80 days. I graduate in 80 days.
Excuse me while I take a deep breath and hold back a tear or two.
Ah…glad you didn’t have to witness that.
While college thrives off the unexpected deadlines and mental overloads, it encourages intellectual growth. And even if my time at Xavier University is almost up, “senioritis” is not in full swing. I am still learning and growing. And I’ve got proof.
I get it. It’s only February. However, my senior capstone has significantly impacted the remainder of my college experience. As a result, I have become extremely passionate about defending the labor rights of the developmentally disabled and I encourage employers to hire these men and women, instead of stigmatizing them.
An Overview
On January 9, 2017, I kicked off my semester with my senior seminar capstone for public relations. The course is based on polishing students’ public relations skills in order to prepare them for exerting their knowledge for a real client. With a group consisting of six members, they would create a campaign for their assigned client.
My group, Resonance Relations, was assigned to work for Melodic Connections.
Melodic Connections is a Cincinnati-based music therapy studio, which provides services to developmentally disabled citizens of all ages. Even though Melodic Connections is a performance-based organization, their extensive programs teach their students about teamwork, effective communication, and problem solving. The organization firmly believes that lessons such as these are ones that will hopefully assist their students in becoming an active participant of their community. And while there are many ways for one to engage in the community, Melodic Connections ultimately hopes their efforts will also lead their students into employment.
Campaign Goal
In order to understand the goal of Resonance Relations, it is helpful to understand what public relations is.
Public relations is built on principles of perception. Practitioners manage the spread of information between an organization and the public. They inform, persuade, and attempt to make a positive impression. However, practitioners are more likely to struggle when representing an organization that is associated with negative feelings or public opinions. This can also be referred to as stigma.
Sadly, the developmentally disabled are apart of a subculture that is severely stigmatized. And due to their association with Melodic Connections, the organization is also stigmatized.
How can potential employers trust the students or the organization, if both parties are victims of stigma?
According to academic research, stigma can be reduced through increased awareness.
Conclusively, the goal of our campaign is to increase awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding Melodic Connections. As a result, Resonance Relations and Melodic Connections hope that businesses will become more inclined to employ the developmentally disabled.
Why Am I Frustrated?
Research suggests that education and normalization are two strong tactics that reduces stigma and increases awareness. Of course, these are great tactics for Resonance Relations to implement when combating the stigma associated with Melodic Connections and the developmentally disabled. Such tactics could truly assist in breaking down the barrier between Melodic Connection students and employers.
Light bulb.
With an employment rate of the developmentally disabled at 17.5% in 2015, why does society refrain from using the same tactics that practitioners might execute? By acting idly, we are adding to the stigma.
Education
To fully understand something, one is to become educated.
For example, in a study regarding mental illness, participants were given examples of those with depression, as well as, their biological backgrounds and facts. By including background information and facts, the participants’ negative feelings towards mental illness decreased. The researchers concluded that education, “replaced people’s myths about depression with accurate scientific concepts.”
With that being said, is there a way that we can educate society? Through education, can society better understand the developmentally disabled?
Normalization
It is no surprise that those apart of stigmatized populations are ones that are viewed or treated differently than others. To decrease the stigmatized view, one could turn to interaction or exposure.
For example, when I first interacted with a developmentally disabled, I wrongly stigmatized them. However, through multiple interactions, my negative feelings or apprehension towards them decreased. This is because my experience humanized the developmentally disabled. There are even experiences such as my own that the reduced stigma against ex-convicts who suffer from mental illnesses.
Both examples touch on normalization.
Barriers Vs. Benefits
- © The Leader
Barriers
Reports indicate that the employment rates of adults with disabilities are significantly lower than those without a disability. Even further, there are not enough jobs for the developmentally disabled to apply to. Many businesses indicate that their line of would not be appropriate for the developmentally disabled given their circumstances. In turn, this results in a more difficult job search. With this information, it is natural to question the barriers that contribute to such statistics.
In 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that barriers pertaining to the employment of the developmentally disabled included lack of transportation, education or training, the need for special assistance, as well as, the disability of the potential employee itself.
In terms of transportation, although it is widely available, those with disabilities are unlikely to make use of the system due to cost, accessibility, inconvenient hours, unreliability, and difficulty in understanding how to use the source of transportation.
Additionally, those who are developmentally disabled often require special accommodations such as reduced hours, special workplace stations, as well a, accessibility features such as parking or a nearby transportation stop and elevators.
When factors such as these are considered, the employment opportunities of the developmentally disabled become limited.
Benefits
Believe it our not there are benefits to hiring one who is developmentally disabled.
Employers who hire the developmentally disabled are qualified for the Barrier Removal Tax Deduction, the Disabled Access Credit, and tax credit. The In terms of accessibility barriers, the Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction credits businesses with funds to use depending on whether or not the business needs to remove or improve the architectural or transportation barrier that may hinder ones work capability. If a small business is hiring, the Disabled Access Credit will provide them with a nonrefundable tax credit that allows them to employ the developmentally disabled, as they acquire expenditures. Lastly, the tax credit benefits employers as they are able to gain up to $9,6000, depending on the employee hired and how long they worked there.
Outside of such incentives, the developmentally disabled can be extremely productive and likable. They have been said to truly improve the work culture of businesses. In a study conducted by i4cp, a company that focuses on high-performance organizations found that all-inclusive workplaces with developmentally disabled employees lifts workplace attitudes and increases productivity through increased motivation. Additionally, customer satisfaction and retention improves. This positively reflects the brand image of the employer.
Tax incentives and an improved work culture? What’s not to like?
Conclusion
Like public relations practitioners, businesses should seriously consider investing in education and normalization tactics when regarding the employment of the developmentally disabled. As a result of this, stigma surrounding the developmentally disabled would be significantly reduced and employment rates would rise.
It’s time for the developmentally disabled to hear, “You’re hired.”
Work Cited
Sarah Rotte 