Looking Forward on Disability Employment
For 75 years, America has recognized October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month, coined NDEAM for short. The month shines a spotlight on the value people with disabilities bring to the workplace while starting the conversation about why persons with disabilities have a more challenging time getting employed over, sometimes, less qualified, non-disabled people. As we reflect on the observance of the 75th celebration of Nation Disability Employment Awareness Month, we look forward; thinking of how we can push the narrative that persons with disabilities deserve to be in the workplace just as much as non-disabled persons.
Choosing Service
Kinga Kiss- Johnson exemplifies the persistence, ability, and grit of many Americans with disabilities. Kinga, while born and raised in Romania, is an American veteran. Kinga first arrived in the United States when she was recruited to play college basketball in Missouri. In her final year of college, Kinga witnessed a national tragedy that would change the course of many lives throughout our country – the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
On her 30th birthday after watching men and women being sent overseas to fight for their country, Kinga walked into a recruiting station in Florida with her husband and signed up for the military. “I [wanted] to serve to keep one more mother or father from deploying again,” she says. So with the those who’ve sacrificed in mind, she enlisted, joining the 173rd Airborne Unit in Germany. From Germany she was deployed to Afghanistan where she would later be injured, changing life as she knew it.
She was left with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and serious cervical spine injury- resulting in numerous spinal surgeries and memory loss. Kinga, who was a highly active woman prior to her injury, was now a paraplegic who had to depend on her husband for some of her most basic needs. Kinga would be housebound for a year and a half.
Shifting Mindsets
Every morning, from then to now, Kinga has had to think about the shift her life took all those years ago. In an effort to keep her head in a rational space, she and her occupational therapist looked to activities Kinga could do outdoors that would allow her something physical to do and keep her occupied. “I was struggling with accepting the fact of disability…disability was taking over my body while trying to recover.” She knew she needed to get out of the house, so she searched for jobs, for volunteer work, and community activities that could bring her back to herself.
Understanding the extent of her injuries, Kinga, thought she wouldn’t be able to work again. She had trouble with her memory, she had to use a wheelchair when venturing outside of her home, she needed assistance in her daily life. Feeling as if all of the odds were stacked against her, she worried about who would hire her.
But, like he had been from the day he met her, Kinga’s husband had her back. “I was blessed that I had a husband that stuck with me and took care of me for better or worse.” At the time he was working for an ambulance company in town and at one of his stops, he noticed a “Back to Work” flyer. He brought it home to Kinga and she checked into it. That flyer would be one from Walton Options for Independent Living.
Understanding There Are Options
Kinga wanted to help other people, other veterans, like herself, find the resources to get help as opposed to giving up on themselves. And though problems with her memory would create obstacles for her, she created patterns for herself that would help her through, like repeating things 3 times, or writing things down to aid in her memory.
By working with Walton Options as a consumer, she saw that “people with disabilities can still live somewhat a new normal life. Walton Options encourages you to live the best you have.” At Walton Options, Kinga realized that anybody can do anything. “They gave me that push that I can do it, I just have to do things differently than everyone else. I may be slower or need to take notes and record to come back later, but they taught me that those are just tools that I can use to be able to be able to go back to work.”
And get back to work she did! After two interviews, Kinga would start at Walton Options, working part-time, a few hours a week. “Any other [job] that I tried to get employed by, they looked at my service dog and would say ‘sorry.’” While she was working, Kinga continued her outdoor activities and would go on to join the Paralympic Archery team, competing for team USA, in 2010. She would eventually move on to compete internationally.
Now Kinga works for Deloitte, one of the Big Four accounting organizations and the largest professional services network in the world. She attended a technology training program for veterans with disabilities in hopes she could learn something which could help her work from home to reduce her commute and additional accommodations in the workforce. She had seen Deloitte before as a sponsor for The Warrior Games, while competing in archery, and she noticed how they lend support to veterans through consistent action. She would think to herself then, “If I get back into the workforce, I want to work for them.” So, during that fateful technology conference, when she saw a Deloitte booth, she knew this was her destiny.
Reach Out To Your Community
Working with Deloitte, for Kinga, is truly as rewarding as she thought it would be. “I have a great team that supports me, though I need to still attend medical appointments and take care of [myself]. It’s a work-life balance…but they care about their [employees] with disabilities, and they care about their veteran employees.”
To those who may be newly disabled, and are struggling to find work, or lack confidence in their ability to excel, Kinga says, “reach out. Reach out to your community because there are so many resources in the community out there for you. Don’t be afraid to reach out.” She says, “These companies are not just buildings, but when you walk through the door they look like you, and it’s because they are willing and they want to. They will give you the confidence you need.”
Employment Options Are Attainable
To employers, Kinga implores employers to think about hiring through the current pandemic, “When you are hiring somebody for a job, you don’t see that disability, you are seeing their faces and hearing their voices. You see their resume and background check. Use those FACTS to hire by their qualifications and not by their disability. Somebody with a disability, who uses a wheelchair will not apply for a job where they have to walk five miles a day or lift 200 pounds.” She notes that “people with disabilities come up with more creative ways to complete a job because they will always try to prove to you that they can do the job.” She ends by hoping employers lead with compassion and not pride when hiring people with disabilities.
We look to Kinga and her words, with the hope that others take heed, both employers and those seeking employment to know that people with disabilities, when determined and ready, can conquer any goal. Ability does not define anyone, but a passionate and determined mindset can create the greatest impact. As we look back on the 75th Anniversary of NDEAM and look forward to the work that is still left to be done, we are excited to see the shift that is yet to come.