Support Grows for Disabled Job Seekers

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Lucy Shi, a job seeker who has a genetic condition that causes short stature, says she's happy to be singled out as a disability candidate as she hunts for a position in New York.

A graduate of New York University, Ms. Shi, 25, recently interviewed with several Wall Street firms at a recruiting event geared toward people with disabilities who aim to develop professional business careers. "It's hard to have a disability that's so visible, and it's just nice to be able to talk to recruiters without competing with the rest of the world," says Ms. Shi, who believes many interviewers view her as a child because of her height.

There are 22 million working-age Americans with disabilities who have come of age under the Americans With Disabilities Act -- passed 16 years ago this month -- which helps to prevent job discrimination against qualified disabled individuals. But only 38% of the nation's working-age disabled have a job, compared with 78% of able-bodied people.

Over the past few years, companies have begun taking bigger steps to bring more of the disabled into the professional work force. The latest effort is partly due to the efforts of Rich Donovan, a former Merrill Lynch trader who has cerebral palsy, a disability that limits his speech and movement.

Mr. Donovan recalls the resistance he met from many recruiters who weren't sure he was nimble enough to perform the physical aspects of a busy trader's job. Even his mentors at Columbia University's business school tried to talk him out of it, saying he'd make a "fine risk manager." He was hired at Merrill and quickly hatched a plan to get more disabled people hired at the firm.

Mr. Donovan's idea was based on the premise that corporate America should recruit and give qualified people with disabilities the same sort of opportunities that his firm -- and most big companies -- already had in place for minorities and women.

Merrill agreed to give it a try, and in 2006 Mr. Donovan founded LimeConnect, with the company as its first partner. Today, the organization matches disabled college-level and professional candidates through private recruiting efforts led by its four major partners: Merrill, Goldman Sachs, PepsiCo and Google. Last fall, Lime helped its partners source more than 300 disabled internship candidates from two dozen universities, including Harvard, M.I.T., Princeton and Georgetown. In May, Lime invited 60 candidates for job interviews in New York; at least a dozen have been invited back for further interviews.

It isn't just a goodwill gesture, say Lime's partner companies. "There's a business case for hiring people with disabilities. This is a market we need to, and want to, tap into as much as we can," says Ron Parker, chief diversity and inclusion officer at PepsiCo.

Corporations are casting a wider net for good reasons. With the labor pool shrinking, U.S. employers will face a shortage of 20 million workers by 2020 as baby boomers retire. What's more, one out of every 10 consumers is a person with a disability, representing $200 billion in annual buying power, according to the National Organization on Disability in Washington.

"We want to be an organization that reflects the globally diverse audience that our search engine and tools serve," says Jordan Bookey, Google's global-diversity and inclusion programs manager, who used Lime to find applicants for its new diversity summer internship program.

Building a disability candidate pipeline isn't easy, as many companies still lack a centralized talent pool from which to draw. Still, companies can join corporate partnerships, such as Lime, or become members of one of several nonprofit organizations geared toward linking disabled professionals with corporations.

One group, the National Business & Disability Council, runs a diversity-internship program called Emerging Leaders. The program was founded by consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. and now has more than 30 corporate members, including AIG, KPMG, Liz Claiborne and Procter & Gamble. It has placed 75 students in summer internships since 2005.

Booz Allen's efforts to hire people with disabilities began at the top: Its chairman and CEO, Ralph Shrader, has a son with disabilities. "Finding a job -- and gaining the significant benefits that come with employment -- is difficult, but when the right opportunity comes together, the rewards for the employee and the company are extraordinary," Dr. Shrader says.

The group also hosts an annual invitation-only Wall Street job fair for candidates seeking jobs at financial-services firms, including Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. Last fall, Merrill also hosted a Wall Street consortium with business and government leaders to explore strategies for recruiting and retaining people with disabilities.

"We're making an intellectual-capital decision," says Elizabeth Wamai, head of global campus recruiting at Merrill. "To continue to win in this business, we need the creative eclectic approaches that different people bring."

Companies like KPMG say they also work to attract candidates by changing their workplace to include more professionals with disabilities. Creating an employee network for the disabled, establishing disabled-specific mentoring programs, or changing benefits to allow for time off for medical issues can make a difference.

