Technology and Disability

On May 2nd 2015 I used my new text-to-speech app to present the following to 60 Fulbright Scholars from 40 different countries.

Technology and Disability 

Hi, I'm Neil Jacobson. I am extremely honored to be able to address you today. As a person with a significant disability entering my golden years, it is wonderful seeing young people excited about taking on tomorrow's challenges. I was asked to talk about technology and disability. Because I seldom do exactly as I'm told, I'm also going to speak about employment of people with disabilities. After Rolf and I speak, I hope you have lots of questions. I love questions! Be forewarned that if you have no questions,I have questions for you!

As background, after 29 years of working at Wells Fargo, I retired to start a disability-focused employment company that specializes in consulting on staffing and placement issues. I quickly realized that there are systemic problems which intrinsically inhibit people with disabilities from working and being productive. Our society holds very low expectations for individuals with disabilities. Our government's defining of disability as the 'inability to work' in order to receive disability benefits is an inherent disincentive. I am dedicating the rest of my retirement to see that these antiquated policies do change. I am doing so by working with The World Institute on Disability (WID). To learn more about my work now, please see Our Career ACCESS dot org.

At Wells Fargo, I was a Sr. Vice President in their I T department. In the 80's, I was the architect responsible for designing the first 7 by 24 banking system in the U.S. My last assignment at the Bank was to manage the design and implementation of mobile banking. I love I T! Especially software. Software proves that there is always a way to accomplish what you want to accomplish. At the Bank, I often drove my development staff crazy. I would insist that any feature the user wanted to put into our application, there was always a way to do so, and indeed there was. I must admit, I live my life as a person with a disability in a similar fashion. Whatever I really want to do, there's always a way!

We'll talk more about Wells Fargo in a moment. I want you also to know that before working at the bank, I co-founded Computer Technologies Program (C T P). It was 1975. The co-founder was a 24 year man, named Scott Luebking, who had a spinal cord injury. At the time, I was 22 years old and my speech was a bit better than it is now. Scott and I set up the program, wrote the curricula, found the students, taught classes, ran the labs, found internships and found jobs for the graduates. Students were in class or in the lab 8 to 12 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week. My idea was to convince the students that if they could survive me and CTP, they could do anything! I always told my students how wonderful it is to work as a computer programmer in the 'real business world'. After doing this for 4 years, I thought it might help if I actually went into that 'real business world' for a year or two so that when I returned to C T P I could indoctrinate the students even better! To my surprised, I found that the 'real business world' is great. I stayed at Wells Fargo almost 30 years.

My experience at Wells Fargo leads me to believe that corporations are more ready for people with disabilities than we are for them. Focusing on making a profit can be a very equalizing activity. Focusing on doing a great job rather than focusing on ones disability can be liberating. At the Bank, I found that if you did a good job and added to the Bank's bottom line, it didn't matter what color you were or what religion you practiced or what disability you had. Focusing on the bottom line also leads to creativity. There were many nights when there were system problems. Support personnel from the Bank's computer centers would call me and inevitably find a way to understand what I was saying – because they needed to! One of my favorite stories happened near the beginning of my career, before there was online computing, The system crashed at 1AM. My van was in the shop, Trains in the Bay Area don’t run all night. Wells Fargo sent an armored van to transport me and my 300 pound powered wheelchair to the data center.

Assistive technology has always been an amusing concept for me. My own disability, Cerebral Palsy, is quite significant. I cannot drink without a straw, but are drinking straws considered assistive technology? I also have very limited use of my hands, and use a word expansion application to help me type faster. Many people with disabilities I know use a speech recognition system to verbally navigate their computer and the Internet and create documents. These applications have been called assistive technology, but when people without disabilities use them they are just seen as mainstream conveniences and aids to productivity. Would anyone call Siri an assistive technology? What about speakerphones? Gadgets and applications seem to be classified as assistive technology only when they are used by people with disabilities—and only until the general public realizes how universal that gadget or app can be. When people ask me what assistive technology I like the best, I answer it is my Wells Fargo Visa Card. It's surprising how much easier it is for people to understand me after they see that card!

