Judge people with disabilities on their abilities

							Abstract submitted for FOTIM conference 5-7 October 2005, Johannesburg Erasing the Margins: Researching Disabilities in Higher Education,

Judge people with disabilities on their abilities Dr Laurentia Truter (Owner of ability@work) People with disabilities are people with abilities, equally capable of and eligible for a wide range of positions and occupations just as people without disabilities. Due to stereotype ideas and assumptions about people with disabilities, however, “job matching” occurs between a particular job and a disability. Current recruitment and selection processes of most employers are commented upon as they potentially put employers at risk of discrimination disputes. The framework of the Employment Equity Act relevant to people with disabilities is set and their right to fair placement in the workplace. The concepts of “likely” and “unlikely” jobs are briefly explored and flawed thinking processes exposed. Because of stereotyping and ignorance employees with disabilities are typically placed in low-profile, low-growth, entry positions in the workplace. Our past and current education system assist in this process by “channeling” them into stereotype positions. People with disabilities should rather on a case-by-case basis be evaluated on their aptitudes, abilities, skills and attitudes just like any other person without a disability. Our education system in future should also allow for the development and placement of persons with disabilities on this premise, be it within the tertiary environment or workplace based training. Learnerships, for example, can play an important role in developing and expanding the skills base of people with disabilities making them suitable for placement in a variety of roles. Current employees that become disabled do not necessarily loose all their previous knowledge and skills and should also be granted further development opportunities. Relevant reasonable accommodation measures may need to be put in place to accommodate the learning processes.

Curriculum Vitae – Dr Laurentia Truter (BA LLB cum laude, LLM, LLD) Dr Laurentia Truter recently started her own consulting practice known as ability@work that renders employment equity and disability equity specialist services. She and her associate, Shakila Maharaj (a blind industrial psychologist), have developed a complete disability solution set for the workplace. Prior to that, she was the income stream leader of the Employment Law practice within the Human Resource Services Division of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest professional consulting firm. Laurentia has experience in both the public and private sector and has advised both local and international clients on various labour issues. The topic of her doctoral dissertation was “Disability, discrimination and equal opportunities: A comparative labour law study”. She was awarded a HSRC bursary for doctoral studies abroad. She has been offering the internationally developed disability attitudinal training programme known as “Tilting at Windmills” together with Shakila at various clients promoting, amongst other, fair recruitment and selection processes for people with disabilities.