KPMG recently launched a disabilities network, and this year, Eastman Kodak, IBM and Pepsi all landed on DiversityInc's Top 10 Companies for People with Disabilities list in part because they run employee networks geared toward disabilities. PepsiCo's EnAble network gained fame when it sponsored a Super Bowl commercial featuring two deaf employees.

By SUZANNE ROBITAILLE- Wall Street Journal

New EU legislation to give more rights to disabled air passengers

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New EU legislation has been introduced to give disabled travellers more rights. Disabled air passengers will receive more help when using EU airports.

Disabled travellers are to benefit from the new EU legislation that states all passengers with a disability or suffering from reduced mobility must be given suitable help throughout the whole airport process, reports leading charity Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Airports must give disabled passengers assistance from checking in to boarding the plane. This responsibility previously fell to both airlines and airports. To ensure that the holiday continues in the same vein, holidaylettings.co.uk offers wheelchair-adapted holiday homes for holidaymakers set to benefit from the new legislation.

The new EU legislation for disabled passengers has been welcomed by Leonard Cheshire Disability, which has been campaigning for greater rights for disabled passengers through its Now Boarding campaign. Katie Turner from the charity said: "Disabled people are still facing barriers when using air travel, when they should enjoy the same opportunities that most of us take for granted.

"We want to see air travel providers take this new directive seriously and equip their staff with the skills and understanding to support disabled customers."

A recent survey by the charity revealed that 61 per cent of respondents had experienced difficulties when boarding a plane. Disabled passengers will now be able to voice their concerns with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to ensure that the new legislation is properly enforced.

This story was brought to you by holidaylettingsco.uk, the UK's No.1 holiday home website.

Health Tips For Old Age - Get A Long And Healthy Life

Everyone wants to be healthy and vigorous throughout their life. But more so being healthy in old age is just like a boon. Since, old age brings with itself many health problems and if you are not taking complete care of yourself then these diseases becomes hard to cure and manage in old age. Here are given some useful health tips for old age:

Drink enough water:

It cleanses your body machinery and helps your heart in functioning well. Drinking of enough water will keep away chances of kidney stone and urine problem. It will also keep you looking young and active along with natural glow on your face.

Exercise regularly:

Inclusion of regular exercise in your daily life is the best health tips for old age. Exercising will not only help in promoting brain regeneration but also obviate decline in body parts. Practice any form on exercise depending on what you and your body can manage. Talk to you health care provider on what exercise you should undertake in your old age. Seniors can also use yoga which generates flexibility and balance in their body.

Well balanced diet:

Well balanced diet plays a very important part in keeping you healthy in old age. Avoid taking rich food like sweets, high stuffed and fried. As it will leave impact on your lever and may result in damaging it. You should add calcium rich diet as it will strengthen your bones. In old age teeth becomes week and so diet should also be soft cooked so that it intake is easy. Add fruits, vegetables and greens in your daily diet to maintain your health in old age. Proper nutritional food keeps many diseases away and also save you from common problems of aging. Addition of nutrition food can save from problem like obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and osteoporosis as these are generally prevalent nutrition related health problems which occur in old age.

Be happy and engage in recreational activities:

During old age, Factors like social isolation, low income and depression affect health in old age. Loneliness is a common problem in old age and leads to related problems. During this time, it becomes all the more important for seniors to take on some activity which occupy their time. Take part in social activities and indulge in pursuing your hobbies in spare time. Make friends and make use of their company to keep yourself active and happy.

Be happy and visit your doctor regularly:

During old age, seniors should take deep care of their health. This includes a regular visit to a health care professional. You should visit and consult your doctor regularly and try to implement all the suggestions and precautions given by your doctor.

Health in old age is not that hard to have and maintain. All you need is to follow some simple steps which can be easily included in your daily life without much effort. Most likely you are to know them already but now is the time to get started.

Good health is not a struggle, nor it is an extraordinary feat. Healthy living is about understanding what your body needs and what is good for it. Re-discover good health in a simple way with Tania Hackner and make good health a way of living!.For more information and advice on Health tips for old age Please visit us at http://www.whatyouneedtoknow.co.in

Social Security Disability - Not So Easy For Someone With a Mental Illness

My experience with Social Security has been a rough one. In the beginning, my family and I did not want to consider it because we thought it would be easy for me to get a job. However, it was not so easy. The first time I went to their office I had to wait a long time for the clerk to give me an application. The long lines were terrible and so overcrowded.

