Source Based Essay – Topic Reflection: Disability Discrimination

Posted by Christine Castillo on

People with disabilities are entirely underemployed, making up one of the largest jobless minority groups nationwide. But why? The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) protects disabled individuals from being discriminated against by employers based on qualified disabilities. There are numerous tax incentives for employers that come with hiring people with disabilities that can even help to reduce the cost of making a space accommodating. And embracing disabilities in a workplace raises diversity, thus ensuring a wide scope of ideas and approaches to critical thinking and problem solving. And yet the job market is overflowing with a pool of capable adults that happen to have disabilities both obvious and unseen, that offer a wide array of talent and skill. Disability complexities are vast, and therefore limitations are in no way universal. As someone who has worked with individuals of varied ability for over ten years, disability discrimination is something that infuriates me. To see and know willing, competent, and capable people desire only to work and be accepted without prejudice, enthuses me to research what is being done to bring change to this social injustice. What organizations exist to support those who have experienced discrimination based on their disability? Are there any platforms for people affected to share their experiences? Who is there speaking out on this topic and what are they saying? What progress has been made since the ADA originally came into effect? These are some of the questions I intend to seek answers to when procuring the sources for this essay and I am excited to analyze and compare the rhetoric that I find on the topic of disability discrimination here in the United States.

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This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

Christine Castillo

https://resistance2020.commons.gc.cuny.edu/author/ccastil007/

Comments ( 6 )

  1. Erezana Morina
    Hi Christine, I enjoyed reading your Refceltion, and I think you chose a unique, alluring topic. I think discrimination for disabled people is increasingly high, as I have witnessed it myself in my life. Unfortunately, people will find judgment in what they see, and as easy as judgment sounds, the overcome should sound the same. I look forward to reading the essay you write and good luck!!
  2. Jaden Fabro
    Disability discrimination isn't talked about as much as it should be and for that, I'm glad that you're looking into this as your topic. It really is disheartening to witness people being declined jobs due to something that they can't really control, especially when they are really in need of that job or are truly passionate about wanting to work somewhere specific. The questions you've asked are all also very intriguing and I'm anticipating what you find!
  3. Andrew Mark Salmieri
    Thank you for bringing this issue and up and discussing it! It means a lot to me. Living with a family member who is differently-abled, I often hear stories about her exclusion due to the way she functions. It is infuriating to me. These stories are a microcosm of society as a whole, where we have still have businesses that are prejudiced against people who are differently-abled people, denying them opportunities and the chance to show their true potential. I look forward to reading your work.
    • Andrew Mark Salmieri
      issue up*
  4. Richard
    I don't think a lot of people hire disabled people simply because they will not be able to work as efficiently as a normal person which the disabled people can't really control. It is sad to know that but it is just unavoidable when a person with no disability is available to be hired.
  5. Emily Sanchez
    It's sad to think that even people who are disabled can be discriminated upon. It's not fair that they aren't offered the same opportunities because the next person has something they have no control over. This topic isn't brought up as much as it should be and I can't wait to see what you discover.

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