(dis)ability by jobpostings Magazine (Fall 2010)

careercupid

Your Rights in the Workplace

jobpostings

&

thorkilsonne

The Autistic Revolution

edition

Your

Reality Augment

fall 2010 | careers. education. ideas. all of it.

fall 2010

who’s

hiring Did you know that these companies have a whole bunch of sweet jobs for students? Visit jobpostings.ca to see a full list of positions available.

Image: Hemera Technologies/ AbleStock.com/Thinkstock

IFC Bank of Montreal 2 Cameco 5 TD Bank 7 Ontario Power Generation 9 Imperial Oil 15 Export Development Canada 15 Delta Hotels 18 Wood Manufacturing Council of Canada 21 Fintrac

stufftobuy IFC Skittles 11 Rogers Wireless 25 Lipton Brisk 31 Fisherman’s Friend IBC Excel

whoelse?

OBC & 28 NEADS jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

Augment Your Reality //

12

Person-specific computing is taking assistive tech to a whole new level.

Best Practices //

19

When it comes to invisible disabilities in the workplace, not everyone got the memo.

Psychological Disability & Self-Advocacy //

22

Jonathan Wamback on overcoming restrictions.

26 The Attitude Barrier // 29

The Autistic Revolution //

How do we renovate outdated attitudes?

getstuff! //

3

Which smartphone is the smartest?

6 career cupid // 8 success story // 10

interviewsmarts //

Anything is possible. Brought to you by Rogers Wireless.

edu-ma-cation //

32

Dropping out of school? Hold on a second.

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jobpostings publishers:

Published by Passion inc.

25 Imperial Street, Suite 100 Toronto, ON M5P 1B9

Nathan Laurie nlaurie@jobpostings.ca

Mark Laurie

www.jobpostings.ca 1-877-900-5627 ext. 221

mlaurie@jobpostings.ca editor:

Jason Rhyno jrhyno@jobpostings.ca graphic designer:

Sonya van Heyningen svanheyningen@jobpostings.ca web editor:

Emily Minthorn eminthorn@jobpostings.ca production & circulation:

Amy Kappus akappus@jobpostings.ca

jobpostings publishes disability issues twice a year. Issue dates are September and January.

20,000 copies are distributed to over 100 universities and colleges. Available by subscription: 2 issues for only $8.00 (plus HST). Contents of this publication are protected by copyright and may not be reprinted in whole or part without permission |of the publishers on the cover: Š iStockphoto.com/ARICAN

Endorsed by the National Educational Association of Disabled Students

what do you want to be when you

can help.

Whatever you need to build your dream career, jobpostings.ca is here careers. education. ideas. all of it.

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(dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

Bringing

Mobility Disabilities to

In a wireless world, physical conditions no longer apply — but how savvy are the leading smartphones when it comes to real access issues?

Image: Jupiterimages/ Photos.com/Thinkstock

 Underemployed Android

As much as we might all feel a certain kinship with the above title, the Android in question is Google’s offering into the cellphone market, an OS descended from the nobly geeky Linux family. Despite a strong showing this year against rivals Apple and RIM, as well as a reputation for innovative products, Google has proven to be more machine than human when it comes to caring about users with disabilities. Their accessibility project of note is Eyes Free, which creates apps to allow blind and vision-impaired customers still get full use out of their Android-compatible devices. Though well-intentioned, this attempt is too little and too late — BlackBerry has a full suite of similar features available for their products, and Apple goes a few steps further and delivers full accessibility with style. Android’s devoted community of third-party developers, normally a strong point in its favour, appear to be to blame for this; the sad truth is that, quite simply, not enough programmers are interested in accessibility issues to provide the same sort of momentum to these projects as can be found for the digital toys that let us find better shopping deals or weather updates.

by Austin Bahadur jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

 BlackBerry Patches Homegrown Canadian contender RIM has its work cut out for it by ensuring their massively popular BlackBerry line remains competitive in this new era of sleek and sexy smartphones, while also providing a device accessible to all customers. A quick survey of their website reveals that they’ve repackaged a number of standard features as disability friendly ‘solutions’, but they manage to win points with the legitimate usefulness of the apps they’ve listed. The individual descriptions, grouped by manner of disability, hint at innovative tips and tricks for an improved experience; the section for Cognitive Disabilities, for example, describes how the voice recorder feature can aid with remembering important notes and tasks. RIM could certainly devote more resources to creating actual solutions for accessibility, whether with software or with hardware, and hopefully the emerging minds of Canada’s tech workforce will be able to contribute.

 Apple’s Original Win

Apple appears poised to become a trendsetter in the world of accessibility devices. Boasting what can now be said to be the ‘standard’ solutions of voice-controlled apps and multi-sensory alerts, Apple has gone a few steps further and engineered an elegant synthesis of old and

new — wireless Braille displays and screen-reading software. Originally created for their Mac desktops, the VoiceOver screen-reader benefits from the established resources of its larger cousins, and utilizes a context-driven focus that distinguishes it from similar programs. When paired with one of the many Bluetoothconnected Braille accessories supported by the iPhone, the package offers a more seamlessly integrated support for vision-impaired users, eliminating (as Apple has attempted in all other regards) any awkwardness in the device’s myriad uses.

 A Future of Virtual Freedom Though the side-by-side comparison might seem skewed towards the iPhone’s predictably stylish treatment, the truth is that none of the companies has made significant steps in accommodating the array of difficulties faced by those with disabilities. While it is true that these devices can greatly enhance the quality of life for impaired users, real innovation is needed before these phones can really represent a smart solution for those with disabilities.

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

editor’snote

Jason Rhyno

I live for stories, always have. When I was young, I spent a great deal of time in hospital waiting rooms for a myriad of both physical and psychological illnesses. To pass the time between EEG’s and blood tests, I would create stories and lose myself on wonderful flights of fancy. Problem was that after I became healthier, I had developed this habit of drifting into my very own Never Ending Story during class, during dinner, on the bus to school, and pretty much every other waking moment of my adolescent life. I would fail tests at school, was incapable of socializing and was generally disconnected from reality.

