Person with Disabilities: Barriers from College to the Workforce
Janel Parker
University of Saint Joseph
Person with Disabilities: Barriers from College to the Workforce
People with disabilities are constantly overcoming obstacles only to encounter more. According to the United Nations, “the term ‘persons with disabilities’ is used to apply to all persons with disabilities including those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (United Nations, 2007). The prevalence of persons living with a disability nationwide is unknown, due to
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This paper will examine the barriers that people with physical disabilities face from college to the workforce, with a special focus on people who are vision impaired.
Defining Terms In the United States of America there are many terms and definitions used when referring to someone who has a documented vision impairment. The terms professionals use are blindness, legally blind, vision impaired, low vision or visual acuity. For the purpose of this research paper the terms that will be used are vision impairment or legally blind, which are interchangeable. Vision impairment will be defined using sec. 10-294a from Chapter 174 Education of The Blind (YEAR):
(a) A person is legally blind if such person’s central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses, or if such person’s visual acuity is greater than 20/200 but is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than twenty degrees; (b) A person has impaired vision if such person’s central visual acuity does not exceed 20/70 in the better eye with correcting lenses (CHAPTER 174 EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, 2011).
Literature Review In 1975, The Education for All Handicapped Children law was passed, which opened up the public doors for students with disabilities to attend public school, as well as be mainstreamed into the regular classrooms. In 1990, this law was changed to the
Although there are laws in place to protect the right of people with disabilities. Some corporations and businesses might be hesitant to hire disabled
The United States has many minority groups that face oppression. In the media today, most of the minority issues that are highlighted involve the LGBTQ community, women, and racial minorities. Differently-abled people are rarely given the space to share with the world how they see it. This literature review will discuss terms related to visual impairment, legislative measures taken in the United States to assist those with severe visual impairments, and the oppression and discrimination those who are visually impaired face.
Many people make an assumption they are not blind to life itself whether ignorance plays a part or pride. In Cathedral by Raymond Carver, it describes a few myths that society has portrayed and opinions of the visual impaired. The main focus is getting to know the person before drawing a conclusion. Its not fair to anyone to be neglected whether you are visual impaired or have the functionality of what is considered to be a normal human being.
People with disabilities have become an integral part of the workforce. The ADA forbids discrimination against people with disabilities when recruiting, hiring, training, and compensating employees (Sotoa & Kleiner, 2013). The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental and establishes requirements for telecommunications relay services (activities (Stryker, R. (2013). Employers are not allowed to ask employees if they have a disability. The employers are not allowed to ask employees with disabilities to undergo a medical exam before an offer of employment unless all applicants are required to take the same exam (Kaye, Jans, & Jones,
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of blind is “unable to see; sightless” (Definition of Blind in English, 2015). However, I do not like to be put in such a box. I define blindness as merely a heightening of other senses. What do you think of when you hear the word sight? More than likely you think of shapes, colors, and objects. My idea of sight consists of many senses; smell, touch, sounds, those are the things that I “see” with. How about the word blind; what do you think of then? The most common relation to the word blind is disabled; however, we are a very abled people. Even though I carry a cane among my person I get through my daily life just as any other able-bodied human being (Question 1).
When one thinks of being blind, they think of someone who literally can not see, but one can also be blind by lacking perception or awareness. People who have sight and yet are blind is clearly seen in the book, To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story based in the 1930’s when racial issues are heavily present. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and throughout history, people or groups of people have existed who can literally see the world around them, and yet are blind to the truth; but, as seen in the novel, some of these people’s eyes can be opened to the truth either by empathy or experiences.
Visual impairment is a state wherein an individual experiences difficulty in seeing or not being able to see anything physical presented to them. According to Mandal, MD (2013) It is a state where a visually impaired person’s eyesight cannot be corrected back to a “normal level”. Visual impairment is often associated with old age. In Europe, an estimated 15.5 million people have visual impairment and in seven countries in Europe, about 50% of blindness is caused by age-related macular degeneration. (Dibb,
Vision Requirement: uncorrected - no worse than 20/100 in each eye able to be corrected to 20/20 in each eye. Correction may be achieved using glasses, contact lenses, or surgery. Color blindness is
Diabetes is among the leading causes of irreparable blindness all over the world. In the U.S., it is the most typical cause of blindness to individuals below the age of 65 years. Moreover, diabetic eye disease circumscribes extensive issues that can infect the eye. The diabetic disease known as retinopathy is the utmost cause of low vision and new blindness cases in adults between the ages 20 and 65 years.
Low vision – is used to describe a loss of visual acuity while retaining some of one’s vision. It is when a person is unable to read a newspaper at a normal distance, even with the use of glasses. Students with this type of impairment may use large print or able to adjust the light to assist.
Over the years, the workplace has experienced several instances of discrimination. In attempt to stop the discrimination, Title VII was passed. Although Title VII helped employers in terms of race, color, gender, religion and national origin, those who had disabilities continued to face the frustration of disability barriers in the workplace, given disability was not one of the listed protected classes. Employers abstained from hiring the disabled in fear of them not being able to perform at the same level as the other employees or the attitudes of such employees towards the disabled workers. Of course, there was some legal protection against discrimination: The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, but this law only applied to employees
The importance of education for all children, especially for those with disability and with limited social and economic opportunities, is indisputable. Indeed, the special education system allowed children with disability increased access to public education. Apart from that, the special education system has provided for them an effective framework for their education, and for the institutions involved to identify children with disability sooner. In turn, this promotes greater inclusion of children with disability alongside their nondisabled peers. In spite of these advances however, many obstacles remain, including delays in providing services for children with disability, as well as regulatory and
About 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide; 39 million of them are blind” (Facts about). Many people in the world are affected by blindness. This has been an ongoing problem for a long time. It has grown over time and gotten to be a massive problem is a person’s everyday life. Blindness is a problem because most cases of blindness can be avoided, it’s increasing tremendously, technology isn’t made for the blind, learning has to be altered, and it’s expensive.
Every five seconds, someone in the world goes blind. Throughout the world today, there are an estimated 39 million people who are considered legally blind. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, blind is defined as being sightless or unable to see. The term blindness can also be used to describe the other 285 million people worldwide who are considered to be visually impaired. While these people may not be considered completely blind, they still need a lot of help perceiving images. Even with glasses or medical surgery, people who are recognized as visually impaired still cannot see well. Visual impairment ranges from mild to
About 90% of the world 's visually impaired live in rural settings like that of developing countries. According to a fact sheet by World Health Organization (WHO) it is estimated that there