So is it assistive technology, or a mainstream technology product that has accessibility features? The technologies themselves have no such categories, and the differences only seem to arise in terms of who is using them in what context. Most, if not all, developers and companies I know, want to build accessible technologies. Who wouldn't want their product to be usable by as many potential customers as possible? At Wells Fargo, I always ensured the Bank had at least 1 team member actively engaged with the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (W A I). Their web accessibility standards are quite good, which is why they’re being implemented in law and practice worldwide. The main issue was, and continues to be, how to educate thousands of developers on the standards and how to ensure an ever-changing system continuously conforms to the standards. I look forward to when changes can quickly, if not automatically, be tested and reconstructed to meet W3C W A I guidelines. I look forward to companies proudly displaying an icon depicting their alliance with accessibility guidelines.

Universal Design is a 2 way obligation. I encourage assistive technology designers who are designing products and services for people with disabilities to consider how their inventions can be used by the general public. Just last week, a small hardware firm sent a designer to my house to find out what kind of hardware might better enable me to use my smart phone or tablet from my wheelchair. I applauded them for considering the needs of people with disabilities. I explained how I'd really like a stand mounted on the wheelchair that would hold the IPAD steady and that could recharge the IPAD using solar energy. I urge them to design the stand for bicyclists and people pushing strollers. Marketing to the general public usually leads to a better product at a lower price. Marketing to the general public helps ensure that people with disabilities are aware of the product and removes the stigma often associated with using assistive technologies. Marketing to the general public is also more lucrative, ensuring companies will be around to build the next great product.

The Americans with Disability Act has been an incredibly wonderful civil rights law. The world, especially here in the U.S. is extremely more accessible to and accepting of people with disabilities. Technology, including assistive technologies have progressed well beyond anyone's expectations. There is plenty left to be done. Expectations of people with disabilities are still extremely low. Well over 75% of people with disabilities in the U.S. are not working. To receive disability benefits from the government people with disabilities must prove they are not able to work. Think about that. When I first went to work, I received a letter from the government telling me I was no longer disabled. I went through an identity crisis!

Now is the time to take the next step. Now is the time to expect people with disabilities to take full advantage of the progress made to date and to be active and productive people. We are counting on you, the young scholars and the young people to define the new policies and technologies that will enable all people to be as active, productive and fulfilled as they can and want to be. Go out there and do your thing. Go Go Go! And whatever you do, have fun doing it! Thank you!

Torah Study re Noah

I'm on the Temple Sinai Board of Trustees. Every board meeting starts with a board member presenting their thoughts on that week's Torah portion. Here is what I presented on 10/22/2014.

Temple Sinai Board of Trustees Meeting

10-22-14

Noah

My Hebrew name is Noah. Many of the Board members know I usually do my annual d'var Torah in December around my birthday about Joseph. I was quite surprised to get Jenny's email saying I had 2 weeks to do a d'var torah about my namesake.

The story of Noah comes near the beginning of Genesis and shortly after the High Holy Days. It is widely accepted that the High Holy Days is about renewal. I often wondered whether the Flood may be a continuation of that theme. Granted, the Flood may have been an overly extreme way for G-d to tell us to start anew. G-d also promised that s/he would never again do anything as drastic as the Flood. Nevertheless the Flood did give us the chance to rebuild ourselves.

I spent most of my career in the private sector in the Information Technology field, I quickly learned that while systems should be updated and maintained, there comes a point that all systems should be retired and replaced by new ones. I admire companies like Apple that are not afraid to re-invent themselves and develop new products that make their old products obsolete. My all-time favorite prayer is the one that asks whether we would like to live forever if we knew there would never again be babies or first loves or new ideas etc. This prayer reminds us of the importance of letting go of yesterday to make room for tomorrow.

I've spent the last couple of years developing and promoting CareerACCESS. The Career ACCESS Program will be created by changes in federal policy aimed at significantly increasing the employment rate of people with disabilities by expecting young adults with disabilities ages 18 through 30 to work. CareerACCESS will provide required support and services recognizing that disability benefits are offsets to the high cost of disability rather than subsidies for the inability to work. Like the Flood, a new program like CareerACCESS has to happen The government has to stop asking young adults with disabilities to prove they cannot work in order to receive disability benefits,and then wonder why they don't go to work. The government has to stop telling young adults with disabilities that if they go to work they will no longer afford goods and services they need to manage their disabilities. The government must stop insisting that people with disabilities not accrue assets but plan to always live in poverty. We must stop giving lip-service to the idea that people with disabilities can work and start insisting that they do work. This week CareerACCESS is being presented to the URJ RAC Social Action Committee meeting in Atlanta Georgia. We're hoping they will adopt CareerACCESS as one of the RAC's official projects.

