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Why Should You Work?

The system often seems stacked against people with disabilities who want to work. Isthat a good enough reason not to look for a job?

By Tamar Asedo Sherman

Why work with a disability?It’s not only about the money, although that certainly helps. It’s hard to live on Social Security

Disability Income or Supplemental Security Income. We can all use a little extra, especially in thecurrent fiscal climate. But there are strong disincentives that give many of us pause at the

thought of possibly losing health insurance benefits and a monthly payment of $1,000 or more.

We might have fought hard over many months or even years, and hired an attorney to help usprove our case, that we cannot possibly work after injury or disease has left us with a serious

condition that interferes with basic work-related activities. We have mobility problems, cognitiveproblems, or fatigue, which is extremely hard to demonstrate. So if we finally qualify to receive

benefits, why should we even consider going back to work?

Work and Identity

Many of us get our identity from employment, whether we have a disability or not. “Our work role

is a key element of who we are as individuals,” according to Thomas Golden, associate director of Cornell University’s Employment and Disability Institute.

The Institute was created with Federal and State funding back in the 1960s at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, long before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed.

The focus is on supporting people with disabilities in employment, community living, and fullparticipation in society. “For much too long people with disabilities were marginalized in

employment and segregated,” Golden said. “We define our role in society by our work. Being aworker is a critical role to being a valued member of society.”

Self-esteem is another good reason to work, according to Deb Cotter, a policy analyst with theNational Council on Independent Living in Washington, D.C. She had a stroke resulting in partial

paralysis and vision loss, but keeps working.

“When we introduce ourselves in American society, we introduce ourselves by our work role,” shesaid. “You’re pulling your own weight when you work. You’re not being a burden to society.”

Sylvia Bennett, a geriatric nurse who manages a long-term care unit in a small hospital, uses awheelchair. “Why do I come to work every day determined to do a full day’s work?” despiteexperiencing great pain, she asks herself in New Mobility magazine’s December 2008 issue.

“Just because I can’t walk doesn’t make me any different than the person who can’t dance, can’tpaint, or can’t speak four languages. I am still who I am. I am still a nurse, a great nurse, a nurse

in a wheelchair, and I love my job.”

To some extent, using a wheelchair helps her do her job even better. “If I can’t navigatesomewhere in the building, neither can my residents. If this is to be their home, then it should be

accessible.” Those obstacles need to be corrected, she added.

Roll ModelNancy Starnes, senior vice president of National Organization on Disability (NOD) in Washington,D.C., said that using a wheelchair is helpful in representing the disability population. “When youroll into a hearing room, you deliver a message before you open your mouth to speak your first

word.”

A wheelchair user for 35 years due to Spinal Cord Injury from an airplane crash, Starnes said thatexpectations for her future were incredibly low at the time of her injury. After 9 months of 

hospitalization and rehab, she was released to her husband’s care. “Six weeks later I was back atmy old job. There has never been a period when I was not able to find employment,” she said.

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“I have a strong work ethic. I like working,” Starnes said. “Work gives you a relationship to yourcommunity as a whole. It gives you access to co-workers and colleagues, the opportunity todevelop a network of contacts and relationships. It lets you know you are valuable and you

contribute to society.”

The very first handicapped parking spot in Sparta, New Jersey, was created for her in the 1970sso she could get back to work as assistant to the branch manager of a brokerage office, Starnes

said. “They didn’t have to do an awful lot” to accommodate her wheelchair, since the office wasalready located on the ground floor, but some modification to the bathroom was necessary.

After that, she went into county government to serve as director of the newly created Office of Handicapped Services in the 1980s, then served as mayor of her town, the first female mayor

and the first wheelchair-using mayor.

Starnes’ advice for people newly injured is: “[Spinal cord injury] doesn’t mean the end of life asyou know it. It means pursuing your goals with a different set of tools and expectations. Learn

what goes into your personal tool kit and connect with others in the disability community.”

David Brewer, a senior extension associate with Cornell’s Disabilities Institute, thinks everybodycan work productively for a living wage. “From a policy perspective, it is incredibly expensive tosupport people who are not working, and from a human perspective, there is value to society to

have people with disabilities work and earn a decent living,” he said.

Brewer works specifically with youth in transition from school to work. “All students should have asense of worth, a talent, and something to offer. The schools’ responsibility is to work with allstudents to give them a sense of who they are, what their value is, and that they can pursue a

goal. They can make money doing things they enjoy doing.”

New Ticket to Work 

The Social Security Administration encourages people with disabilities to at least try to get backto work by issuing a Ticket to Work to all those who receive SSDI or SSI benefits. The ticketbasically entitles the recipient to obtain vocational rehabilitation services or other supportservices necessary to secure a job from an employment network provider of their choice.

Prior to the enactment of the Ticket to Work legislation, fewer than 0.5% of SSDI recipientsactually went off benefits by returning to work. Administrators of the program believe the new

Ticket to Work regulations that went into effect in July 2008 will result in an increase in thenumber of beneficiaries working and leaving the monthly benefit rolls, according to Deborah

Cortright of Social Security’s Office of Employment Support Programs.

Further, the ongoing evaluation of the new Ticket to Work program shows a positive trend towardemployment for individuals with disabilities who receive Social Security benefits and potential

savings for the Disability Trust Fund, she added.

An additional benefit to returning to work is the possibility of increasing your Social Securitybenefit. This is because Social Security automatically recomputes the benefit amount after

additional earnings are credited to your earnings record.

The National Organization on Disability (NOD) sponsors the National EmployAbility Partnershipwhose mission is to substantially increase the number of Americans with disabilities in the

workforce. Three core values guide its strategy:

“Dignity, responsibility and economic independence resulting from gainful employment is themost effective way of reducing dependency on public benefits, enhancing self-reliance and

changing attitudes. “ In a nutshell, that’s why we should work.

If you’re thinking of going back to work and want to know how it would affect your benefits, visitwww.ssa.gov/work . Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) projects will assist you

with information about work incentives, benefits planning, and making good choices about work.