How to Help Employees With Disabilities Thrive | The Way We Work, a TED series

All around the world,

there's a huge disability employment gap.

In most countries,

the unemployment rate for people with disabilities

is twice that of people without disabilities.

Often it's as high as 80 percent.

There are over a billion people in the world living with a disability.

To have 80 percent of us unemployed,

that's so much untapped potential.

[The Way We Work]

As someone with a paralyzed arm and living with a mental health disability

who's worked in the financial sector and entertainment and tech,

I know that having a disability doesn't bar you from doing good work.

So it's shocking to me that this disability employment gap

is so persistent.

In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act

prohibits discrimination in hiring

and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations.

And studies show that companies who prioritize disability inclusion

are more profitable overall.

So what exactly is the problem?

Recruiters, human resources staff, managers,

they tend to think of hiring people with disabilities as a social good

or as something they have to do to meet a quota.

But they should be hiring disabled people because of our strengths

and all of the value and innovation we can bring.

Here are three things every workplace can do

to truly welcome people with disabilities.

It's not comprehensive, but it's a start.

First, stop making assumptions.

Our culture tends to treat disability as a medical diagnosis,

a tragedy or a charity case.

And all of these things are rooted in pity.

They prevent us from being seen as peers and equals.

These assumptions lead to a lot of avoidance.

People tend to not ask us about our lives and hobbies outside of work

or don't invite us to company social outings.

There's so much fear about saying the wrong thing,

that instead people say nothing at all.

They treat disabled people like we're invisible

when all we want is to be seen and heard and accepted

like anyone else.

These assumptions also make people jump to conclusions

about what we can and can't do without even asking.

For me, assuming I can't type because I can't use one of my arms

or assuming a blind person can't be an engineer.

When to succeed at work, you need to have people who see your full potential

because without that, nobody wins.

So please, take the time to get to know us, invite us to things,

ask us the same kind of questions you would of any colleague.

What drew you to this work? What are your goals?

What do you hope to do from here?

And listen to our answers but also respect our boundaries.

If there's something we're not comfortable discussing,

we'll let you know.

And any time you feel unsure, just ask us privately

so we can make those decisions.

You can even start by saying,

"I'm still learning how to get better at talking about disability."

Second, rethink accessibility and accommodations starting now.

Disability takes so many different forms.

It can be about someone's sight, hearing or mobility.

It can be ADHD, dyslexia or chronic pain.

About 62 percent of employees with disabilities

have ones that are not apparent.

So even if you don't think there are people with disabilities

in your organization, there probably are.

And that's why I strongly recommend that workplaces create spaces

with disability and accessibility in mind.

That way you're paving the way for future employees,

clients and customers

who might benefit from accommodations, too.

At one of my first jobs at an investment bank,

the company did something cool.

Within a month of starting, I and all other new hires

got an ergonomic assessment of our workstations.

They actually had a person thinking about my access needs in multiple ways,

like getting a foot rest and keyboard wrist pad,

which a lot of colleagues got,

to asking if I might benefit from speech to text technology

because I type with one hand.

I've always tried to find these little hacks

to make my work environment more comfortable,

but the fact that this person offered so many options proactively,

it made me feel so welcome

without making me feel like my needs were "special."

It would be amazing if every employer could do some version of this.

I mean, why not?

But there are also more simple things that can make an impact.

Like, what about listing accessibility information

if you're hosting an event?

Or automatically turning on captions for video meetings?

Another way to think about this is:

What do my employees need in order to thrive?

It starts with equipping people with a variety of tools.

Third, embrace flexibility,

like disabled people have had to do our whole lives.

People with disabilities have been advocating for remote work environments

and flexible hours for decades now,

and it took a pandemic for the world to realize it could happen.

All of a sudden, this thing that seemed so wild

has become commonplace.

And this isn't the first time I can think of

when an accommodation for people with disabilities

ended up improving life for society at large.

Audiobooks, curb cuts, closed captioning, even electric toothbrushes.

Disability is so often the root of innovation.

So as we get back to the office,

let's remember that all of us can thrive with flexibility.

For people with disabilities,

let's provide the option to work remotely

at the hours when we can be the most productive

from wherever works best.

I mean, some of us do great working from our bed.

And really, let's hold on to the openness that we can work around everyone's needs.

Let's keep finding ways to embrace flexibility

as part of our company's culture.

We know that companies need to work harder on hiring us, retaining us,

promoting us, paying us fairly and amplifying our efforts.

To do that, we need to stop making assumptions,

rethink accessibility and embrace flexibility.

That is what will help close the disability employment gap.