News Items
Erasing 'Un' From 'Unemployable' - Walgreen Program Trains the Disabled To Take on Regular Wage-Paying Jobs
ANDERSON, S.C. -- Like many people with autism, Harrison Mullinax, a pale, redheaded 18-year-old with a serious expression, speaks in a monotonous, halting voice and sometimes struggles to concentrate on tasks. Unlike most who are autistic, he now has a real job.<p></p>
Mr. Mullinax works eight hours a day at a new Walgreen Co. distribution center, where he wields a bar-code scanner, checking in boxes of merchandise bound for the company's drugstores. From his paycheck, he tithes to his church and sometimes treats his mother to dinner at Kenny's, a local buffet restaurant.
The entire article is available on the Wall Street Journal web site.
80 Countries Sign United Nations Pact for People with Disabilities
Excerpts:
"In what the U.N. human rights chief called an unprecedented show of support to empower the physically and mentally impaired, 80 countries signed a U.N. convention enshrining the rights of the world's 650 million disabled."
"The convention is a blueprint to end discrimination and exclusion of the physically and mentally disabled in education, jobs, and everyday life. It requires countries to guarantee freedom from exploitation and abuse for the disabled, while protecting rights they already have - such as voting rights for the blind and wheelchair-accessible buildings."
The entire article is available on the Associated Press web site.
New Freedom Initiative Award
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao is calling upon nonprofits, small businesses, corporations and individuals who have demonstrated exemplary and innovative efforts in advancing the employment and workplace environment of people with disabilities to submit their entries for the 2007 “Secretary of Labor’s New Freedom Initiative Award.”
The award recognizes public-private partnerships and programs that have had a positive impact on the employment of people with disabilities through access to assistive technologies, the use of innovative training, and hiring and retention techniques. It also recognizes organizations, businesses or individuals who develop comprehensive strategies to enhance the ability of Americans with disabilities to enter and advance within the workforce of the 21st century. All nominations must be received by April 30, 2007.
Posted by Teri Blankenship on March 2, 2007
Living with Autism in a World Made for Others
Amanda Baggs is a 26-year-old woman with autism. I've been corresponding with her for weeks via e-mail. I've read her Web site, and from her I've learned a great deal about living with autism.
Posted by Teri Blankenship on February 22, 2007
SHRM to promote employment of people with disabilities
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) have agreed to work together to promote the employment of people with disabilities and to give employers resources to make that employment easier. On Oct. 26, SHRM President and CEO Susan R. Meisinger, SPHR, and ODEP Assistant Secretary W. Roy Grizzard Jr. signed an agreement establishing an alliance to provide information, access and guidance to encourage organizations to hire people with disabilities. SHRM and ODEP will focus on training and education, outreach and communication, technical assistance, and fostering a national dialogue. "In today’s workplaces, HR professionals are helping to make diversity an important strategic business advantage," Meisinger said. "As part of our ongoing commitment to promote career opportunities for persons with disabilities, SHRM is proud to partner with ODEP." Currently, only 55.8 percent of the disabled community has a job, said SHRM’s Chief External Affairs Officer Bill Maroni. HR professionals "have a responsibility and a power to increase that number dramatically," Maroni said. However, he added, "this is not just about the promotion of employment of people with disabilities. We are also recognizing people with extraordinary abilities and courage" who are now in the workplace. The alliance was announced at the Circle of Champions, the second annual roundtable discussion featuring the winners of The New Freedom Initiative Awards. Companies today are experiencing stiff competition for skilled, ready-to-work employees, said Grizzard, who was Personnel Administrator for the Henrico County school system in Virginia for more than 20 years. "Despite the fact that [workplaces] use more technology, there is fierce competition," he said. "This is a fruitful area to be harvested." Beth McConnell is senior editor for
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