Disability Solutions’ motto is ‘Changing Minds and Changing Lives’—referring to the minds of employers and the lives of people with disabilities, who often face significant challenges in trying to seek employment.
A division of non-profit group Ability Beyond, which is based in Bethel, Connecticut, Disability Solutions aims to broaden the pool of potential job applicants for companies and make it easier for people with physical, mental, emotional, or learning disabilities to find work.
The organization aims to “bridge the gap between corporations, job seekers, and those who serve job seekers with disabilities,” says Executive Director of Disability Solutions, Julie Sowash. “There are built-in barriers to employment for them.” The group’s goal is to “remove those barriers and get great talent to great employers as quickly as possible, at a cost-effective price, in a way companies are comfortable with,” she adds.
A fully remote organization with no brick-and-mortar offices, Disability Solutions casts a very wide net. “We work all over the world; we go where the work is. We’ve had clients in India; we’ve had clients in Brazil; we have clients in Asia, in Europe,” she notes.
Hiring people with disabilities “has historically been viewed as a charity endeavor. Part of our mission is to change that around and showcase the talent value,” notes Director of Client Implementation, Keith Meadows. “We’ve [worked with] scientists and C-Suite managers—a person with disabilities can do any job.”
“We’re not a charity; we’re here to do business,” agrees Director of Strategic Partnerships, Michael O’Sullivan.
Since it was launched, Disability Solutions has helped more than 8,000 people with disabilities find work. Of these individuals, 22 percent were veterans, 47 percent were women, and 48 percent were people of color. While this is an excellent start, there are over 15 million people of working age with a disability in the United States, the firm reports. The nature of these disabilities can range enormously, a fact that the group readily acknowledges.
“One important commitment we made to each other as a team when we started Disability Solutions is that we would never pit one part of our community against another. We believe that it’s important for us to be representative of the whole, not just [for the benefit] of our community, but for companies to be successful,” explains Sowash.
Disability Solutions offers an online career center that connects job seekers with inclusive employers who collaborate with the organization. Job seekers can personalize their search criteria and receive alerts for job openings that match their preferences. When they apply for positions, their applications are sent directly to the employer, as Meadows explains. There is no fee for job seekers using the site; they can create a free account and receive job alerts based on their location and chosen keywords. Additionally, the organization provides various free resources to job seekers, including educational materials, job search tools, advice, and opportunities for live mock job interview practice sessions.
Partner companies are encouraged to use the Disability Solutions website as a vehicle for expanding their personnel. The site enables companies to “canvas the disability community,” says Meadows, who explains that the group tells employers, “This is your opportunity to attract talent to your organization.”
Disability Solutions also works closely with an array of community-based organizations, including the Wounded Warrior Project and vocational rehabilitation groups. These organizations are urged to “check their networks and recruit for us or recruit for a company. They’re able to check out jobs [on our career center site] to see if an individual they’re working with is a great fit,” says Meadows. Disability Solutions regularly communicates with its community partners, sharing tips for job seekers with disabilities on subjects such as answering tough interview questions and putting together a solid résumé, and services for community organizations are free.
The firm maintains a robust social media presence, particularly on LinkedIn—the idea being to reach out to job seekers with disabilities who might not belong to a community organization.
Stigma is perhaps the biggest challenge facing job hunters with disabilities, says Meadows, who points out that if a job seeker “has a noticeable disability and is going into an interview, there are a lot of hiring managers that are stuck in their ways. [They think] ‘how can a person missing three fingers do this position that requires typing constantly?’ It doesn’t cross their mind that a person with one hand could potentially type faster than a person with two.”
Job seekers with disabilities also face systemic challenges. The job application process frequently includes personality/work aptitude quizzes or assessments, and such tests can present an enormous obstacle to a visually impaired job seeker who relies on a screen reader (computer programs that translate text into speech) when applying for positions online. The screen reader might dramatically slow down their progress or impede it altogether if the employer’s website is not compatible with such technology.
Psychological assessments, meanwhile, can prove onerous for people on the autism spectrum. Neurodivergent people often present a flat affect, resulting in low scores on human resources computer programs designed to evaluate a job applicant’s vocal tone and facial gestures.
Challenges do not necessarily end once a person with a disability lands a job, either. Workplaces might not be wheelchair-accessible, and some employers have been known to exploit workers with disabilities, paying them poorly and disregarding workplace health and safety regulations. To this end, Disability Solutions refuses to work with any employer that offers “segregated employment or sub-minimum wages,” says Sowash.
Fortunately, the notion that workers with disabilities add value to a workplace is making headway. “There’s still a lot of stigma out there to this day, but I’m having more enlightened conversations [with employers] than I did 10 years ago,” notes Meadows. Government regulations have helped; in the United States, companies that work for the federal government directly or as sub-contractors must abide by U.S. Department of Labor rules designed to assist workers and job seekers with disabilities.
Employers are also coming to realize the benefits that workers with disabilities bring to the table. Workers with disabilities that the group has assisted boast a 14 percent higher retention rate than their able-bodied counterparts, says the firm. Industry-wise, this breaks down to a 77 percent retention rate in the warehouse sector; 87 percent in technical roles; and 95 percent in call center or sales positions.
Open-minded employers are turning to Disability Solutions for other reasons as well. “We handle companies’ websites to make sure they’re accessible,” says Meadows, noting that the firm will also “analyze a company’s job description and make sure it’s race-, gender-, and disability-neutral—that it’s optimized with positive language.”
The firm also offers online training courses that companies can take, covering topics such as ‘Ableism 101,’ ‘10 Tips for Hiring Talent with Disabilities,’ and ‘How to Increase Disability Self-Identification.’ Training can be done live via Zoom, Teams, or on an employer’s video conferencing site. Courses can also be accessed via a platform called Thinkific. “We train leaders on best practices, disability and inclusion, and how to better manage people with a variety of disabilities,” says Sowash. In total, Disability Solutions has trained over 10,000 employees.
Disability Solutions came about in 2012. Its parent organization, non-profit group Ability Beyond, has provided services for the disability community for over seven decades, and Disability Solutions was launched as a separate division focused on employment supports. At first, the team primarily worked with one main client, PepsiCo. The soft drink giant wanted to hire more people with disabilities, “but there weren’t that many conduits back in the day,” Meadows explains.
Disability Solutions began establishing some of those conduits, and the group grew, taking on more responsibilities, partner employers, and staff. Today, it works with more than 80 companies and has nine full-time workers plus some part-time consultants, making up a “small and mighty team,” as Meadows calls it.
Anyone who joins the team must agree with the company’s motto about changing minds and lives. Workplace diversity is also prized; the group has team members with a variety of physical or mental challenges.
Going forward, Disability Solutions is eager to expand its reach. “I would just like to see us working with as many of the big brands out there as possible. [Working with] all the Fortune 500 companies would be amazing, because we’re going to see the biggest proportion of change for the disability community when we start incorporating people with disabilities at all levels of those organizations,” says Director of Marketing, Ashley Sims.
More than anything, however, Disability Solutions’ staff members simply appreciate having the opportunity to assist members of a community that is all too often overlooked in the workplace. “It’s not every day that somebody has a job where you can make a tangible impact on multiple levels for people across the country,” says Meadows. “We’re able to genuinely help people with disabilities.”