It wasn’t until high school, when I landed an internship at the local newspaper, that I realized I had a knack for something no one else my age had: I knew a good story when I saw one. I could find the narrative in any situation or issue and was skilled at pulling out the meat of the story.

As the years progressed, I applied this to film, radio, writing, and now it’s what I do for a living; it pays my rent. What was once a detriment on my life has now become a skill — a skill that I use to make magazines like the one you’re reading.

A much better example of turning a “disability” into a strength is the story of Thorkil Sonne (pg. 26), a entrepreneur from Denmark. Thorkil’s son was born with autism, but instead of lamenting this fact, the innovative father had the insight to create an IT company where people with autism could work. This story isn’t just about a successful entrepreneur, it’s about challenging misconceptions.

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Then there is Jonathan Ryan Wamback (pg. 22). I first met Jonathan when I was editor of a student newspaper at York University. I didn’t know much about Jonathan, although I should have. What he went through made headlines. A professor had introduced us; he wanted to try his hand at writing, and I was looking for writers. The article came in on time, we published it, and then we lost track of each other.

It wasn’t until this past summer that we met again, naturally under the same circumstances as before; I needed a story, and he wanted to write. We met over coffee at York, and he told me about his journey with self-advocacy, on disclosing his invisible disability – plot points mainly, the details I wouldn’t get until I was editing his story. The attack on Jonathan left him with a physical disability, but it wasn’t until much later that the psychological trauma manifested, disrupting his studies,

straining his relationships, and affecting his performance at work.

But he overcame it. It’s a good story, equal parts light and dark and hope.

Finally, there is our feature story (pg. 12) about assistive technology, and cloud computing, and the wildly brilliant innovations that are being created by our countries bravest minds. It’s the story about how people are creating technology to fill the cracks in our society so that nobody falls through.

If you look closely at all these stories, you’ll find a narrative that will help you excel in your career: challenging pre-conceived notions of (dis)ability, self-advocating for your needs and rights, and the need for innovative, smart, talented people like yourself.

We need more stories like these and we need more success stories. And who knows, maybe I’ll be writing your story in a year or two. 

(dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

interviewsmarts Q. A.

Describe a project or task that you are proud of accomplishing. What lessons did you learn from the setbacks or challenges that you faced?

The main reason I ask this question to candidates is to gauge how motivated they are to achieve results and to see how well they respond to roadblocks along the way. To answer this question properly, follow the S.T.A.R.E. approach: describe the situation, explain the tasks (or role) given to you and the actions you took. Finish your response with the result of your project and the experiences (or lessons) you gained.

Possible answers you could use include: independent work that contributed to an important project, team related examples that prove your approach in working within a team setting, projects where you were in charge and were recognized, or difficult projects or jobs where something did not go as planned, but in the end you got the job done.

I recently interviewed a mechanic who was asked to improve the organization of the preventative maintenance tasks in the workplace. As the lead person in this job, he went to various areas of the workplace and spoke to all the tradespeople involved in preventative maintenance. By completing this task, he was able to reduce the time to complete preventative maintenance tasks, and his work was also greatly appreciated by his peers. He went on to mention that he learned how to persevere and that patience is important.

6

with Trevor Gonzales, Specialist, Recruitment @ Cameco Corporation

Through his approach and vocal cues, I was able to determine that his motivation was very strong. He included others in his decision making (which showed that he is team oriented), achieved results and took away valuable lessons that will help him cope with similar situations in the future. How he spoke about this project also gave me a sense of the pride and passion he had with respect to his work.

Personally, when I was asked this question in interviews, I always talked about a large HR project that I had worked on, which involved intensive group work. My role was to co-ordinate the various reports required and also to work on my own section. I organized the outline of the report, collected all the information from my team members, and made sure all sections came together in a seamless fashion. We ended up doing very well, and the lessons I learned from that experience were to trust my team and to maintain focus, even in the early stages.

My suggestion when preparing for interviews is to write down possible behavioural questions you think might be asked.

Reviewing the job description should help you decide which questions to focus on.

When you’re asked questions, take time to completely understand what is being asked, then formulate your response. Your interview will reflect positively on you if you are more at ease and are honest with your interviewers. Good luck! 

So you screwed up in the interview, huh?

They asked the ol’ “What’s your greatest weakness” question and you responded with “bladder control,” hoping to get a laugh. That’s awkward.

Lucky for you we have friends on the inside – recruiting type friends (basically the people who’ll be interviewing you). It cost us a few favors, but they finally agreed to explain why they ask what they ask, and what the best answers are.

It’s like a cheat sheet, but for the real world.

Good luck!

(dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

careercupid

☞ The Career Adventures of a Zombie

There’s no official membership card for it, but the club I belong to is the “frequent fainters club.” I can’t ride in an airplane without causing an international incident or sit under fluorescent lights for more than an hour without swooning like a 19th-century book character. I wander around with blue fingernails and a heart arrhythmia and blood pressure so low that it makes every medical professional I meet want to write a paper about me.

Just call me Zombie Girl.

I woke up once, after fainting, with my head in my boss’s lap while he yelled at everyone to call 911.

Despite the dramatics, many people who interact with me at work don’t know that I have a disability. In fact, sometimes I don’t even see myself as Zombie Girl because, with the help of accommodations, treatment, and some evasive manoeuvres I’ve developed, I have the luxury of not thinking constantly about how not to faint. My disability has become an “invisible” one.

Canadian university and college Disability Services regularly report that the majority of students using their services have a so-called “invisible disability.” Are you one of them?

Have you thought about how, or if, that might play out when it comes to getting a job?

You’ve probably seen the blurb at the bottom of many job postings: “Applications from people with disabilities encouraged and accommodation will be provided.” But what does it really mean for you, the applicant?

The good news is that there are times when that blurb is a genuinely enthusiastic request from the organization to ensure that they have a workforce that represents the diversity of the larger population. This kind of “disability positive” statement might even mean that they have some or lots of experience hiring skilled people into their organization.

But, both as a former recruiter and an employee with a disability, I know that sometimes those statements lead you to a situation where the employer is bumbling and inept when recruiting and hiring a person with a disability — especially an “invisible” one.

