Guest Writer
Cristina Isabel Guanzon
“You鈥檙e hired.鈥 These are powerful words. In the case of persons with disabilities (PWDs), they鈥檙e powerful enough to change lives.
My life was forever changed the first time I said those words to a PWD worker applying to work at our family business. For the last two years, I鈥檝e been working as the head of Human Resources for PWDs, particularly for the deaf and hard of hearing鈥攁 role I take very personally.
It鈥檚 always an emotional moment when they find out they鈥檝e been hired. The look on their faces, it鈥檚 like they鈥檝e won a million bucks. It鈥檚 not about the money. It鈥檚 about acceptance. I know because I was born deaf. And I鈥檝e spent my life fighting to be accepted.
Always on the outskirts, these men and women have spent years, if not all their lives, sitting in the dark, alone with their doubts. They work like there鈥檚 no tomorrow, because for all they know, there may not actually be one. As a person with a disability, you get used to being locked out of opportunities. Not many workplaces are welcoming towards us. Given a chance to prove what they鈥檙e capable of, these men and women often outperform everyone around them.
Growing up, I always wanted to build something for myself. I fought through therapy, through school. Graduating was a huge victory for me. But then the real challenge began: Getting a job.
PWD workers know this all too well, and many of them are incredible workers for it. Those who find themselves in a position to open doors for them, you might want to keep an open mind.
Experience is expected in the workplace. You gain that experience by learning from small tasks to build skill sets that ready you for greater responsibilities. No group of people are as observant and innovative as PWDs, constantly studying the world around them in order to better understand it.
And when things get rough, you need workers that know what it鈥檚 like to persist in the dark. To confront challenges, think outside of the box, and get things done. That鈥檚 the kind of perseverance PWDs bring to the table. If you can manage to look beyond their disabilities, they鈥檙e not too different from the rest of your workforce. It so happens that some can鈥檛 hear, some can鈥檛 see, and some can鈥檛 move around as easily. But they find ways to thrive and shine.
Ironically, even abled people can be disabled by choice. Some don鈥檛 hear, some don鈥檛 see, and some don鈥檛 move when things go awry. The difference is, we overcome.
Of course, it鈥檚 not always easy working with PWDs. Like with any collaborative effort between groups, it takes a lot of communication. And communication means compromise. If your employee is deaf, be open to learn sign language. Know that they make the same effort reading your lips and writing on a notepad. Working with a PWD is a fantastic opportunity to learn how to be more observant, more protective, more patient. Characteristics that make one not only a great worker, but a great person.
PWD workers aren鈥檛 liabilities. Give them a chance and, with a little adjustment, a little sensitivity and creativity, you鈥檒l see just how productive your company can become. These workers don鈥檛 only do things better, they do them differently, and that鈥檚 an asset you鈥檒l never find anywhere else. Give them your support, and encourage them to be proud of being who they are as people, beyond their disability.
The divide between PWDs and the rest of society is wide and runs deep, and made worse by the societal and environmental barriers we have created. But we can remake these barriers into something more inclusive, something better.
Seemingly simple things like a lack of communication, a lack of empathy, a lack of understanding or the willingness to. These have resulted in a cycle of silent struggle鈥攐f settling for less than what we deserve. It鈥檚 high time we break that silence. So here I am, a person with a disability, reaching out.
The talent and the work ethic are there. You just need to recognize it.
Cristina Guanzon is a tech entrepreneur and young professional advocating for the inclusion of PWDs in the workplace.
