2008 Woodie Awards
Students with disabilities fight more career obstacles
Sue Goldberg
Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: News
Maggie Delaney has a bachelor's degree from Northern Kentucky University, a master's degree in science and social work from the University of Louisville, first-rate internship experiences and a killer resume, but she lacks one thing that could help her snag some good jobs - a driver's license.
Visual impairment keeps Delaney out of the driver's seat, but not from getting to where she wants to go. Academic honors, community leadership and prestigious internships have kept this AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability) scholarship recipient busy. However, Delaney's dream job in social work and advocacy for the disabled often requires transporting clients or making home visits.
"It was interesting because I still was able to make arrangements with my (internship) supervisor for meetings, to travel to the Frankfort area with other staff, to visit facilities, to do investigations," Delaney said. "I could do this."
Her post-graduate job-hunting experience, though, finds her bumping up against sometimes curious requirements from social agencies, with one supervisor telling her that the agency had not yet decided if a driver's license would be required for a position answering child protection service hot line calls.
Delaney is not the only one encountering employment obstacles. According to a 2004 National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey, only 35 percent of people with disabilities reported being employed full- or part- time, compared to 78 percent of those who do not have disabilities.
Delaney said she is learning to be a self-advocate, something that her public advocacy internships have honed. She mentioned that upon finishing college and grad school, she received encouragement from professors and supervisors, but never realized the difficulties she might face in pursuing her career.
"Here I (was), about to graduate facing the same barrier," Delaney said. "Yet this time I've worked for not one, but four groups of attorneys. Wow, now you're going to push some buttons at this point."
Visual impairment keeps Delaney out of the driver's seat, but not from getting to where she wants to go. Academic honors, community leadership and prestigious internships have kept this AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability) scholarship recipient busy. However, Delaney's dream job in social work and advocacy for the disabled often requires transporting clients or making home visits.
"It was interesting because I still was able to make arrangements with my (internship) supervisor for meetings, to travel to the Frankfort area with other staff, to visit facilities, to do investigations," Delaney said. "I could do this."
Her post-graduate job-hunting experience, though, finds her bumping up against sometimes curious requirements from social agencies, with one supervisor telling her that the agency had not yet decided if a driver's license would be required for a position answering child protection service hot line calls.
Delaney is not the only one encountering employment obstacles. According to a 2004 National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey, only 35 percent of people with disabilities reported being employed full- or part- time, compared to 78 percent of those who do not have disabilities.
Delaney said she is learning to be a self-advocate, something that her public advocacy internships have honed. She mentioned that upon finishing college and grad school, she received encouragement from professors and supervisors, but never realized the difficulties she might face in pursuing her career.
"Here I (was), about to graduate facing the same barrier," Delaney said. "Yet this time I've worked for not one, but four groups of attorneys. Wow, now you're going to push some buttons at this point."
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