Employers want to hire the best people and even if they have never knowingly recruited or hired a person with a disability before, they want to attract the best candidates and you’re one of them! It is your right when and if you choose to disclose that you have a disability to your employer, but once disclosure has occurred,

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the Canadian Human Rights Code provides that you cannot be discriminated against and are entitled to receive disability accommodations in order to apply to, compete equitably for, and work in Canada.

Your first connection with employers should and will be about the skills, experience and education that you bring to the table — not about your disability. Employers want you to be successful but they won’t always appropriately navigate your disability or accommodations, nor will they necessarily feel compelled to advocate on your behalf, the way Disability Services at your school may have.

They might need your help as they say the wrong thing, forget to ask the appropriate questions and ignore things that have always been a “given” for you. They may even inadvertently or knowingly break the law.

The reality is that as a student with a disability, you may have more research, rights, and responsibilities to weigh than the average job hunter.

But, that extra prep can lead you to a much more satisfying fit with the job and organization you end up in.

Sometimes, being a member of the Zombie Club has its advantages. 

by Christine Fader, Career Counsellor @ Queen’s University + Author of “Career Cupid: Your Guide to Landing and Loving Your Dream Job.” She was a voting member of the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario’s Employment Standards Development Committee as it developed new legislation for accessible employment in Ontario. Visit her website at: careercupid.com

(dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

I am Not about to

Stay Home and

Play Dead

Name Mary Thibodeau

Length of employment Since September 2003

Company Delta Fredericton

Degree High school diploma & Workability diploma

Position Housekeeping & staff café attendant

Where did you go to School?

What program did you attend?

Tell us a bit about your responsibilities.

I came through the Workability Program and did 20 weeks with Jobs Unlimited. I worked on my self-esteem to help conquer feelings of limitation in the workplace.

I clean seven to ten hotel rooms, including dusting, bathroom cleaning, vacuuming, changing bedding, and preparing it for the next guest. In addition, I work the staff café for four hours Monday to Friday where I have to bring the food up, serve the staff, punch the cards, sell new cards to the employees, and clean up the café when everyone is finished.

What drew you to your current position?

My case manager approached the hotel, and asked if I could try housekeeping at the hotel. Twelve others joined at the same time, and I was the only one that stuck to it.

Tell us about the history of your disability and how it has affected your life.

I was born with congenital hip disorder.

There were times after surgeries that I had to use a wheelchair. Sometimes, I’ve also had to use a cane and a walker.

I’ve always found ways around it, so it doesn’t slow me down. I have an artificial hip and knee on my left side. I have a lot of people ask me why don’t I just stay home on disability — but I am not about to stay home and play dead.

Sponsored by

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Sometimes the rooms can be overpowering. You may have one room,where someone has had a party and they really trashed the room. A lot of other housekeepers experience this. Physically, suites can also be a challenge; they are so much larger, and there is so much more to do. I find ways to overcome it, but they are challenging.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

When someone comes up and thanks you for what you have done. A customer acknowledged me in our guest feedback recently and that really made me

feel special. Once, I had a woman come here from out west. Her mom couldn’t get out, and wanted a souvenir. I went out to the mall and found a mug that said ‘Fredericton, NB.’ The daughter was so impressed, and wanted to pay for it.

I told her it was a little gift from me to her. The daughter really expressed her appreciation. It’s the little things you can do for your guests, and their reactions, that make it worth everything.

What accommodations do you use to help you succeed on the job?

I wear orthopedic shoes and knee braces for support. The team will allow me to do 14 rooms instead of 16 rooms per day. I work hard, and at my own pace, even if it means I don’t take my own break.

Is there one accomplishment you are most proud of to date?

My job here. This job has been more than a placement. This is my first real job.

What advice do you have for students looking to land their first job?

Keep a positive outlook. Don’t look down on yourself. If you feel you can do it, go for it. Anything is possible.

rogers.com/careers/campuslife

Augment

Your

Reality Using machines as a means to an end is intrinsically human, but a wired vision more real with each day. From smartphones to social networking to online that mutate and change themselves to suit each individual. And it’s this kind of next level, beyond simple “one size fits all� hardware to the kind of evolved reality

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(dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

y of near-total human-technological integration is becoming gaming, we constantly interact with the digital world in ways person-specific computing that is taking assistive tech to the science fiction has been promising for decades. ďƒ˛

jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

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by Emily Minthorn

The Toronto Dominion Centre in Toronto’s financial district is a monolith of black steel and blacker glass. Near the top is one of TD Bank’s three assistive tech labs. Here, employees pre-test and certify new technology, train on the new hardware, and help educate developers about the specific needs of employees with disabilities. Brad Lloyd, an IT specialist who’s been with the bank for 24 years, is showing off a work station designed for people with low vision.

There’s also software for people with no vision. As Lloyd scrolls his mouse over lines of text, the computer reads each word aloud. “With every keystroke, it’ll give you context and allow you to input data,” Lloyd explains as the computer continues to recite copy, sounding very pleased with itself. And it should be. It’s also equipped with a voice-activated program that allows

14

users with dexterity-related disabilities to ask it to wake up, open the Start menu, and so on, all without ever having to touch a mouse or keyboard. The lighting at the workstation is adaptable too, and the desk adjusts to accommodate just about anyone who wants to sit at it.

Lloyd is confident that the technology available to TD employees will continue to improve with more input from unique users. Through the contributions of labs like this one, the bank boasts more than 800 accommodations company-wide, with a 90 percent success rate. “Our door is open, and I can say from personal experience that there’s a lot of commitment to people with disabilities.

Even after we implement an accommodation, there’s a lot of commitment to trying to make it work,” he says. TD’s comprehensive accessibility program depends largely on the active participation of the employees who use it, and an ongoing influx of new hires with disabilities.

“Our HR recruitment groups and talent management would be very interested to hear from anybody with

this passion to come in. That’s one of our mandates: to have the best and the brightest.”

