is less about posters and slogans as it is about telling your story and mentoring. KR Liu, a woman who has spent decades working her way up the Jacob’s ladder of tech, is ready for more celebration. "We need to publicly celebrate who we are. Represent yourself and your struggles and people will begin to understand you better, she said. "I hid my disability for a while, until I was faced with a moment at work when I could no longer do my job. I had a huge presentation to make and my hearing aid broke. I was panicked and after going to the audiologist, I did what I never thought I would. I told my boss about my hearing aid and how I often read lips. She welcomed my truthfulness. It has not become a stigma at all. My work is what matters and that is a point of pride."
These new faces are not holding their breath and waiting to see a change in legislation or policy that may be years down the road. We are creating workarounds—services and products that work for us. We are finding our potential customers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (while recruiters are scouring LinkedIn and Monster.com). See the disconnect?
We do things differently: An autistic teen recently made news for creating an app for his peers. At a recent trade show I saw bikes outfitted like ATV’s that can plow through the muddiest terrain and take you fishing. I often speak to people who are hacking Alexa to make it a personal assistant. “Disabled people are not waiting,” Ladau and her peers explain. “We are building ramps and connections to the world we want."