Like the Flood and like CareerACCESS, I feel that our Board, our Temple, and indeed the entire Reform Movement are about ready to re-invent ourselves. Unlike the Flood, I don't think we all need to perish in order for the next phase to occur. After Rabbi Mates-Muchin inspiring sermon erev Rosh Hashanah, I truly feel we have the desire, the talent and the gusto it takes to move to the next level. I look forward to the next phase, to see what lies ahead, and to be part of tomorrow.

Thank you and Go! Go! Go!

By the way, if anyone knows someone on the RAC Social Action Committee, please put in a good word for CareerACCESS.

All People Must Work

Here is a paper I wrote for The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED).

All People Must Work

Every person needs to be needed. This has always been one of my strongest beliefs. The need to be needed may be as important as the need for food, clothing and shelter. The need to be needed may be even greater than our need for love. For many people, work is the primary way we get to feel needed. Work brings meaning to life, provides a social connection, can be a pleasurable and fun experience and, of course, is the linchpin to building an economic future for one's self and one's family. Yet most people with disabilities do not work. Many people with disabilities do not work not because of physical, mental or emotional constraints, but because we are literally not allowed to work.

To understand my passion for work, it’s important to know that my parents are Holocaust survivors. During the war, people with disabilities in ghettos and concentration camps who were unable to work, were instantly killed because they were seen as worthless; having no value. Work was the only way to survive. As a child with Cerebral Palsy, my parents were fearful for my life and did all they could to foster my self-reliance. My mother woke me at 5:30 each morning and would insist I dress myself, even though it took 2 hours to do so. At night, I’d get 2 dinners. One dinner I had to feed myself. I’d spend so much energy feeding myself that dinner, I’d be more hungry after I ate than before. Only then would my mother feed me the second dinner. Since walking symbolized normality, my parents did not allow me to use a wheelchair until high school. This forced me to walk, which was slow, difficult, laborious and consequently not very practical. These tasks may seem extreme today, and today I know that a key to independent living is knowing when and how to get assistance. However, through my efforts to succeed in these tasks, I learned the value of hard work. I also learned that determination and perseverance are the tools to achievement!

Throughout my work career, work has been the major way I defined myself. Regardless of whether it was my first job as a pool-hall cashier at my Alma-mater (Hofstra University), or my last job as a Senior Vice President, IT Manager at Wells Fargo, work is one of the main ways that I felt I contributed something to this world. Whether I was a security guard on graveyard shift at the dorms in college, or the Executive Director of the Computer Technologies Program (CTP), a computer training program for people with disabilities which I co-founded in 1975, working always made me proud. It gave me a sense of purpose.

Working is also one of the best ways to feel and be accepted. My disability is very obvious. I can’t sit upright (sitting in my powered wheelchair, I'd never be considered a role model for good posture). I have involuntary movements and my speech impairment is significant. At Wells Fargo, I loved rolling into meetings where people did not know me. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. At first, no one would make eye contact, but as the meeting gained momentum, there was a great sense of relief when the team began to focus in on my ideas rather than my disability. At times, people struggled to understand my speech, but there was always someone in the group who could help interpret and communicate for me. Inevitably, by the end of the meeting, I always found myself chatting with folks and feeling like part of the team.

Having people with disabilities at work often results in innovation, creativity and an overall better work environment. As a teacher at CTP, my students gained confidence in understanding the subject matter by having to help each other understand my speech. At Wells Fargo, I often marveled at how quickly computer operators learned to ask good yes or no questions when they called me in the middle of the night. I still remember how, in the early ‘80’s, before online computing, Wells Fargo dispatched an armored truck at 2am to bring me, and my non-collapsible wheelchair, to the data center to fix a system’s problem. Work is also critically important to the economics of disability. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of having a disability is that it is very expensive! We are aware of the high cost of health care. We often forget about the high cost of Personal Assistant Services. The cost of hiring a personal assistant for varying levels of care adds up quickly. For a person with a “high-cost” disability who is unemployed, the government pays for the cost of the personal assistant along with other disability benefits and subsidized housing services.

