Never Walked In High Heels

By Guest Writer Rebecca Wylie

One of the biggest problems facing the disabled community at present is the lack of sustainable employment, employment that allows them to live out in the community as independently as possible.

I am a walking, well more like rolling, poster child for this cause. I am a 25-year old incomplete quadriplegic living just outside of Chicago. I graduated top ten from one of the best high schools in the United States. I went on to the University of Missouri to study Graphic Design, a subject I not only have a passion for but also something I knew I could do despite my severe physical limitations. Being seven hours away from family of any kind, I managed to hire personal care attendants who helped me get up every morning in time for class, fed me my meals, and put me to bed after I finished my homework. I graduated in four years without changing my major, a feat that many students can’t attest to. And yet, three years after graduation I have failed to secure meaningful work, work that will pay for my personal care attendants; work that will allow me to move out of my parent’s house; work that will pay for my health care, my food, my quality of life.

Most people with disabilities live off Social Security, Medicare and Food Stamp benefits as they struggle to find work and if they don’t and their families no longer can take care of them, they become a ward of the State, further depleting taxpayer money from programs that all citizens could benefit from, like building infrastructure, establishing National Parks and improving education. I, ironically, was denied any government benefits at age 18 because of the little birthday money I had saved throughout childhood. Not that I want to live exclusively off these benefits for the rest of my life, $500 a month will not pay for adequate shelter, food and health care for anyone, let alone someone disabled.

Determined not to be a financial burden on already angry taxpayers, I decided to go away to college, thinking that an education would be my ticket to getting a job and living as physically and financially independent as possible. I was convinced by my family, teachers, counselors, caseworkers etc. that college was the key. Now that I have a Bachelor’s degree and have had little success at securing permanent sustainable employment I know that a diploma is only part of the equation.

Lack of employment does not stem from the lack of preparedness, on my alma matter’s part or mine. I write a mean cover letter, have an up-to-date resume and possess a killer design portfolio. I have worked with various employment agencies, government-run and not, that claim to “help people with disabilities find and keep quality employment that pays a living wage and offers a chance for advancement.” I have applied for hundreds of jobs/internships, paid and unpaid, both in and out of my field. I have networked. I have even managed to score interviews. And still, I remain unemployed.

Some people would blame this failure on the state of the current economy. While it is true, the U.S. labor force has faced one of the worst economic climates in nearly 80 years, I can’t bring myself to point my finger at that. Long before the economy tanked the disabled have struggled, and as I said earlier, I have applied for hundreds of jobs and even gone on a handful of meaningful interviews; the economy is not the biggest contributing factor here. The problem occurs in the interview stage when the potential employer sees the disability. I immediately look weak, broken and useless. If only they could sit in my wheelchair for a day, type and write with their mouth for a day, step inside my brilliant mind and face what I face everyday. They would see a completely different person.

It is up to me and everyone else who is disabled and wants to work to show society what we are truly capable of.