No tickets to work

Several weeks ago, I opened a slightly stale email offering me a job interview for a technical writing position. I responded to the desperate recruiter, who had sent an endless stream of emails to me because I had not been checking my emails. He sent me a job description and I promptly responded that I could not fulfill all the requirements. The employer felt otherwise, so I agreed to an interview. Moments later, the employer called via relay, because I am Deaf. Because I was on my mobile, and the signals delayed the call and I was too slow to answer it, he left a message asking me to call him back as soon as possible.

Within seconds, I called back, and the employer, surprised by the relay operator, paused, then said: “Can I give you a call back tomorrow morning? This is my level time.” Whatever that meant. I agreed.

That call never came. The recruiter called me and asked how the interview went. I told him it never happened. The recruiter promptly emailed the employer, who said that, upon interviewing me, I was not what they were looking for!

With many different degrees behind me, doing whatever it takes to appeal to employers, once again I had been rejected without even an interview. How does a person get job experience if they do not get the opportunity to prove themselves?

When Ticket to Work – an employment programme designed for disabled people who want to work – came out for people on social security disability income, I laughed. I have been with the Division of Rehabilitation Services for more than 17 years, and I have had maybe four job interviews, and one temporary job through them. The goal of the programme is to increase opportunities and choices for disabled people on benefits to find work, vocational rehabilitation, and other support services. But the programme does not work well because employers do not want to hire people who are going to cost them a lot of money. A wheelchair-user might need one-off costs such as bars and ramps, so for an employer to consider them would mean perhaps a $3,000 expense. Maybe the government will kick in a one-off special needs tax incentive of $1,000. But a wheelchair-user who may be quadriplegic may need a lifetime assistant, and so the employer would be required to have someone assist this person on the job.

The problem with our system is that the government thinks that educating disabled people will solve their problems; the fact is that they are educating the wrong people. Ironically, we need to educate the law-makers and employers, and provide those employers with incentives and tax breaks for as long as they hire disabled people.

Disabled people often have incomes that are so low that they cannot fight discrimination. It is a catch 22. If you cannot afford to fight for your rights, then you cannot afford to fight for a job. A disabled person will be stuck in the system until someone with compassion, understanding, and even the money to provide accessibility, hires them.

I have met various government officials, to try to explain to them why their methods are not working and while people see that I am Deaf, they are not seeing that our government is Deafer. What is the point in educating disabled people if employers are continuously going to reject them before, during, or after the interview?

The government wastes billions of dollars a year hiring worthless recruiters who do not understand the needs of disabled people.

The amount spent on disabled people varies from state to state, but it can run into the billions! The irony is that our government is Deaf and blind and our communities are not helping them enough with their special needs.

• Robin Wenz has more than 17 years’ experience  of being an advocate for disabled people in the US. She works for a voluntary organisation in Maryland, and was the first active president of the Maryland Coalition for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.