Since my childhood in the 1950's, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities has always been above 70%. Laws including the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 have made this country much more accessible and accepting. However they have done nothing to improve employment. As co-Vice Chair of the President's Committee of Employment for People with Disabilities during the Clinton Administration, I witnessed many staff and committee members work endlessly, but unsuccessfully, to get more people with disabilities employed. An enormous amount of time, energy and money have been spent by government agencies and NGOs in an attempt to improve employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, to no avail.

After 29 years of working for Wells Fargo, I retired to start a disability-focused employment company that specializes in staffing and placement. Abilicorp was founded to improve employment for people with disabilities in a business-like fashion rather than through charitable and government agencies. It was designed to be a contracting firm, finding people with disabilities to fulfill job demands, instead of an agency searching for places that would hire their clients. For various reasons, including unfortunate timing which coincided with the recent economic downturn, Abilicorp, also, was unsuccessful.

As a result of my experience with Abilicorp, I now believe, more than ever before, that there are systemic problems which intrinsically inhibit people with disabilities from working and being productive. Our society holds very low expectations for individuals with disabilities. Our government's defining of disability as the 'inability to work' in order to receive disability benefits is an inherent disincentive. The continual pleading with employers to hire people with disabilities who usually have less work experience than their peers, portrays us as needy individuals. The ever-present view that people with disabilities always need something while ignoring the basic need to be needed inevitably leads to poor self-esteem. These currently accepted mores and practices must change! I am dedicating the rest of my retirement to see that they do change. Towards that goal, I helped create The World Institute on Disability's Center on Economic Growth (CEG) in 2011.

WID’s CEG measures success as creating a level playing field where people with disabilities have the same employment rate, earning power and asset-building opportunities as their non-disabled peers. Those of us representing the CEG believe that until government invests in the success of people with disabilities, rather than continuing programs and practices that relegate people with disabilities to a poverty position, people with disabilities will remain unemployed, underutilized and undervalued. We believe that now is the time to change the paradigm of how we think about economic growth for people with disabilities. As entitlements continue to be questioned and their funding becomes more tenuous, we must embrace the belief and create the reality that people with disabilities are equal members in our society and full economic partners.  We must change our mindset from providing disability benefits and safety-nets, to providing what it takes to enable people to successfully fulfill their role in the economic growth of themselves, their family and their extended community. Economic success for people with disabilities should be defined exactly the same way it is for everyone. Economic success is taking full advantage of opportunities one can find or create that uses one's abilities to be as productive as one can be and as prosperous as one wants to be. The return on investment of this paradigm shift can be both significant and measurable. 

WID's CEG has been collaborating with the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) in developing the ACCESS Program (Adult Coaching, Counseling, and Employment Support Services). We will soon be working on getting Congress to pass legislation enabling us to demonstrate how the Access Program can replace the current Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs for young adults with disabilities, ages 18 to 30, in 5 states. The Access Program is being designed to eliminate work disincentives, promote employment and expect participants to be as productive as they can be. Instead of a check compensating them for their inability to work, participants will receive a stipend to offset their high cost of disability. Every participant will be expected to develop and follow an Individual Career Plan (ICP). Tasks on the ICP may include activities such as:

• being employed
• starting businesses
• attending school
• attending training programs
• internships
• volunteering
• attending rehabilitation programs
• attending day programs
• pursuing personal enrichment goals
• understanding what supports and accommodations are available

The Access Program will also coordinate all services the young adults with disabilities need to successfully perform their ICP. For me, the Access Program represents the greatest chance I have of completing the number one thing I have on my bucket list – to increase the employment participation
rate of people with disabilities to an equivalent rate of the general population.

The Disability Movement has historically been about changing paradigms. Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, the predominant paradigm regarding disability was that people with disabilities had to “adjust to their environment”. Our goal was to look and sound and act as ‘normal’ as possible. It wasn't until the paradigm changed and we realized that ‘society should be accessible to all people’ that true progress began to occur. Surprisingly, the predominant paradigm in regards to employment of people with disabilities has not changed. We still hear “hire people with disabilities”, and “people with disabilities can work.” In this global economy, when employers know they can hire very qualified and experienced people anywhere in the world, expecting them to hire people with disabilities will only get harder. As a retired senior vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, hearing that ‘people with disabilities can work’, is demeaning and patronizing. The crux of the problem behind the employment of people with disabilities lies in these antiquated constructs. The paradigm for the 21^st century should be that everyone must be productive. Now is the time to raise expectations, to determine how we will be productive, and determine how we will create our own prosperity. This is how we can fulfill our need to be needed.

