Disability Community Outreach

Myths & Facts

Dispelling Assumptions about People with disabilities

The major barrier for employment for people with disabilities is the misunderstanding of what people with disabilities can and can't do. The truth is that the range of ability of persons with disabilities is enormous. Listed below are some examples of the incredible abilities of people with disabilities.

Myth: An individual with a psychiatric disability cannot work in a stressful environment where tight timelines have to be met.

Fact: Everyone perceives stress differently and responses vary. Many people with psychiatric disabilities perform well in jobs that require specific timelines and structure.

Myth: A person with mental retardation cannot be trained to perform a job as well as a person without a disability.

Fact: Over 2/3 of 4,000 people in Pizza Hut's "Jobs Plus" program have mental retardation. Turnover rate of these employees is 20% compared to 150% for employees without disabilities. This means lower recruitment and training costs for the company.

Myth: A person with a developmental disability and difficulty with fine motor control is unlikely to handle complex operations on the production line of a manufacturing plant.

Fact: A person with a combination of functional limitations was hired for such a job, involving labeling, filling, capping and packing a liquid product. Creation of a plywood jig was the only accommodation needed, enabling the worker to hold the bottle steady for correct labeling.

Adapted from "Dispelling Myths about People with Disabilities" PCEPD (Oct/95)