Finding Work, Despite Disabilities
By Aaron Wasserman
Published Dec 11, 2006
Sentinel & Enterprise, Fitchburg, MA
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/portlet/article/html/ fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=4819031&siteId=106
While finishing high school several years ago, Michael Reilly found himself couch-bound as a result of suffering from Crohn's disease, a chronic intestinal illness.
Now 25, Reilly finds himself desk-bound as a patient-service specialist for the Fallon Clinic in Worcester, and marvels that he is near the 3-month mark at his job.
"I can't imagine that I'd be sitting here, telling you this at my desk -- at my desk," he said, recounting his journey into the workforce. "That's shocking."
Reilly's story is a successful one, according to his employer and those who helped him find the job.
But reaching such a point is often difficult, say those involved in the business, as finding the right situation for the physically disabled and their potential employers can be challenging.
"There are still a number of employers -- and this is nationwide -- who are reluctant to hire people with disabilities," said Leonard P. Cooper, an area director of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission. "There are a lot of employers who focus on stereotypes -- they worry about accidents."
The MRC's Fitchburg office, which works in all of North Worcester County and some of Middlesex County, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The unemployment rate among the disabled is about 70 percent, according to Bill Allen, the MRC's placement coordinator.
Reilly said he once thought he would remain in that category for an indefinite amount of time. He had not worked for five years because of his disease, which he described as having intense food poisoning every day.
But invasive surgery in 2004 helped correct the problem and encouraged Reilly to seek a degree from the Salter School in Worcester.
The larger problem, however, was explaining the lengthy gap on his resume.
"I got this feeling that they had their mind made up," he said, recounting his interview at the Fallon Clinic. "I had this five-year gap and without divulging things about me, I wasn't able to tell them who I was."
Brian Hobbs, an MRC supervisor, said the interview is a tough hurdle for a disabled person trying to re-enter the workplace because questions about the lack of employment will arise.
"They have to make a choice about whether they want to disclose the disability or not," he said.
Prospective employers also have to take a risk in the situation, said Patricia Robidoux, a senior recruiter at Fallon Clinic who hired Reilly.
"'I'm handing you a blank piece of paper. He has no working history,'" she said, recreating the pitch to her boss to hire Reilly. "It's a tough sell."
Part of the MRC's job is to help ease the transition.
They will contribute to a new disabled employee's salary for the first few weeks, pay for on-site training, or if necessary, offer tips on how to outfit an office to accommodate someone, according to Cooper.
The agency also thinks realistically when making a pitch to a prospective employer, according to Christie Aveyard-Rameau, a senior rehab counselor.
"Don't over-promise and under-deliver," she said is the approach they take.
But issues can arise once a disabled worker arrives.
Robidoux said a female employee at Fallon with hearing loss was working in a more crowded office setting, but had to be relocated to hear telephone conversations.
"That kind of alienated her," Robidoux said.
"We will do whatever we can to work around a disability," she continued. "Sometimes it's just a minor accommodation in their schedule. But it's not always a quick fix."
Ken Belliveau, co-owner of Need-a-Lift-Medi Van Inc., a Leominster business that employs disabled workers with the MRC's help, said there is a risk to hiring people through the agency.
"But dealing with Bill, I pretty much know what I'm getting," he said, referring to Allen. "There are more ups than downs."
Reilly said he also deliberated whether to tell his co-workers about his disability.
"I'm OK with disclosing it at this point because I'm healthy and it doesn't affect the way that I work," he said. "My disability is not really something that shows on the outside, but it's something I feel everyday of my life."
Sharon Laracuente, a 32-year-old Fitchburg resident, does have a visible disability -- an injured right arm, which she says scared off some potential employers during interviews.
"I was feeling very uncomfortable because I was trying to progress as a professional," she said.
But she now works for Belliveau at Need-a-Lift as a counselor on school vans, and says her spirits are dramatically buoyed from "the responsibility of having a job."
Reilly said the boost he has received from his job at Fallon has prompted him to speak publicly about his ordeal.
"I've always been a very private person and it's kind of one of those things where you're tackling your own demons," he said. "If I can help people in a situation like mine, then I've accomplished something and I'm not the ghost that I was a a couple of months ago."