Is God in your gut?

Although this is not about disability and employment, it tells you a bit about me. I'm on the Temple Sinai Board of Trustees. Each meeting a Board Member gives an interpretation, called a d'rash of that week's Torah Portion. Here is the one I wrote for the 12-12-12 board meeting.

D’var Torah – 12/12/2012

I want to thank Mike Baker for moving the board meeting up a week so that it doesn’t fall on my birthday and the Torah portion is the same one I had 47 years ago. Every time I read about how Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream, I wonder, ‘how did he do that?’ Where does the ability to interpret dreams and ‘just know something’ come from. Does it come from the gut or does it come from the heart? This year, that question has become especially relevant to me.

As many of you know, this year my disability has become more significant. I stopped driving my van. It is harder to dress and feed myself. My hands feel numb and weak. Two months ago, a MRI showed that the bones in my cervical spine were compressing the spinal cord and they were unstable. My doctors strongly recommended surgery, without which I could find myself needing to be on a respirator. They warned that the instability of the bones may result in my spinal cord being severed. Denise, and many of my family and friends, fearing for my life, insisted I get more information. My gut said that this was not life threatening and that as I age I will need more assistance with or without surgery. My gut told me that accepting more assistance may improve my quality of life by giving me more time and energy. Knowing better than to argue with Denise, we embarked to get more information. Through our contacts with the disability community we found experts all over the US. Connecting with at least 8 different doctors, we got at least 14 different opinions. The consensus was that it is not life threatening or life limiting. Barring unforeseen trauma such as car accidents or bad falls, the cervical bones will probably not sever the cord. Most doctors agreed that even if the surgery was successful, I will need increasingly more assistance as I age. The opinion I appreciated the most was to follow my gut.

During the High Holidays, Rabbi Mates-Muchin reminded us that most of us have very different images of God. For me, God is not this big old guy in the sky but an accumulation of all the knowledge and feelings of every living thing from the beginning of time until now. I fully believe that some people are able to communicate with God. However, for me in this lifetime that is but a spec of time, such communications were never achieved. I attend services not to pray but to listen, learn and think about the myriads of stories and ways people throughout history, have created to help us appreciate what we have and to help us do Tikkun Olam. In November, as I sat in the Shabbat Minyan Service, I thought about the Joseph Story. For the 1^st time in all these many years, it hit me that Joseph’s ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dream probably came from his gut. It dawned on me that listening to one gut may be one way people communicate with God.

Rest assured, I am NOT saying that God told me not to have surgery. I promise not to hide behind my gut feelings to avoid doing research.  I just find it so intriguing how we can read the same stories year after year and continue to learn so much from them.

Happy Chanukah!

Remote Assistance Services

Remote Assistance Services

Several years ago, I had this idea of enabling live remote assistance using wearable webcams. At that time, mobile webcams weren't ready for the purposes I was imagining. I think they are ready now! Please read the description below and let me know what you think. Are there entrepreneurs ready to run with this?

As cell phones and PDA’s become ubiquitous, and as cameras, speakerphone and microphones in these devices become increasingly powerful, the opportunity to provide live remote assistance can now be a reality. Live Remote Assistants can enable people with disabilities a degree of independence never feasible before. Live Remote Assistants can provide remote supervision as never before. Live Remote Assistants can offer assistance to anyone in a fresh, exciting new way.

To the extent that this assistance can be provided by people with disabilities, this can represent an entirely new job market.

Here are a few examples of remote assistance services;

People with visual disabilities:

Using a mobile webcam and AssistMeLive, people with visual disabilities can be assisted

1. Navigating a community

2. Getting orientated to a new environment

3. Reading forms online that a screen reader cannot read

4. Trouble-shooting computer problems when assistive technology is not working properly

5. Navigating web sites that are not fully accessible

6. Reading signs and menus in public places

7. Having movies, plays, TV shows audio described.

People with hearing impairments:

Using AssistMeLive, people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can be assisted

1. Communicating in public settings when in-person ASL interpreters are not available

2. Communicating with medical personnel

3. Communicating on conference calls

4. ‘Listening’ to movies, TV shows and videos that are not captioned

People with learning disabilities:

