Furthering disability rights through inclusive education and employment

Issue title: Proceedings of the 26th Annual APSE National Conference 1-3 July 2014, Long Beach, California, USA

Article type: Other

Authors: Bachrach, Tammy^*

Affiliations: Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Tammy Bachrach, 5857 Painter Ave, Whittier, CA 90601, USA. Tel.: +1 562 756 1826; bachr100@mail.chapman.edu

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Despite disability rights advocacy and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, people with disabilities continue to be under employed in America. For the past 20 years vocational rehabilitation agencies have developed effective strategies to better prepare people for employment however, employment outcomes have not increased. OBJECTIVE: This article examines common employment strategies as they related to the medical model of disability and asserts that perhaps it is time to shift the focus of our efforts to examine and address employers’ misconceptions and bias’ regarding people with disabilities. CONCLUSION: The social model of disability is presented as an alternative that seeks to target change in attitude and awareness of those without disability through employer and inclusive education.

Keywords: Employment, medical model, social model, employer perceptions, inclusive education

DOI: 10.3233/JVR-150749

Journal: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 257-261, 2015