While office hardware is obviously a big part of accessibility at work, there’s a lot of assistive tech that’s more applicable to everyday life outside the office. Much of it functions as part of what’s coming to be known as Web 3.0, or Cloud computing. In the Cloud, shared resources exist remotely and are accessible by anyone, from anywhere, eliminating the need for locally installed programs. The easiest and most familiar example of Cloud computing is web-based email: you don’t need an email program installed on your computer, laptop, or mobile, because your browser allows you to access your email online.

Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone’s (DMZ) purpose couldn’t be more in form with its physical manifestation. It’s an open concept space with high ceilings, exposed ductwork, and a wall of windows

 (dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

Image (Previous Page): Hemera/Thinkstock

“Here we have a keyboard with larger letters, and a larger monitor.

And this is software that’ll zoom the image on the screen,” he says as he navigates the simple controls.

The computer’s voice suddenly announces, “Zoom text enabled!” and all the words on the screen jump in size and focus. A kind of scanner, also included in the low-vision workstation, helps do the same thing for hard-copy documents.

The sharp text that the device generates on its screen is a far cry from the distorted images provided by the standard magnifying glass.

Our guests aren’t the only ones who like to stay here.

With 44 hotels and resorts across Canada, Delta Hotels and Resorts excels at offering guests both exceptional service and value. We are looking for creative, bright and ambitious graduates to join our team. Come and grow with a company that values your skills, your determination and your goals. Check in at Delta.

www.deltahotels.com Delta Hotels and Resorts is committed to employment equity throughout all levels of the organization.

For more information about career opportunities, contact the Director of People Resources at your nearest Delta hotel or resort or visit deltahotels.com/careers

jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

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It’s not about rules or technique. Sharing ideas

& solutions through existing social media is essential.

 overlooking the neon jumble of YongeDundas Square. Hossein Rahnama, a professor at Ryerson, is standing in front of a huge touch-screen monitor, demonstrating the inner workings of a revolutionary program designed and implemented by his team at the DMZ. It’s called the Transit Travel Assistant, and it launched this past spring in Paris to such great success that its expansion into other transit systems and public spaces seems inevitable.

Rahnama believes the future of all technology, and assistive tech in particular, is mobile, and will rely on the Ryerson-born concept of context awareness. Context aware technology tailors the Cloud to each user’s needs rather than requiring users to adapt to inert, inactive hardware; these kinds of programs also allow devices to interpret and adapt to their surroundings for their users. “It’s aware and self-adaptive,” Rahnama says of his transit guide program, which, depending on the user, can be voice-activated for touch-free computing – useful for those with dexterity disabilities as well as for people who can’t see the screen or keys on a smartphone.

Details input by the user on his or her individual profile tell the technology how to work in particular, whether it’s guiding

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someone who needs to find a barrier-free route home or sending vocal instructions to a user who has no vision.

Back in the TD lab, Christine Senitza, a GL Officer at a branch services centre in Mississauga, is demonstrating her favorite piece of new assistive technology. It’s a web-cam set up so that she’s able to speak with co-workers via a remote video interpreter. Senitza has been deaf from birth and until now relied on a TTY phone to communicate when a situation prevented her from signing. “Because it’s visual, I can see the communication easily. This way, a deaf person doesn’t miss any information; we’re able to get access to all information through an interpreter,” she explains of the webcam set-up, through an interpreter who isn’t even in the same room.

“Interpreters can work remotely so that they’re not spending as much time traveling between appointments. For smaller meetings or one-on-one meetings, it’s easier for us to be able to book an interpreter and have that exchange,” Senitza goes on. “Everyone’s able to get more done, because there are a number of deaf people who work at TD.” Making this technology wireless would mean deaf or hard-of-hearing employees at TD would be able to take a virtual interpreter with them anywhere there’s a WiFi connection. And it also means that customers with hearing disabilities would have near-instant access to interpreting services at their local branch of the bank, without having to arrange their visit ahead of time – an adaptation with exciting possibilities.

Image: Hemera/Thinkstock



(dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

Jason Nolan, PhD, is the director of the Experiential Design and Gaming Environments (EDGE) Lab at Ryerson University. The DMZ and all its smooth planes of Apple white lie just beyond a room divider, but here at Nolan’s workstation, almost everything is Hallowe’en orange. His monitor is lit up with a swirling Second Life avatar and his workbench is covered in bits of brightly painted cardboard. Many of the adaptive design projects that he and his students work on are intentionally low-tech.

They’re developing solutions for people with disabilities that have been carefully engineered to be possible to build without specialized tools, equipment, or materials. One example: multiple layers of cardboard cut are out to a downloadable and adjustable pattern, glued together, and hand painted to make a special chair for a young girl with developmental disabilities. Using the chair, she can sit and play in the sandbox with her classmates. There are also adaptive designs for easels, book rests, and other kinds of furniture, conceived by Nolan and his team on a case-by-case basis and built together with their end users.

“My goal is to bring about a design practice where you can make it yourself, design it, build it, share, and make

jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

a living in a community-based career,” Nolan says. The Cloud is present here too, in spite of the homemade nature of most of the projects. EDGE Lab’s simple creations spread via their users on the Internet, and are meant to be opensource, adaptive, and shared amongst communities. And games like Second Life, in many cases, provide a virtual meeting place for those communities to traffic their ideas and techniques. “It’s not about rules or technique,” he says of his designs and their far-reaching potential. “Sharing ideas and solutions through existing social media is essential.”

The web provides us with a slew of new cat pictures, viral videos, and tedious blogs every day. But beyond the endless distraction, it’s also a great equalizer. It breaks down barriers of distance and ability, it’s adaptive to each individual’s needs and desires, and it thrives on new ideas. Until recently, these tendencies were trapped within the boundaries of cyberspace. But through open-source software, virtual communities, and nearubiquitous access to online stores of information, everyone now has the ability to apply democratizing technology to their offline lives, augmenting reality at the speed of ideas. 

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Wood Employee Readiness Curriculum

Werc In Advanced Wood Manufacturing EnTRy-LEvEL CaREERs FoR FIRsT naTIons, METIs, InuIT, PERsons WITh DIsabILITIEs anD nEW IMMIgRanTs The WMC WERC Skills Development program is designed to prepare individuals for entrylevel occupations in advanced wood manufacturing and recruits specifically from groups including First Nations, Inuit and Métis, new immigrants and persons with disabilities.

