<p>Would you consider people with physical disabilities a “minority” (ala when taling about “minority students”)? One could argue that they face/have faced both direct and indirect discrimination and societal barriers and yet people with physical disabilities are almost never considered a “minority” in discussions/definition/terms? Why?</p>
<p>I consider them a severely disadvantaged minority, disadvantaged in opportunities and resources. They have not been represented because of the nature of their disadvantages. Those who care for them have been tied up with that care for the most part and not been activist enough,nor have they encouraged the disabled to be activists. With the internet, this is rapidly changing. The same goes for the mentally disabled.</p>
<p>Yes i belive so. Also there are certain scholarships that you can recieve from being physically disabled</p>
<p>^
No, not really–at least not in my experience.</p>
<p>Given that there’s an effort by some companies and governmental bodies to purposely employ some physically as well as mentally handicapped people then they’re at least recognized as target group for employment.</p>
<p>There are some, but a big problem that disabled students have, actually disabled folks have, is accessibility. Here in NY, it is a disgrace how many places are not accessible to those in wheelchairs or have other physical handicaps. Colleges and high schools too, have limited access. My son’s friend broke his leg, and oh, what a problem it is for him to get around in his high school. I don’t see a single kid in a wheelchair or scooter in that school. It would be a problem for the school to have such students because it is not in compliance with federal law in terms of accessibility as many places around here are not. Too often such kids need a 24 hour aid, and that is not available. Brooke Ellison, here from NY is a quadriplegic who graduated from Harvard and has a masters. She is very active in many things, and was an excellent student. Nothing wrong with her mind. But if her mother had not given up having a life of her own to be her daughter’s “Anne Sullivan”, Brooke would not have been able to even leave the house. Dependable care was not attainable. Harvard went all out to make the physical facilities accessible for her, but mom had to go to school with her. We really make our disabled helpless instead of independent. I don’t think being disabled means a scholarship should be available as much as college should be accessible and our society should be working harder to make these folks more self sufficient. If they can make a living wage, they could pay more of their expenses, contribute towards themselves, the cost of aids, and work for society as well. Instead we make them a burden on us by not making it possible for many of the disabled to be independent.</p>
<p>^
Good post.</p>
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<p>The ONLY organization I can think of that actively tries to hire disabled people is the federal government, and the numbers are still low even there. What companies are you thinking of?</p>
<p>I have a suspicion that many small companies, and I don’t have a clue about middle sized and large companies, shy away from hiring a disabled person. The reason would be expense of accommodations, and fear of law suits. I know of 2 situations where 2 different companies were sued by 2 different people with a disablility.</p>
<p>Case 1: The person sued because she was fired because she was not fulfilling her job duties, and not putting in the hours required to get her job done. The employee has OCD and she literally did not get into her office until between 10:30- 11am, when she was expected at 9am. She did not stay late enough to make up the work. I can tell you that the small business owner just settled with her because he was making what he called, “a business decision”. He was small enough that he did not worry about copy cat suits, and he did not want to waste time and money going through an entire law suit. The employee accepted the offer. </p>
<p>case 2: This employee had a physical disablility. The owner of this small business decided to move from a rental property into a building that he was going to buy. Before making the purchase he extended himself. He took the employee with the disability to the building because the employee would need to work on the second floor. There was no elevator for people, but there was a freight elevator, and some employees used it on occasion. This employee had trouble climbing stairs, but it was possible for him to do so. He said that he could manage using the stairs. The employee stayed there and climbed the stairs for many years. At some point, he was no longer happy working there because of pressure to produce more. He quit. He then decided to sue his employer for a lack of accommodations. The employer told everyone working there that he would see the suit to the end. He said this to avoid copy cat suits, but I doubt that he was willing to pay the expenses to defend the suit. In addition, the employee would be a sympathetic person if there were jury trial, because his physical disablility is very visible. I do not know the outcome of that suit.</p>
<p>As for the OP’s original question, I absolutely see a person with a disability as someone who is in the minority, and has to work extremely hard at overcoming barriers. I agree that there is discrimination. I also can see the side of a business who would not want to undergo the loss of thousands of dollars (see the above 2 cases that I just happen to know about). One would have to sell many widgets to recover from such a suit.</p>
<p>No, not really–at least not in my experience.
ChairScholars Scholarship
Scholarship for people with disabilities
Yellow Ribbon Scholarship</p>
<p>Are a few of them</p>
<p>Why does it still count as a “disability”? Isn’t that the point of all the ramps, automatic doors, etc.?</p>
<p>Wendy’s, historically has a great track record in hiring those with disabilities.</p>
<p>
IBM - [Jobs</a> at IBM - Diversity recruitment programs](<a href=“Define your career with IBM”>Define your career with IBM)</p>
<p>Microsoft - [Microsoft</a> Careers Pride in Diversity Overview](<a href=“http://members.microsoft.com/careers/mslife/diversepride/default.mspx]Microsoft”>http://members.microsoft.com/careers/mslife/diversepride/default.mspx)</p>
<p>Qualcomm - [Qualcomm</a> Global Citizenship - Global Workforce Inclusion at Qualcomm](<a href=“http://www.qualcomm.com/citizenship/diversity/diversity_at_qualcomm.html]Qualcomm”>http://www.qualcomm.com/citizenship/diversity/diversity_at_qualcomm.html)</p>
<p>eBay - [url=<a href=“eBay Jobs: Careers at eBay”>eBay Jobs: Careers at eBay]Diversity[/url</a>]</p>
<p>and many more.</p>
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<p>I had a broken leg two years ago, which put me in the “physically disabled” category for several months.</p>
<p>I can say from experience that people with mobility impairments face plenty of challenges, despite the accommodations that have been made in many public buildings. The ramps etc. are helpful, but it’s still difficult to get around and get things done.</p>
<p>Many disabilities are not visible to the naked eye</p>
<p>For the first time ever, Blue Cross for Federal employees, is going to cover $1000 towards hearing aids (every 36 months). I have a friend who is hard of hearing and while this won’t cover the entire cost, she’s thrilled about this new benefit. Her job, the Dept of Defense (we’re coworkers), just paid $150 for a special phone for her. Uncle Sam is a VERY ADA compliant employer</p>
<p>To answer the title of the thread:</p>
<p>Depends on the age group. Above a certain age, virtually everyone has some sort of disability. ;)</p>
<p>But among college students, not so much. </p>
<p>When I walk into a public place I do pay attention to how handicap accessible it is. If I were in a wheelchair there would be tons of places I could not get to.</p>
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<p>Yes.</p>
<p>I’m less sure about the undergrad level, but I know that several graduate fellowships (NSF, NIH predoctoral) and conference scholarships that target minorities include the disabled. And ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad named several companies that do as well.</p>
<p>My MIL is in a wheelchair now. We have had all kinds of difficulties in finding accessibility to the most basic places. It is against the law, but you find this everywhere.</p>