00:00Transcriber: Nawal Sharabati
Reviewer: David DeRuwe
00:09I have two graduate degrees -
one in education and one in public health.
00:15I started a food justice nonprofit
in New York City in 2016
00:19that is still active
and sustainable today.
00:23I launched a business,
and within one year,
00:26I was successful enough
to leave my full-time job.
00:29I am an international traveler
and public speaker,
00:34and I am a proud, disabled Latina woman.
00:39Are you thinking,
“But you don’t look disabled?”
00:43The easiest way to explain it
is I’m hard of hearing
00:45and wear hearing aids.
00:49This might surprise you,
so let me help everyone out here,
00:52make sure I look more like
the world’s idea of blindness.
01:06This is what blindness looks like, right?
01:13Well, blindness actually
looks like me, too.
01:16I have about 5% of my vision remaining
due to Usher syndrome.
01:20I see the world through
a little box like this.
01:24While I still have some usable vision,
I also benefit from using a white cane.
01:30Seven years ago, I interviewed
for a job in midtown New York City.
01:35Come with me through this experience,
01:37so that you can understand
what it was like.
01:42We leave our apartment early
to make sure we have plenty of time
01:45to travel to the interview,
because learning a new route is stressful.
01:50When we find the office building,
01:52we enter the lobby
and scan the area for the elevators.
01:55We look for people lining up
because that’s how we find the elevators.
02:00When an elevator arrives,
we let others enter first
02:04because we don’t want
to bump into anybody by accident,
02:07because we don’t have peripheral vision
and can’t see to the sides.
02:12When we arrive to the fifth floor,
we find the office door.
02:17We scan around the door
for a button or doorbell.
02:22We push the button
and cautiously walk inside.
02:26To the right is a reception desk.
02:29We walk slowly towards the desk.
02:33Somebody just walked
right in front of us in the hallway.
02:37We didn’t see them.
02:39Bumping into them
would have really thrown us off.
02:43After signing in,
we sit down in the waiting area.
02:47We start to scan the area around us
and get a sense of the office layout.
02:52We start to feel more comfortable ...
02:55that is until the interviewer
comes over to greet us.
02:58We know we cannot miss their handshake,
03:01or else we would not make
a good first impression.
03:04Because we can only see what we are
looking at with our little box of vision,
03:08we lean back a bit and look down,
anticipating a handshake.
03:16The interviewer asks us to follow them.
03:19We follow behind slowly to make sure
we do not bump into anything.
03:23When we arrive to a small office,
we quickly scan the room for obstacles.
03:27We take a few steps towards the chair,
03:30place a hand on the seat of the chair
to confirm it is where we think it is,
03:37We exhale a sigh of relief.
03:43Now we are finally done
with navigating all of the obstacles.
03:47We raise our chin up to face
the interviewer confidently.
03:50Now our brain can focus
solely on communicating
03:53why we are the best fit for this role -
04:00Like many disabled people,
04:02I hid my disability
during the interview process.
04:05Thanks to the work
of disability rights activists,
04:08the Americans With Disabilities
Act was passed in 1990.
04:11Because of this, I am protected by the ADA
04:14from discrimination
due to disability in the workplace.
04:18But, I was still scared.
04:20If the employer knew about my blindness,
04:23they might have thought:
“She’ll be an expensive employee.
04:27She can’t do the fieldwork
required for this role.”
04:31The employer could have assumed
what my capabilities were,
04:34what my limitations were,
04:35without asking me
and without understanding
04:37my actual lived experience.
04:40I bet you’ve heard
that honesty is the best policy,
04:43but is it really the best policy
when it comes to disclosing a disability
04:47when that could be the reason
you don’t get hired?
04:50While it is illegal,
discrimination is still happening.
04:56According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, in 2021,
04:59disabled people were about two times
more likely to be unemployed
05:04than non-disabled people.
05:07Many disabled people have disabilities
05:09that are not possible to hide
or conceal in the interview process.
05:13But some of us have a choice.
05:16Should we disclose our disabilities?
05:19Some people think disabled people
should always disclose
05:22in the interview process.
05:23Their response to discrimination
and not getting hired:
05:27“You didn’t want to work there anyway.
05:29You didn’t want to work at a place that
discriminates against disabled people.”