Participants of the program are provided with skills upgrading in the following areas • • • •

Job Readiness Essential and Life Skills Introduction to Basic Wood Manufacturing Safety Training, Job Shadowing and Job Placement

//

Successful candidates of the minimum 8 week program will be better able to seek long term career opportunities in cabinet making, furniture, manufactured housing and other advanced wood sectors across Canada.

If you are interested in participating in the WERC program in your area or a manufacturer looking for new entry level woodworkers, please visit www.wmc-cfb.ca or contact: Wood Manufacturing Council 1016 -130 Albert Street Ottawa, ON, Canada K1P 5G4 Tel: 613-567-5511 * Fax: 613-567-5411 Website: www.wmc-cfb.ca

130 Albert Street, suite 1016 Ottawa, ON K1P 5G4

T 613-567-5511 F 613-567-5411 www.wmc-cfb.ca

Funded by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program

bpractices e s t

//

by Kevin Nelson

When it comes to invisible disabilities in the workplace, not everyone got the memo In the days of awareness campaigns and positive action, strides have been made in the acceptance of people with disabilities in the workforce. What happens, though, if your disability doesn’t manifest in the need for a wheelchair ramp or a cane? From learning disabilities to brain injuries to mental conditions, there are people around us everyday with a disability and we’re none the wiser.

Image: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

industry standards // Functioning in the work-a-day world can be tricky at the best of times, but when you have a problem that’s not immediately apparent or understood, it’s that much harder. Cindy Mancuso is a career counsellor and diversity advisor at McGill University who has been helping students make the jump to the workforce for years. “I’ve talked to a lot of people that run into difficulties when disclosing their disability,” she relates. “While we’re talking about it more and employers seem more open to the issue, there’s often an idea of what kind of disability is acceptable.” jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

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Attempting to balance employment with the constraints of a permanent or long-term disability might be easier than you expect — there are a number of provincial and federal initiatives in place to allow students and recent grads to gain valuable work experience within a framework that accommodates disabilities. Acknowledging and disclosing the difficulties of a disability doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your ambitions, or settle for anything less than your dream job. We’ve summarized a few of the national programs of particular interest to young Canadians:

 Created in 1997, WORKink benefits from the national networking of the ‘Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work’; with job listings and career advice from coast to coast, the CCRW provides WORKink with information relevant to Canadian jobseekers in every province. Particularly noteworthy are three programs meant to enhance employability — the Workplace Essential Skills 20

Partnership’(WESP), the Partners for Workplace Inclusion Program (PWIP), and Youth the Future.

Information on these and more can be found at workink.com

 For the more entrepreneurialminded, the rather straightforwardly named Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities offers a rare chance for Canadians with disabilities to pursue self-employment, by providing everything from mentorship to skills training to financial supports. Under the same auspices is a scheme that rewards employers for actively recruiting impaired individuals, by providing supplementary training and wage subsidies. Information for both of these programs can be found at: servicecanada.gc.ca/ eng/of/index.shtml

 Though ideally you should never need their services, we would be remiss if we failed to include a mention of the ARCH Disability Law Centre.

The Ontario-based organization caters specifically to the needs of individuals with disabilities and related communities, providing counsel and legal defence.

Although limited to its home province, there’s no better place on the Web to inquire as to the best course of action in issues of disability rights, no matter your location. More information can be found at archdisabilitylaw.ca

nosce te ipsum know thyself // There’s only so much control a person has over a situation, especially when dealing with the reactions and opinions of others, and so selfknowledge is key. “I’m constantly telling students that they need to be the expert on their disability in order to inform someone else in a confident way so that it doesn’t become this murky issue,” says Mancuso. “They can’t expect an employer to understand everything right away and accommodate them. If they’re inter-

 Knowing what you’re good at & ested in a job, they need to research what they need in place to have the best environment to work in.”

Since 1986, Frank Smith has been the National Coordinator of the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS). When considering a potential job, he says it’s wise to look at it from all angles. “If your disability is episodic in nature, there are times of relative health and ill health.

In many cases, employers are looking for permanent, full-time workers and (dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

Image: Jason Reed/ Photodisc/Thinkstock

//

pillars of support

Elyse Chaplin agrees. Currently a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto, she has drawn from her own history with dyslexia in her capacity as a success coach for post-secondary students with disabilities. “An individual dealing with a non-visible disability has to be prepared,” she says. “While there’s an increased awareness, we have to self-advocate and, most importantly, understand the challenges we have experienced, and understand and identify the accommodations and needs that we have.”

may not be flexible,” he says. “With certain types of disabilities, flexibility is needed in work arrangements. Maybe a person isn’t well enough to work from the office, but can be effective working from home, given remote access.”

Disability or no, it’s important to consider your own goals and skills before settling on a career. “Knowing what you’re good at and passionate about can make all the difference,” Chaplin agrees. “When we’ve learned how to succeed for a period of time and then hit an obstacle, it can be a real setback. Choosing a job that’s a fit and that we enjoy excelling at makes those setbacks less earth-shattering.”

no idea where to

get on the same page // Disclosure can be a risky proposition at any stage of employment, and there’s a lot to consider when making the choice to do so. “We have to feel comfortable disclosing to people,” says Chaplin. “It’s a delicate balance: [knowing] when and how to disclose, what’s appropriate or not, and ensuring we’re well protected when we choose to disclose and seek accommodations and support for whatever disability we may have.”

In some cases, disclosure may not even be necessary.

“If you know yourself and what you need, maybe that person doesn’t need to say anything at all,” says Mancuso. If a person does choose to disclose, focusing on the positive is recommended. “Tell people ‘it’s not going to be an issue, but I’m letting you know about the challenges I might deal with and what I have in place to take care of it.’ When you present things in

can help.

Whatever you need to build your dream career, jobpostings.ca is here careers. education. ideas. all of it.

passionate about can make all the difference  that light, they’ll know you have it together,” she continues. “The minute someone is hesitant or embarrassed, that makes the other person think it could already be a potential problem.”