After I finished with the application, I sent it to Social Security and within weeks received an answer. It stated that although I have difficulty in stressful situations; based on my age and education I could have done a job with simple tasks. What Social Security does not comprehend is that there is a need for accommodations in order to get a job and keep it depending on the severity of a person's mental illness. They do not realize how stressful job interviews are, why disclosure is so difficult, and how hard it is to maintain a job with today's technology.

After the first rejection, I filed another application form for reconsideration. This time Social Security realized that I have Bipolar Disorder, which has given me difficulty concentrating and relating to people, and they still felt that I could work doing simple tasks. How could they say this to me when they know I have a serious mental illness? How can a person work when there are issues and problems that the mentally ill are facing? For instance, stigma, discrimination, etc.

I thought my battle with Social Security was a lost cause until I was advised to see a lawyer. The first thing I had to do was to fill out a request for a hearing, so a judge could decide my case. When I saw the judge, he could see how nervous I was, and at the hearing the judge agreed that I should get my Social Security Disability benefits.

I feel this whole system is ridiculous and unfair to those who suffer from a disability. To go through this struggle every time Social Security reviews your case can damage a person's mental health even more.

If I had a book that would have helped me at that time, I probably would have received it the second time around, if not the first. I probably would not have to get a lawyer either. However, the book was not available at that time.

Today, there is a book on how to help people with Bipolar Disorder or other mental illnesses to win Social Security Disability Benefits. The book is called "Bipolar's Guide to Winning Social Security Disability". Although it is a specifically geared toward people with Bipolar Disorder it can be used for other mental illnesses too. It is an excellent book to get and I wish they had such a book in my time, it would have made things a whole lot easier.

For those of you who have Bipolar Disorder or any other mental illness, I strongly recommend that you buy this book, especially if you are applying for Disability. Do not worry how much this book will cost, it is for your benefit if you have not found a job yet and will help you get some income for yourself and be more productive and independent in your life.

My name is Linda Baron Katz and I have Bipolar Disorder and as you see from my experience with Social Security, it is not an easy process, so buy the book and it will tell you everything you need to know about getting Social Security and the incentives that you need to know once you have your benefits. To visit my blog go to: http://bipolardisorder-march21.blogspot.com/2008/02/getting-social-security-disability.html

The Rules Of Etiquette with Wheelchair Users

As a group, the wheelchair users are always receiving long stares or funny type looks. Usually those unfamiliar with wheelchairs will begin to act weird or funny when around those who use wheelchairs.

To avoid such occurrences from happening people should generally learn the particular rules for etiquette when they interact with those people confined in a wheelchair. To locate this information you merely have to perform an internet search to discover everything you may want to know concerning the subject.

The initial rule concerning etiquette when you're interacting with these people in a wheelchair or a power chair is to keep in mind not to focus upon their disability. Focus instead on the person themselves. An additional rule concerning etiquette is during the process of shaking their hands. In the event the wheelchair person has limited use of his limbs, this simple gesture will create a leisure tone for the social interaction which will provide a feeling of ease.

An important rule to consider is that you should never rock the wheelchair nor lean on it. An electric or manual chair may appear as an inanimate object only but the truth of the matter is their chair is just as much a part of them as your arm or your leg is to you.

Remember to speak to the wheelchair user as you would anyone else. They are no different then any other person. Other rules may apply and these include permitting children to ask a question concerning people in a wheelchair. Since curiosity is a normal occurrence in children this open communications will assist in avoiding fear and getting the wrong attitude.

It's not difficult to hold a conversation with someone who is confined in a wheelchair. Often those people who aren't confined in a wheelchair have questions or issues concerning the interaction with someone in the wheelchair. There are certain rules of etiquette which do exist. Simply by completing a search of the internet one can discover all that is needed to know concerning how to interact with anyone who may be using a motorized or manual wheelchair. As in other interactions in life etiquette represents a great skill when interacting with handicapped people.

Copyright @2008 Joseph Parish

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