In public, disability and employment is often talked about in terms of entry level employment only. Within a report published by WWDA there was an interesting comment:
“Employment supports tended to be catered to entry level jobs and were not tailored to people’s capabilities. Those with physical disabilities or chronic conditions reported the only available jobs involving manual labour or lifting which was not possible due to their disabilities. Other people mentioned that support with their employment would be valuable for roles above entry level.”
This is completely in line with my experiences. There is an expectation that if you’re disabled, you lack skills and experience.
I do not need help with resumes, experience, references, or skill building. I have all that.
On social media a while ago, I posed the question: I have two degrees, how many does it take to overcome ableism?
(Yes, that’s an oversimplification, but that’s the point.)
When I am job hunting, what I need is for ableism to go away so that I can get hired. I am a competitive prospective employee until ableism kicks in.
There is no level of “upskilling” that I can do which removes ableism from an employer.
This is because individuals are not responsible for systemic failures.
Further reading (disclosure: an article I commissioned and published at my day job): Enough with disability leadership training.
