I agree with the suggestion that "... we represent human beings as points in
a multidimensional space, whose axes represent physical and mental
characteristics ... " From my perspective anyway, this and similar responses
substantiate all the more why restricting a position announcement only for
individuals with disabilities dooms at least three elements involved with
this issue: 1) the position itself; 2) the person eventually selected for
the position; 3) and the segment of the disability community that endeavors
for a truly equitable world. If we are all on a continuum or
multidimensional space, then who shall decide if one person is disabled or
not? How disabled must one be before s/he qualifies for the position? May
only an individual who is blind, for example, advocate for and train only
individuals who are also blind? Who decides these things? Call me
bull-headed, yet, a thorough position description complete with weighted
rating system for the job requirements seems the only way to go on this one.
The practice of restricting a position to individuals with disabilities
smells of stereotyping all individuals with disabilities as a homogenous
population. I for one don't ever want to go back there again.
Finally, let me reiterate my position that where a position is truly
enhanced if filled by an individual with a disability, then simply quantify
the position description. Assign proportionately greater weighting
(significantly greater weighting as/if applicable)-to the kinds of
characteristics that are most crucial for the given position. This approach
takes absolutely nothing away from the argument that some positions can be
realistically and successfully filled only by individuals with
disabilities-i.e., disabilities that are specifically related to the
involved position. For the record, I do fully agree and support the
suggestion that some positions can and should-ultimately-only be filled by
individuals with disabilities.
With Peace & Respect,
Bill Carnagey
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Webb [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 1999 9:11 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Jobs for disabled people only (was Leeds
job etc)
Further to Julie's comments I would like to add that to make
a hard
distinction between the able bodied and the disabled, is to
make a mistake
similar to the false distinction between "naive" and
"expert". If we
represent human beings as points in a multidimensional
space, whose axes
represent physical and mental characteristics, those who are
categorised as
"disabled" simply have functionality's on certain dimensions
of this space
which differ from the average by an (often fairly arbitrary)
amount
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