A Hollywood documentary crew recently stopped by Kennedy Krieger Institute, and top on their list of people to meet were graduates from our Neurodiversity at Work program.
Exciting, right? Yes — and no. While we always welcome the opportunity to introduce our graduates to the greater community, we also look forward to the day when their role in the workforce is not so newsworthy.
Right now, it is, as more than 80% of people with disabilities are not part of the workforce, even as job vacancies remain in many industries. Every day, we see this very clear disconnect between those with disabilities — ready, willing and able to work — and companies that could be hiring them.
Employers are often hesitant to hire a job seeker with a disability, and executives worry over how this decision could affect the rest of their staff. They wonder, “Will this new hire create responsibilities for other team members, many of whom are under strain themselves?”
However, what we have seen, repeatedly,…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
