Thomas Mcdonald was a man employed at Verizon for 14 years. He was known for his excellent customer service and outgoing sales. He was a hard working and dedicated employee, however after being in a car crash Mcdonald was left a paraplegic. While this incident was severely traumatizing for Mcdonald, his suffering did not stop there. He was then fired from his job at Verizon for having since-developed the disability (nj.com). This is a prime example of discrimination of the disabled in the work place. However, discrimination of the disabled occurs in schools as well. In fact, the disabled population is twice as likely to be unemployed (pacer.org). Furthermore, 60% of disabled students are bullied, while only 25 percent of regular students experience bullying. This makes their learning experience even more difficult, and is a form of harassment. This leads to poverty and poor mental health for the disabled and their families. In order for disabled people to be able to support themselves and be financially stable they need to receive a healthy education, and not be discriminated against because of their disability, which can be made possible by spreading awareness and further educating communities on the issue.
One of the most prominent forms of discrimination of the disabled comes from bullying in schools. Bullying can be detrimental to any child’s mental health and education, however children with disabilities already tend to struggle in school. For those who are physically and or mentally disabled, everyday tasks can become increasingly more difficult. Therefore, being successful in school can be incredibly stressful and difficult. This is supported by an article which stated that “Many students with disabilities are already addressing challenges in the academic environment. When they are bullied, it can directly impact their education.” (pacer.org) Bullying in school can cause depression and anxiety, and for disabled students this is already a common issue. This type of harassment is typically spurred because of the idealization that adolescents like to pick on others' “differences”. Ultimately, this makes disabled children much more susceptible to bullying from other students. In fact, the CDC supports this idea by suggesting that “Children who bully others also often target children who seem “different”. Children with disabilities are sometimes more likely to be bullied than children without disabilities.” (cdc.gov) Moreover, the negative experiences that these students have in school can deter them from attempting college and university, which will ultimately lead to unemployment. By spreading awareness on the discrimination of the disabled, students with disabilities will be able to receive a healthy and positive education, eventually helping them find a suitable career.
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Secondly, a very common form of discrimination can be seen in business organizations. While there are several acts in place to try and prevent this type of discrimination from happening, it is still an underlying issue that many people suffer from while looking for a suitable career. In fact, while there are laws to prevent this from happening many people are unaware. For the disabled community it is not uncommon to be turned down for a position, which is something that produces a lot of anxiety for those attempting to pursue a career. With the current statistics, disabled people everywhere fear the idea that they may not find an employer who is open and willing to hire a person with a disability. In fact, many people with disabilities are only able to work part-time. This is supported in an article by post-gazette which stated that “For people with disabilities, finding a job is hard and finding a full-time job is harder. The bureau found that a full third of the people with disabilities were working part time, while just a fifth of people who are not disabled work part time.” (post-gazette) Because of this, a large portion of the unemployed population is made up of disabled community. Furthermore, “The unemployment rate for persons with a disability was 8.0 percent in 2018, more than twice the rate of those with no disability (3.7 percent).” (bls.gov) Clearly the struggle to find work is evident for the disabled, which can lead to many other issues. By providing further education on discrimination for schools and businesses and spreading awareness on the issue, the disabled community will have a better opportunity at financial stability and success.
An unfortunate result of the discrimination of the disabled is poverty. When the disabled are unable to find jobs they are unable to support themselves and create a sustainable and healthy life which leads to poverty and homelessness. Moreover, the extent of the issue reaches such a severity that it is difficult to get exact data, considering that many homeless people are unaccounted for. Therefore, while the percentage of the homeless population is already high, the statistics are estimated to be far lower than the accurate percentage. This is suggested in a research paper which claimed that “People with disabilities constitute among the poorest and most vulnerable of all groups, and thus must be a core issue in development policies and programmes. Yet the relationship between disability and poverty remains ill-defined and under-researched, with few studies providing robust and verifiable data that examine the intricacies of this relationship.” (Taylor 7 Francis Online) This claim supports the idealization that discrimination of the disabled is quite clearly an issue which has severe consequences. The disabled community is poorly treated and represented in collective data. Moreover, this misrepresentation can also be related to discrimination as it is a community of people going unrecognized. This misrepresentation was recognized once more in an article which stated that “Due to the severe exclusion of disabled people from all areas of society, there is a serious lack of comparable or reliable data on incidence, distribution and trends of disability, let alone the extent of disabled people's poverty.” (Chronic Poverty and Disability) It is clear that disabled people and their struggles are being poorly recognized by society.
A leading consequence of this issue is that the disabled people are often left having to remain living with their guardian(s), seeing as they are unable to find a job to support themselves. The thought of this alone causes a great deal of stress, and can have a significant toll on the mental health of the guardian(s) and the disabled. Moreover, this means that the guardian(s) will have to consistently provide financial support, and have to live with the added stresses of taking care of a person with disabilities. Preparing their children for school, protecting them from harassment, taking care of their special needs, and finding appropriate learning techniques are few of the many added challenges that are faced when caring for a disabled person. In regards to caring for the disabled, an article suggested that “It may be associated with guilt, blame, or reduced self-esteem. It may divert attention from other aspects of family functioning.” (Impact of Child DIsability on the Family). Furthermore, the added stresses can appear endless when caring for a disabled person as caring for them can be significantly more difficult. The added tasks included in care for the disabled are also long-lasting, especially when it is so difficult for the disabled to find jobs. Moreover, it can become more challenging as the disabled person gets to be older. This idea is remarked in an article on disabilities which claimed that “Disability places a set of extra demands or challenges on the family system; most of these demands last for a long time (Murphy 1982).” (Impact of Disabilities on Families jrank.org).
Overall, the discrimination against those who are disabled has countless reprecussions that greatly impact the lives of their families and themselves. Living with a disability already makes everyday tasks in life more difficult, therefore it is evident that finding a suitable career would be quite challenging. Schools and business organizations play a big part in this ongoing discrimation. This is seen in the forms of bullying, harassment, exclusion, and unemployment. This type of mistreatment leads to irreparable damage such as depression for the disabled and their families, financial instability and poverty, and homelessness. Parents and Guardians of the disabled are often left being responsible for the disabled child for his/her entire life due to the high rate of unemployment and homlessness. This can cause a great deal of added stress for the guardian(s) who are already under more pressure to care for their disabled child. Moreover, the family then has to provide adequate finances for the child for the duration of their life. This type of discrimination is entirely injust and has evident consequences. By spreading awareness on the issue through schools and business organizations, the disabled will have a better chance at financial and overall success. This will aid in the prevention of depression for the disabled and their families, and lower the rate of unemployment and homelessness in the disabled community.
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