Using a mobile webcam and AssistMeLive, people with learning disabilities can be assisted

1. Attending and understanding class.

2. Understanding a new job or a new task

3. Deciphering street signs

People with autism:

Using a mobile webcam and communicating with a remote assistant via AssistMeLive, people with autism can be assisted

1. Staying focused and on-track

2. Getting orientated to a new community or environment

People with memory loss:

Using a mobile webcam and communicating with a remote assistant via AssistMeLive, people with memory loss can be assisted

1. Staying focused and on-track

2. Having companionship

3. Getting around the community and not getting lost

The general public

1. Needing language translation in public settings

2.Requiring language translation to watch videos, movies, or performances that are not captioned.

3. Needing tutorial help.

4. Wanting live remote guides at museums

5. Wanting fashion designs while shopping

6. Needing help with home repairs

The list is endless!

The Need to be Needed

Here is the presentation I gave at the Hebrew Union College on Feb.28,2012

The Need to be Needed

Back home, in California, I usually tell people that it will probably take them a while for them to understand my  New York accent.  Today, I’ve asked my friend Janet to read my prepared remarks in order to ensure we get to the Questions and Answers portion before Passover!

It is really an honor to be asked to tell my story to you today. As you listen to the story, please think about the idea that all of us need to be needed and that perhaps the best way to build a community is to ensure that all members feel needed.

In June, 2008, I retired from Wells Fargo as a Sr. Vice President in their IT area to start a business called Abilicorp. Abilicorp is a disability-focused employment company that does staffing and placement primarily in virtual call centers. I am on the Board of Trustees at Temple Sinai. I also co-chair the Center for Economic Growth (CEG) at the World Institute on Disability where we are working on designing and implementing new policies that will hopefully reduce the horrifying 75%+ unemployment rate for people with disabilities. Most importantly I am the husband of Denise for almost 29 years and the father of David who we adopted when he was 3 months old and who is now 25 years old.

To understand how I got to where I am now, probably the most significant thing you should know is that my parents are Holocaust survivors who taught me to be a survivor too. They both survived the Lodz Ghetto and my Mom survived Auschwitz. Having a child born with Cerebral Palsy was devastating to them. Disability equated to death. They were determined to make sure that I was as independent as I could be.

I truly believe that the most important lessons I learned from my parents and my Jewish upbringing was that there were things I HAD to do and that there was always a way to get those things done. My Mom woke me up at 5:30 every morning so I had time to dress myself before the school bus came. Twice a week the bus would drop me off at the synagogue where my Mom helped me walk up to my 2^nd floor religious school class. By the way, before high school, these classes were the only classes I had with non-disabled children. My Mom would return 2 hours later to help me climb down the stairs and walk 3 blocks home.  I wasn’t allowed to have a wheelchair until I went to high school. At home, I had 2 dinners every evening. The 1^st dinner I ate independently, causing me to exert so much energy as to make me hungrier after I ate than before. My mother fed me the 2^nd dinner! Whenever I complained to my father, he would say, “life is hard, so?”

I am not advocating that our religious school should be moved to the 2^nd floor of an inaccessible location or that we deny children with disabilities wheelchairs. I am advocating that we teach all children, including children with disabilities, how important they are, how needed they are, and how they can do Tikkun Olam.

The time I felt the most accepted was when our son, David, was a baby. Since Denise took care of him all day while I worked, I had night duty. When David woke up hungry at 2am, he didn’t ask if I was able to get up and warm a bottle for him. He didn’t ask if I was too tired. He didn’t ask how I was going to do it. He made no assumptions as to what I could or could not do. He cried and demanded his bottle. I was thrilled. I was needed!

Although big banks and big corporations have received bad press lately, working for Wells Fargo was wonderful for me. Working there, you really understood that if you did well and contributed to the bottom line, it didn’t matter what sex you were, what religion you practiced, what color you were or even what you sounded like. There were many nights when there were system problems. They would call me and inevitably find a way to understand what I was saying – because they needed to! One of my favorite stories happened near the beginning of my career, before there was online computing, The system crashed at 1AM. My van was in the shop, Trains in the Bay Area don’t run all night. Wells Fargo sent an armored van to transport me and my 300 pound powered wheelchair to the data center.