Smith agrees that disclosure may not be necessary if a person’s ability on the job isn’t affected, but offers tips on broaching the subject. “Just like in any job interview setting, tell the person what you’ve done to be successful and what you’ve accomplished. People with disabilities are often very high-performing, because they’ve had to work harder to prove themselves,” he says. “So what if a person has a certain disability? They have academic or employment accomplishments just like everyone else.” jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

21

PsychologicalDisability

My Stor

and Self-Advocacy

W

  hen I was fifteen I became a victim of violent crime.

My skull was shattered by a kick to the head and a piece of the broken bone caused a bleed in my brain. I spent two weeks on life-support, three months comatose, and an additional year in a wheelchair. Soon after the injury happened, I was diagnosed with delayed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Because of the physical injury to my brain, I repressed most of the feelings and emotions connected with the assault and other trauma. I was living in an empty state of dissociation for a long time.

22

Although these problems are to be naturally expected following an incident like what I went through, it was not until three years had passed that I started to experience negative feelings and emotions associated with the assault.

While I have a noticeable physical disability, much of my disability is invisible. It was these less apparent disabilities that were often the hardest part of finding and maintaining a satisfactory career.

For people with disabilities, especially those entering or continuing in the workforce or in school,

self-advocacy is a vital necessity.

Having both a physical and a psychological disability, self-advocacy has often been excruciatingly difficult. The long term physical effects of the brain injury caused me to become extremely fatigued at times, brought on by overexertion. Add to that a long battle with insomnia. While these physical consequences curbed my career paths, overcoming the emotional issues I had freed me to enjoy life in ways I never thought possible.

My first job was that of a resident advisor (R.A.) at Seneca College (dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

ď –

y

It is still d i f f i c u lt for me to

reflect

on the fact that I was in Toronto, ON. The sheer excitement of being selected for the position was comparable only to the enthusiasm of applying for it. I was even sleeping better in anticipation of the selection process.

The day of the interview, I went over and over in my mind as to what I was going to say. My concise plan was to lay out the cards about my situation. I was going to tell them straight out that I was injured and had a few physical difficulties while emphasizing my abilities and strengths. At the time, the emotional effects of the crime jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

were not bothering me, so I did not see any need to let my prospective employers know about them.

The first year flew by. The experience was fun, and nourished my future plans and self-esteem.

And, despite my physical barriers, my performance was always successful. However, the insomnia and fatigue soon returned but this time coupled with new found difficulties that arose from the injury. These difficulties were unusual and frightening — I had never experienced them in such intensity before.

unreliable in my

job. I tried.

Believe

me, I tried.

23

Then, as a second year resident advisor, my education, work and social life progressively slid downhill. One of the responsibilities of an R.A. is to stay on call when on shift. There were several times when I was simply too exhausted to respond to those calls. Now, thinking back to those moments, I’m filled with self-

of my emotional distress was clearly palpable to everyone around me.

I was always very intelligent but the injury that I sustained, accompanied by a number of earlier traumas, had eaten away at my self-esteem, selfawareness and the ability to interpret other’s intentions. These thoughts existed on a subconscious level and, even though I wasn’t aware of their existence, would continue to intrude on almost everything I did. This was what I really needed help with. My condition continued to get worse until I found a counsellor to help me work out my past. Only now, through expressing these trapped emotions, do I realize what effect the trauma had on me as an individual. Practising self-advocacy and assertion has been enlightening, allowing me to reactivate and strengthen my abilities.

Although I still have great difficulties, I know that I am improving and can contribute a lot. In addition to working To me, disability means just that: through past trauma with my counsellor, writing about life is all about restrictions. They the strengths and weaknesses I possessed has helped.

One thing that I learned to be terhate. It is still difficult for me to re- ribly detrimental to my confidence flect on the fact that I was unreliable and self-awareness was isolation. in my job. I tried. Believe me, I tried. Having such horrible anxiety about My self-esteem was diminished as a social situations, I sought to avoid result of the overwhelming waves of a lot of people and a lot of experiemotion and thoughts, and I caved ences. Perhaps it is ironic that isolain on myself. I became increasingly tion only perpetuates anxiety and a frightened of revealing my emotional lack of self-confidence; the only way problems to my employers and co- to improve was to be around people, workers. I was scared that my dis- then slowly integrate new experiabilities might, in some way, affect ences into my life. Learning the tools my position with the campus resi- of self-advocacy takes time, effort dence. But still, I continued, trying and a lot of practice. But it’s a very the hardest I could. But the fallout worthwhile commitment.



a restriction. But

are things to be overcome.

24

While I still live with physical barriers, they do not stop me. Having overcome a very near-fatal injury, and the subsequent emotional fallout, I see myself as a stronger individual.

I’ve a new found respect for who I am, what I have accomplished, and who I know I can be.

The last job that I held, I was able to apply, train and work assertively and confidently. I was intimidated and anxious entering my employer’s office. But the moment that I disclosed my disability was one I will never forget. In return for my honesty, I received a warm smile and asked what I would need to work there.

There is no escaping the negative ideas and restrictions that my disability placed on me but that does not mean that I was unable to work or to continue my studies. Psychological and emotional restraints definitely hindered my performance but fortunately, I was able to triumph over these complications. To me, disability means just that: a restriction. But life is all about restrictions. They are things to be overcome. At the same time, having a disability can create absolute advantages. Having a disability, in my perspective, offers an amazing set of skills, each pertaining to the individual’s own experience. I was blessed with a more sincere empathy.

Nobody can speak up for you like you can. You have to be willing to acknowledge and believe that you deserve a life. You need to define what your limitations are in terms of your working environment, and know that you have a right to work, to learn and to enjoy life.

by Jonathan Wamback

 (dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

Image (Previous Page): © iStockphoto.com/Peeter Viisimaa

When these emotions started to encroach on my consciousness, my job performance became increasingly difficult. The following year, I was selected again as a resident advisor but the enchantment I had for the position the first time around was absent. My own problems began to eat away at my self-esteem. Plus, there were a great many other problems that arose with my PTSD, all of which tattered and stained my capacity to stay aware, to cope effectively with what was going on around me, and to speak up for myself.

