don't let the heated rhetoric of advocates fool you.  Neither the ADA nor
technology have significantly changed employment levels of the disabled.
BTW, the company that conducted the survey, Louis Harris and Associates,
refused to hire a blind applicant in a surveyor position in the 1980s.

kelly


07/23/98 -- Copyright (C) 1998 The Washington Post [Article 317893, 38 lines]

                    Survey Finds No Job Gains for Disabled
                              By Barbara Vobejda
                         Washington Post Staff Writer

   Less than one third of adults with disabilities are employed, a figure that
has not improved over the past decade, according to a survey released today by
the National Organization on Disability.
     The survey, conducted by Louis Harris & Associates, found that 29 percent
of disabled persons are employed full or part time, compared with 79 percent
of nondisabled Americans aged 18 through 64. In 1986, 33 percent of the
disabled population was employed.
     The survey also found that disabled Americans are less likely to
socialize with friends, go to restaurants and attend movies than those without
disabilities.
     "In general, people with disabilities are not participating as fully in
American life as we should be," said Alan A. Reich, president of the National
Organization on Disability. "There's a long way to go."
     At the same time, the survey found that persons with disabilities feel
that society is making progress in improving access to public facilities and
transportation, quality of life and public attitudes toward disabled Americans.
     The report comes eight years after the passage of the Americans With
Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in
the workplace, housing, retail stores and other places that serve the public.
The survey found that just over half of disabled adults had heard of the
landmark civil rights legislation, an increase since 1994, when just 40
percent knew of the law.
     About one third felt the law had improved their lives, while nearly 60
percent said it had made no difference.
     The survey of 1,000 adults followed up on two others conducted by Harris
for the National Organization on Disability, in 1994 and 1986.
     Reich said it was not clear why the proportion of disabled Americans who
are employed had declined. The survey found that 72 percent of the unemployed
said they would prefer to be working, but that 44 percent said they were
completely unable to work because of their disabilities.
     The low employment rate contributes to a high incidence of poverty.
Thirty-four percent of adults with disabilities live in a household with an
annual income of less than $15,000, compared with 13 percent of nondisabled
adults.


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