The last story I’d like to share with you is about one of my favorite rabbis. Rabbi Berlin, who now works for the URJ. She often relates the story of how her family found a welcoming synagogue when she was a child. Her family, which included a brother with a developmental disability, did not feel welcomed at their old synagogue. The rabbi at the new synagogue immediately asked her brother to please turn the lights off before Havdalah and turn the lights back on at the end of the service.  Her brother was thrilled! From then on he had his job. He knew he was needed. He and his family knew they were wanted. The rabbi had created an environment where everyone felt valued.

Imagine if every congregant had their ‘job’ and knew how important their job was to the congregation and felt how needed they were to the community. This is what I envision Judaism should be.

Thank you for listening. I look forward to your questions.

Go! Go! Go!

Changing the Paradigm

On October 28, 2011, the World Institute on Disability officially kicked-off its Center for Economic Growth (CEG). Andy Imparato, Senior Counsel and Disability Policy Director for the U.S. Senate HELP Committee, started by describing Senator Harkin's challenge to employ 6 million people with disabilities by 2015. My opening remarks were then presented.

Changing The Paradigm

Center for Economic Growth - Opening Remarks

10-28-2011

Thank you for being here. We have very high expectations for this Summit. We believe that now is the time to change the paradigm of how we think about economic growth for people with disabilities. As entitlements continue to be questioned and their funding becomes more tenuous, we must embrace the belief and create the reality that people with disabilities are equal members in our society and full economic partners. We must change our mindset from providing disability benefits and safety-nets to delivering what it takes to enable people to successfully fulfill their role in the economic growth of themselves, their family and their extended community. Financial success for people with disabilities should be defined exactly the same way it is for everyone. Financial success is taking full advantage of opportunities one can find or create that uses one's abilities to be as productive as one can be and as prosperous as one wants to be. WID believes the return on investment of this paradigm shift is both significant and measurable.



We are going to begin the summit by reviewing recommendations made by The World Institute on Disability, Mathematica Policy Research and the National Council On Independent Living. Like all recommendations, these were made using certain mindsets. These mindsets include notions such as a safety net is needed for people with disabilities. Another paradigm is that employers should and will hire people with disabilities if they are equally as qualified as their peers. A third paradigm is that people with disabilities need rehabilitation to learn how to perform existing jobs. What if we change these paradigms? What if disability benefits were seen as equalization benefits – a way of leveling the field and removing the cost of disability as a barrier? What if, instead of safety nets, we provide civil service opportunities and expect people with disabilities to earn their way, just like everyone else? What if rehabilitation was seen as a way of discovering how people with disabilities can be productive and prepared for tomorrow’s jobs, challenges and opportunities?



The Disability Movement has historically been about changing paradigms. Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, the predominant paradigm regarding disability was that people with disabilities had to ‘adjust to their environment.’ Our goal was to look and sound and act as ‘normal’ as possible. It wasn’t until the paradigm changed and we realized that ‘society should be accessible to all people’ that true progress began to occur. Surprisingly, the predominant paradigm in regards to the employment of people with disabilities has not changed. We still hear ‘hire people with disabilities,’ and ‘people with disabilities can work.’ In this global economy, when employers know they can hire very qualified and experienced people anywhere in the world, expecting them to hire people with disabilities will only get harder. As a retired senior vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, hearing that ‘people with disabilities can work,’ is demeaning and patronizing. I submit to you that the crux of the problem behind the employment of people with disabilities lies in these antiquated constructs. I offer to you that the paradigm for the 21^st century should be that everyone must be productive. Now is the time to raise expectations, to determine how we will be productive, and discover how we will create our own prosperity.
As you listen to the recommendations Bryon and David are going to review with you, please think about the underlying paradigms. The Center for Economic Growth wants to hear your opinion as to which 2 or 3 of these recommendations should we actively pursue? If the paradigms were different, would your advice to the CEG change? Might the proposals themselves change? Are the paradigms we have today OK? Are the ones we just suggested any better? Are there others? What data and research do we need to decide? We have purposely not developed details for our proposed new paradigms because we wanted to hear from you which way you think we should be headed. One thing we do know for sure is that to meet Senator Harkin’s challenge and to significantly improve the economic prosperity for people with disabilities, something bold and different is needed.



The Center for Economic Growth looks forward to your input both today and in the months ahead.