速 - Unilever Canada Inc. Used under license

the autistic rev Transforming the stigmatized into the specialized, entrepreneur Thorkil Sonne’s efforts are the latest volleys in the battle to change the perception of disabilities in the workplace.

Young Canadians entering the workforce in the last few years have been greeted by warnings and war-stories; dour advice from those who have braved a bootstrapped job market and a cascading recession.

For those with disabilities, prospects become that much scarcer, and the uphill pursuit of professional success might well seem impossible. Though this is often a lonely struggle, both federal and provincial governments have a host of administrative and financial supports available to eligible applicants capable of navigating the labyrinthine bureaucracy. Despite the best intentions, however, these projects all share a common (and perhaps fatal) flaw by focusing on the suppression or ‘management’ of symptoms, and an unspoken goal of teaching those with disabilities how best to emulate their more ‘normal’ peers.

This approach is at odds with the innovative business model of entrepreneur Thorkil Sonne, whose company Specialisterne (specialistpeople.com) not only caters to the unique difficulties of disabilities in the workforce, but welcomes them. The Danish company, whose name translates to ‘the Specialists’, actively seeks out young professionals with disabilities, providing them with the training and support needed to harness their strengths for a career in information technology. As an industry that prizes logic, focus, and mathematical insight, IT is perfectly matched to the ‘symptoms’ typically found in those diagnosed with disorders on the autistic spectrum. This compatibility isn’t just optimism or theory, either — since its founding in 2004, Specialisterne has grown to employ 26

over 50 individuals with autism and grosses over C$2 million a year.

In discussing his inspiration and successes, Sonne conveys an air of humble conviction despite his company’s ambitious mandate and the imminent launch of a sister project in Scotland. “The first seven years have been hardest,” he explains simply, “now it is a matter of expansion.”

The story of Specialisterne is similarly straightforward, but no less touching; after his son Lars’ diagnosis of autism in 2004, Sonne sought to educate himself about the condition, becoming involved with the Danish Autism Association and learning what opportunities and difficulties the future might hold for his family. Eventually, convinced that fulfilling employment held the key to improving quality of life for those with disabilities, Specialisterne was born, though there remained

a significant gulf between conception and execution. “I knew what I wanted to do,” Sonne explains with a wry laugh, “but was not sure how to do it… Social reason excluded, it was hard to be a pioneer; banks in Denmark have little experience with social enterprises [such as this].”

Quitting his job and mortgaging his home, Sonne committed himself fully to the cause, and even after his profitable success (amid a global downturn, no less) he plans to aim even higher — Specialisterne Scotland (a non-profit project in cooperation with the National Autistic Society Scotland and the Autism Resource Center) will be launching in early 2011, and further expansion is being overseen by the Specialist People Foundation, with an ultimate goal of 1 million ‘specialist’ jobs internationally. (dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

volution

//

by Austin Bahadur

As altruistic as it might seem at first glance, the reasoning behind Specialisterne is actually based on some hard and fast economic facts.

Sonne’s description of the business model emphasizes reassuringly practical terms — the need in Denmark to maintain a domestic workforce, the ultimate goal of transforming perceived disabilities into a “competitive advantage,” and the high-stakes nature of the current global market.

Furthermore, he explains that after a downturn such as this one, consumer expectations rest on more than profitability; they expect social responsibility. This last touches on an interesting perspective — that some degree of moral reassurance is just as important as fiscal trends, and that (cynicism aside) humanitarian values need not be anathema to economic viability. jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

For the moment, however, these potentially lofty goals are being approached in a decidedly staid and scrupulous manner, with the opening of future branches (especially any forays into the North American market) being reliant on a solid foundation of experience and financing.

Though it may be some time before Specialisterne Canada is launched, this continent has its own trailblazers in the field of disability inclusion and ‘neurodiversity’ — individuals like Kim Peek (the real-life inspiration for Hoffman’s character in Rain Man) and livestock-consultant-turned-author Temple Grandin. Attitudes toward autism, and towards intellectual and psychiatric disabilities in general, have shifted dramatically in the past few decades due to the activism and celebrity of these ‘savants’, but it’s important to note, though, that less

than 10 percent of those with autism possess such high-functioning and dramatic abilities and that for both them and the majority of those diagnosed, there are often significant social obstacles to the “meaningful and productive” jobs that Sonne envisions. Organizations such as Toronto’s Geneva Centre for Autism (autism.net) and the Autism Society Canada have their own non-profit equivalents to Specialisterne’s employment preparation program, helping to achieve what Sonne views as the ideal outcome of this perceptual shift — that there will be no need for ‘specialist’ companies in the future, and inclusive hiring practices simply being a hallmark of successful businesses.

Given the broad implications of such a goal, it’s almost possible to forget that the foundation originated with a single toddler, scarcely old enough to play with Lego, the famous Danish toy being one of the methods used to convey technological concepts in the Specialist People Foundation’s training program. Lars, now 13, is described by his father as being bright and keen to learn, with ambitions of some day joining Specialisterne’s workforce as an instructor, though only for a short while before pursuing other things. “I didn’t make the company for him; he wants to do other things,” Sonne admits, his tone a mixture of pride and amusement, before summarizing his parental and philanthropic hopes with characteristic simplicity: “All I want is that he’ll be understood and respected for his skills and personality.”

27

DisabilityAwards.ca Canada’s portal to awards and scholarships for students with disabilities 28

(dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

The

by Jason Rhyno

Image: Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock

Attitude

Barrier

We can demolish stairs and install ramps.

Doors can be made of lighter materials so that they are easy to open, walls can be torn down, and furniture can be modified.

New building codes can be implemented and enforced.

Advocacy groups, a functioning parliament, inspired designers, and construction workers come together to create a physical world where anyone can move freely between, within, and around the buildings where we work, play and sleep.

The process may be layered with stops and starts, and take longer than we like, but eliminating barriers to accessibility isn’t impossible; it gets done.