05:33But the problem that many disabled people
face is that discrimination
05:37is so common that they don’t feel
they’ll get any job if they disclose.
05:41These disabled people say,
“I need to work,
05:45I need a job to pay for my expenses,
05:47I can’t afford to lose
these opportunities.”
05:51I asked some disability employment lawyers
what their recommendations were.
05:56Both lawyers that I spoke to advise
that disabled people should not disclose
05:59until after they are hired,
if they’re able to do so.
06:03They wish they didn’t have
to recommend this.
06:05but ableism and discrimination
are still commonplace in our society.
06:10Disclosing is such a personal decision.
06:15In a 2019 Harvard Business Review article,
06:18they cite a study that found
that only 21% of disabled employees
06:25According to 2018 data from the CDC,
06:28one in four adults
in the United States is disabled.
06:33What does this mean
for employers and leaders?
06:37This means that employers and leaders
have a lot of disabled employees
06:41that they don’t know about.
06:43Employers might be thinking,
“What a problem?
06:46What can we do to get more
disabled employees to disclose?”
06:50Let’s ask this question instead:
06:53Instead of asking
our disabled employees to disclose,
06:56how might we create a workplace culture
that is accessible and inclusive
07:03Currently, many disabled employees
are overworking to adapt
07:07to inaccessible or non-inclusive
work environments,
07:11on top of managing a full workload.
07:14These employees
are surviving, not thriving.
07:18We’re talented employees, and we have
all different kinds of disabilities.
07:22Disabilities like ADHD, dyslexia,
dyscalculia, chronic illness,
07:27cerebral palsy, maffuucci syndrome,
depression, anxiety, diabetes,
07:34You many not know what all of these are,
but all of these are disabilities.
07:39Employers and leaders
accept that disabled people
07:42are already in your workforce
and that our work is valuable.
07:46You need us as part of your company.
07:50Disabled people are innovative.
07:53We’re problem solvers because we live
in a world that’s not designed for us.
07:59Disability inclusion -
08:01it’s not charity or compliance;
it is a competitive advantage.
08:07We need our workplaces to be inclusive
and accessible for everyone.
08:12From the beginning, make accessibility
built-in within your organization.
08:17This will make your workplace
better for everyone.
08:20Then disabled employees won’t have to ask
for everything they need
08:24or adapt on their own,
08:25because you will have already adapted
best practices for accessibility.
08:30There are many free and simple
best practices for inclusion
08:34you can be building into your culture
that will help everyone.
08:38One example is closed captions;
many people benefit from captions.
08:42I benefit from captions
as a hard of hearing person.
08:45People with ADHD benefit from captions
to help better understand information.
08:50People with auditory processing disorders.
08:52English language learners,
or anyone who’s a bit tired or distracted
08:56can benefit from having information
presented in more than one way.
09:01Just sending out
meeting agendas in advance
09:04is another inclusive best practice.
09:06Receiving a meeting invitation without
an agenda can cause anxiety or panic.
09:11Meeting agendas help
the deaf and hard of hearing
09:14follow the conversation more easily.
09:16Meeting agendas help introverted employees
prepare their thoughts ahead of time,
09:21and they help anyone who benefits
from having more time
09:24to process information.
09:27Sending out meeting notes or a summary
after a meeting has concluded
09:31is another inclusive best practice.
09:34Meeting notes help ensure
that the deaf and hard of hearing
09:36don’t miss any important
action items or decisions.
09:40Meeting notes help those
with memory issues
09:42or learning disabilities,
09:44and they help any busy person
who can’t find their notes.
09:50In an inclusive and accessible
work environment,
09:54disability disclosure
becomes less necessary.
09:57Knowing why someone needs
a certain kind of support
10:00is not as important as actually
providing that support.
10:05Let’s all recognize that disability
10:07is just a part of the natural
diversity of humankind.
10:11It is common, it is normal,
and as we age, it is a part of life.
10:17Disabled people do not exist
in some other part of society.
10:22We may not look like
what you think disability looks like.
10:26We’re right next to you.
10:28We’re in front of you.
10:30We’re on stage giving TEDx talks.
10:44Disability inclusion must be prioritized
in the successful workplace of the future.
10:52When we’re all included,
we create a better world for everyone.
