No Boundaries Employment Series - The Power of You - Disability.gov

Image via WikipediaBy Javier Robles, J.D., President of ThisAbled, LLC

Failure is not an option for people with disabilities, yet we face it every day. We experience the hardships of being unable to do what most people often take for granted. Sometimes it debilitates our ability to believe in the “power of me.” Think about it from my point of view just for a minute. I arrive at a store entrance and cannot open the door, or I go to the doctor and am unable to use the examining table, or I want to reach a book but end up dropping four. One may think that it does not really seem like a lot. However, compound that every day and times it by 10, 20 or 30 things that one has difficulty doing. Then, you are seeing a clearer picture of my life as a quadriplegic. The frustration should be enough to “cripple” me. It should make me unwilling to participate if I cannot participate fully. I propose to you that that is not the human spirit. No matter what the obstacles are, real or imagined, we persevere.

Forward thinking in a backwards world is what pushes people with disabilities to continue progressing, and at times, even existing. It is truly that little flickering light in us that withstands hurricane-size winds, which tells us that tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow will be better – not because I am an optimist by birth, but because I am a realist by experience. The truth is that the “power of me” is going to help me prepare for challenges that I will face. It will assist me in overcoming these challenges and assist others in finding their own power.

For example, I can help my daughter to understand that people with disabilities can work and live productive lives by modeling it for her. She sees that I am like every other parent, attending school activities and driving her to parties, Girl Scouts and the mall. I can build her perspective about who I am as a father with a disability. She will grow to believe that people with disabilities are a part of the societal fabric. Since she has been raised with a perspective which normalizes disability, she is able to see a person with a disability as having strengths and weaknesses, like anyone else.

Businesses, however, are not the type of entities that thrive on life experiences, like my daughter does. Their goal is to make money. Yes, some of them encourage the hiring of people with disabilities; however, this has not translated into greater employment opportunities for our community. So, what do we do to ensure the business community is engaged and sees potential in us? I think we can harness the collective power of our own disability-run and owned businesses to bring the rest into the fold. That is why I am in the process of developing a National Chamber of Commerce for business people with disabilities entitled, The American Federation of Business People with Disabilities. This body can act as a collective voice by empowering business owners with the tools necessary to succeed. In addition, by bringing in other corporations who normally might not be exposed to disability issues, we hope to form a strong coalition of business people with disabilities willing to work on economic empowerment. Here the “power of me” becomes the “power of we.”
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