Disability Bias Is Baked Into Our Culture, But You Can Be a Champion for Change
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According to the bureau of labor statistics, the rate of unemployment for people with disabilities is 1/3 of the general population. (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf).
What is it that accounts for these large discrepancies? Certainly the differences have wide ranging origins, however negative disability bias is widely prevalent in our culture and is commonly reinforced through the media, the way we speak about disability, and the low expectations which are often placed on individuals with disabilities. In this presentation, Tricia Downing and Erik Kondo will talk about some of the "hidden" parts of our ingrained culture that feeds the myth that individuals with disabilities are low achieving, demonstrate low competence, and are generally unqualified for professional positions.
Learning Objectives:
- Build awareness of the existence of negative disability bias in society and themselves.
- Assess how this bias might be affecting their hiring/employment practices.
- Develop tangible actions they can take to mitigate this bias.
Tricia Downing
Tricia Downing is a corporate Learning Designer. Prior to transitioning to her current role, Tricia's life revolved around athletics. She is a Paralympian, competing in the sport of shooting at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has also competed at the World Championship level in both rowing and triathlon. Although athletics has been a constant in her life, the way she approached it drastically changed after she was struck by a car on a bicycle ride in September of 2000, becoming instantly paralyzed from the chest down. Despite her injury, Tricia has continued to participate in sports, in addition to being a disability advocate, professional speaker, and author of three books. She holds master's degrees in both Sport Management and Disability Studies and graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor's degree in Journalism.
Erik Kondo
Erik Kondo is an entrepreneur in small business, real estate, and nonprofits. As a full time wheelchair user since the age of 19 due to a spinal cord injury, he is very active in promoting and networking within the Disability Community. He is passionate about improving the lives of people with disabilities through advancing mobility innovation and sparking societal change. He writes extensively on wheelchair and disability related topics on his numerous platforms. He lives with his wife and three children in the Boston area.