Getting in the door
For people with disabilities, finding employment can be a frustrating process
In 2013, Daniel Share-strom was working hard but hardly working. Fresh out of Ontario Tech University with an honours degree in communications, he did what most grads did — begin the arduous process of looking for a job. But he had about as much luck as a turkey on Thanksgiving. Being on the autism spectrum didn’t help.
One year ticked by, then two, then three. Nothing.
“I had a lot of difficulty with the job search process: Putting applications together, getting resumés out, doing the cover letters, making cold calls. And then I don’t do the greatest in interviews because they’re not really designed for me,” he says.
“You have to do the eye contact thing, and sometimes I need a few extra seconds to think about an answer, which they can take to mean that I don’t know or that I’m not confident. There was just basically a big series of obstacles, and it started to pile up and weigh on my mental health as well, making things worse and harder.”
Finally, Share-strom landed a part-time gig as the co-ordinator of marketing and communications for Community Living Ontario, a non-profit that advocates for people with intellectual disabilities. But it didn’t work out long term, and the 29-year-old from Bradford, Ont., soon found himself back at square one.
As seen in the third season of the documentary series Employable Me, airing on AMI-TV, Sharestrom’s story is all too familiar to those who have a physical disability or neurological condition and are also looking for work.
Statistics Canada reports that 51 per cent of people aged 25 to 64 with disabilities were unemployed in 2011, compared to 21 per cent of people that age without. And of those with disabilities, 12 per cent said they were refused a job in the previous five years because of their condition.
According to Jonathan Alderson, an autism specialist who appears in Employable Me, the cumulative cost of disability unemployment may be bigger than you think.
“To keep someone through their entire adulthood on disability (benefits) is much more expensive than job-training them, doing the work to get employers to employ them, and having them earn their own living. Someone sitting at home who becomes depressed now has mental health issues. Someone sitting at home isn’t using their body, so they’re more likely to have physical issues,” he says. “They want to contribute. And when you have the desire to work, but can’t because of the blocks — they don’t exactly know what they want to do, they have deep fear of being made fun of, or whatever the reason is — the cost to the individual is one of feeling worthless, or being a burden to their families. Those are pretty high prices to pay for simply not finding someone a job.”
One of the biggest challenges is that people with disabilities can’t always draw on the same life experiences as those without disabilities, which results in them not having a clear career direction. For example, someone who’s been a camp counsellor or volunteered as a playground supervisor might know they’d be a good teacher. If you don’t have those early experiences, it’ll take longer to figure that out. Another challenge, says Alderson, is getting an interview to begin with.
“There are still a lot of misconceptions about people with disabilities, judgments that are limiting. A lot of people think someone with autism wouldn’t be able to work in their company for X, Y and Z reasons, and they’re just basing that on maybe seeing Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man,” he says.
“Then there’s the belief that you’ll have to make so many accommodations and modifications — anything from having to build a wheelchair ramp to having to turn down the music in the warehouse because someone has hearing sensitivities. There’s a total reluctance in our society to make those accommodations. It comes down to inclusion.”
Share-strom adds that employers can also be more open to alternative ways of meeting and assessing prospective employees. “For instance, instead of having a discussion where you’re asking me what I can do, let me show you a project. Or if you think it’s important to have that discussion time, make it more informal — maybe meet at a coffee shop and have more of a conversation than a series of rapid-fire questions.”
Share-strom, who also has a postgrad degree in children’s media from Centennial College, urges employers to consider the benefits of hiring people with physical or intellectual disabilities.
In his case, he cites strong public speaking skills, attention to detail and having an alternative perspective on things.
“People on the spectrum really have a lot to offer that unfortunately isn’t usually recognized. It’s getting better, but there are so many of us who are at the bleeding edge of every industry — media, science, education, everything. I think one day one of us is going to find the cure for cancer, but first we’ve got to get in the door.”