ďƒ˛ jobpostings.ca | fall2010 | (dis)ability book

29

“I find it surprising that so many people have negative attitudes about what a person with a disability can accomplish when you consider that almost everybody has people with disabilities in their family or amongst friends,” Frank Smith, Director of NEADS, admits over the phone from his office in Ottawa, ON. “They’re aware of the barriers and of the problems that people with disabilities face, but they are also aware of how accomplished their family members or friends are who have disabilities.”

And, if we remember, once upon a time the majority of North American males thought that females shouldn’t work or have the right to vote, even though they lived with, and loved their wives, daughters and mothers. It’s a baffling, but ultimately very human paradox.

For Smith, the mainstream media needs to do a better job of covering disability and the accomplishments of people with disabilities.

30

“I think that it’s happening, albeit slowly,” he admits optimistically, pointing to the fact that the Paralympics have gotten more coverage lately. While this is true, a Victoria’s Secret store opening receives front-page treatment while a story on a profitable IT company that only employs people with autism is relegated to the back page, if it gets covered at all. Tall, leggy blondes in push-up bras sell newspapers; a person with a disability who becomes a doctor does not. If the front page of a newspaper was a position with a company, the Victoria's secret blonde would be hired over the smart, talented person with a disability. “The worst type of discrimination in the workplace isn’t the kind where somebody says ‘I won’t hire you because you’re in a wheelchair,’” Smith explains. “It’s somebody who goes through the exercise of interviewing somebody who is a wheelchair user but right from the start decides they are not going to hire them.”

“The worst barrier is an attitudinal barrier,” explains Madeleine Meilleur, Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services. She’s referring to common myths employers have when they consider hiring a person with a disability. “You are going to be sick more often, be away from work more often, if it doesn’t work I won’t be able to get rid of you— these are all misconceptions, they are myths.” So what Minister Meilleur and the government of Ontario decided to do was launch a campaign that attacked these stereotypes head on, appropriately named ‘Don’t Waste Talent.’

“It’s a promotional campaign aimed at recognizing people with disabilities as a widely undiscovered source of talent,” she explains. Alongside a surprisingly well-designed and functionally efficient website, the campaign includes sessions for employers where they can learn about hiring people with disabilities. Interestingly, it isn’t the government telling employers what to do, but companies who regularly hire people with disabilities instead. “Having employers like TD Bank speak to the potential employers about these myths goes a long way. They see, not by testimony from the government, but from their peers saying ‘No, that’s not true, and I will never hesitate to hire someone with a disability.’”

It’s a step in the right direction, but we need more campaigns that target how people with disabilities are viewed, and we need to approach it with the same fervor that we approach the elimination of physical barriers. Smith remembers a time when schools were quite averse to making their buildings acceptable. “We’d get people who would say ‘Well, we don’t really need to do that because we only have Mary in a wheelchair on campus.’

If the only person with a visible physical disability is that one person, then it may have something to do with the fact that your university is so brutally inaccessible that nobody who is a wheelchair user wants to attend.

If you build it, they will come. And it’s the same thing with attitudes.”

(dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

Image: StockXchng.com

What doesn’t get done, however, is the removal of attitudinal barriers, especially as it pertains to employment for people with disabilities.

Sure, many large corporations are implementing policies based around equality, and hiring more people with disabilities amongst various other initiatives, but what we need more than anything is a unified effort to change attitudes and misconceptions about people with disabilities in much the same way as we eliminate the physical barriers.

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edu-ma-cation

Jumping Ship

Think carefully before you drop out of school

You’re smart, innovative and talented, but for some reason, post-secondary school isn’t agreeing with you. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Walt Disney: none of these guys made it through school, and they went on to become innovators in their respective fields. However, the one thing that those young minds did before dropping out was, after some self-reflecting and discussing (Gates reportedly bounced it off his parents), make a game-plan.

They knew where they were going and what they were risking. Do you?

an expensive, valuable piece of paper // The national dropout rate has been climbing

It is possible to make a decent living without a degree, but on average, university grads pull in 75 percent more over their lifetimes than someone with only a high school diploma.

Dr. Jason Laker, associate VP and dean of student affairs at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, often sees his students analyzing whether their education will pay off. “The cost of tuition has risen significantly. When people are having to work to pay, obviously their cost-benefit analysis looks a little different than it did before.”

Money is the primary reason for student dropouts, but one that Raymond P. Perry, professor of psychology at the University of Manitoba, is reluctant to accept. “By that argument, you would never have had people going to university in the Depression Era,” he points out, explaining that blaming soaring tuition is a way for students to express feelings of lack of control or motivation.

by Emily Minthorn 32

got motivation? //

It’s important to look beyond the economic factors.

Assessing your reasons behind going to university is crucial. Pursuing a degree because it’s a status symbol or to satisfy your parents are external motivators. “If they’re the only ones that are driving your persistence, they’re probably not sufficient for an optimal university experience,” he says, adding that the if students feel motivated and engaged, then there are few mitigating factors that can significantly derail them.

Feeling in control is key. “It has to do with the way you explain the things that are happening around you; that explanation will determine your motivation towards these things. Subsequently, motivation will determine your performance. If you explain your life experiences in terms of uncontrollable attributions, you have no influence in altering them, and you feel you need to be out of there.” It ultimately comes down to students refocusing their mindset. “Universities can only

do so much,” Professor Perry says.

Thankfully, universities have a litany of academic and social resources to support struggling students, like career and disability services.

the answer is still “no” //

Resources and counselling aside, some students will still drop out. Assuming that decision has been made, Dr. Laker advises not to avoid the discussion. “Every day that goes by is another day closer to any deadlines.

In order to keep all your options available, it’s better to act in a timely fashion and find out when the drop deadline is.” You can often get some of your tuition back, and if you leave in good academic standing, most universities have provisions for you to re-enroll. If you simply stop going to classes, you end up with bad grades and that’s on your transcript.

“The most important thing,” Dr. Laker says, “is to try not to shut down. Even if you’re overwhelmed, intimidated, or ashamed, know that there are other students who go through this.” (dis)ability book | fall2010 | jobpostings.ca

Image: Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock

steadily for years and one of the most common reasons is that university is expensive.

When polled, students cite financial woes as their primary reason for dropping out.

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