Disability awareness in the workplace

Disability awareness in the workplace Disability Awareness in the Workplace Employers have been encouraged to hire individuals with disabilities for decades.   However, regardless of the push by government agencies, public education programs, and grassroots employment organizations, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the unemployment rate for disabled persons at the end of 2009 hovered at right around 14 percent; thats nearly twice the unemployment rate of workers without disabilities.   Interestingly, the rates are higher for men with disabilities than for women.   Disabled individuals are underemployed in most workplaces and this may be at least part of the reason that many non-disabled workers are often confused and embarrassed when interacting with them; they simply dont know how to look past the disability. If all you see is the disabilityyou might be missing a lot. People with disabilities are just people. Meredith Vieira, NBC News To combat the discomfort that non-disabled workers feel, many workplaces have initiated programs that â€Å"teach† workers how to interact with their disabled coworkers a sort of sensitivity training.   These programs also help lessen the burden disabled workers may feel when entering a workplace staffed with individuals who may have previously had few interactions with disabled individuals.   Any employer can initiate such a program and should focus on two key areas: communication and interaction.   Its not difficult to understand how communicating and interacting with an individual who requires the assistance of a wheelchair to get around might be somewhat different from communicating and interacting with an individual who might be deaf or hard of hearing.   However, even though disabled individuals may ultimately have different needs, most basic communication and interaction facts remain the same regardless of the disability. Understanding How Outdated or Insulting Disability Terms May Be Inappropriate Many people have no idea that referring to a disabled person as handicapped might be insulting.   Handicapped is an outdated term that refers to an individual as the sum of his or her disability.   Disabled persons are so much more than that.   Referring to someone as disabled removes the disability as a definition of the individual and instead renders it a mere characteristic; no more than someone having blue eyes or red hair, or than someone being tall or short.  Ã‚   Refrain from using outdated or insulting terms when interacting with or referring to disabled individuals.   Outdated terms include â€Å"crippled,† â€Å"lame,† and â€Å"mute.† Respect the Needs of Disabled Coworkers The equipment that some disabled persons need to work often perplexes non-disabled coworkers.   Although the disabled person may not think twice about this equipment, non-disabled individuals may feel that they have to address this equipment in some way or help their disabled coworkers maneuver throughout the workplace.   Neither of these situations is usually the case. Although non-disabled individuals may have been taught that, to be polite, they must â€Å"help† a disabled person, most disabled people are very adept at getting around and managing their equipment.   Never assume that someone in a wheelchair needs you to push him/her onto an elevator or that they need you to hold equipment as they get into their car.   Always ask if a disabled person needs assistance.   Never just assume that they do.   Disabled people value their independence as much as non-disabled people.   Robbing them of that independence in the name of being helpful or polite is not a help but an insult.   A disabled person who needs assistance will be happy you asked, and one that doesnt will value your respect. Another interaction issue to consider is how to maneuver around a disabled persons equipment.   Remember, their equipment whether it is a wheelchair, canes or crutches, or even a guide dog is like an extension of them.   Its no more appropriate for someone to grab or move equipment than it is for someone to grab the arm or hand of a coworker without being asked or without offering help.   It is no more appropriate to lean on someones wheelchair than it would be to lean on a stranger in an elevator.   Everyone has personal space, including disabled individuals.   Requests for Help Many people are too busy to consider a request for assistance from a disabled coworker as anything more than a nuisance.   But, those same people wouldnt think twice about helping a coworker that dropped an armload of file folders or one who fell on an icy sidewalk.   People with disabilities who need accommodations are not complaining and their requests for assistance should be responded to graciously; just as graciously as you would to someone who dropped something or someone who slipped on the ice.   Everyone needs a bit of help at one time or another; some people just need help a bit more often. It is so important to see past an individuals disability.   Disabled persons have as much to contribute in the workplace as non-disabled workers.   We often make adjustments when interacting with non-disabled people without even thinking about it; we interact differently with everyone.   Theres no need to feel uncomfortable or confused when dealing with a disabled coworker.   Its simply a matter of understanding what we have often been taught to ignore.

Using the concepts of class, gender and ‘race’, show how sport in Britain is affected by patterns of social inequality

Each society established its own set of norms, values and beliefs. It is these that have caused societies to change and develop over time creating ideologies of inequality, prejudice and segregation. Often the beliefs of a population stem from the hegemonic group within that society, and others possessing less social status are pressured into conforming as a result. This process is evident within the sporting world as society repeatedly forces discrimination and segregation based on socio-economic or physical differences as dictated by the hegemonic group. Class is possibly the greatest creator of inequality. We have seen how several mainstream sports can be analysed in terms of shifts and continuities in the social context in which they have emerged, prospered or declined. Their fate has been determined essentially due to material social and economic factors, and the human cultural response to those influences (Horne, Tomlinson & Whannel, 1999). Sports participation is not a matter of personal choice, of individual preference. It depends upon the financial resources available to the potential participant, the social status of those prominent in that activity, and the cultural meaning of a sport and the individual's relationship to those meanings. The recruitment and induction processes into, say, golf and tennis clubs bear testimony to this. Take the apparently open-minded and egalitarian basis of a newcomer presenting herself at a tennis club. In order to do this the aspirant must communicate competently with the gate-keepers of a club; read the social interactions and etiquette and conventions of a club; comply with the dress code; be equipped with relatively sophisticated technology (she would be unlikely to get far with a wooden Dunlop Maxply in 2001); and be able to play at a level of acceptable competence (Horne, Tomlinson & Whannel, 1999). While it is evident that upper classes thrive on being members of exclusive clubs that for others were financially inaccessible such as the England Tennis Club at Wimbledon (Sleap, 1998). The middle classes established their own clubs, although they experienced less leisure time in which to enjoy the activities. However, they did receive subsidised sporting access via the old boy network. The working class endured the roughest deal. For them the term meritocracy never existed. They had no time or money to be involved in sports or leisure activities, and therefore tended only to enjoy sport at festivals and fetes. The games they played were a complete contrast to the upper classes, they has no organisation or codification and were violent and aggressive. The complex relationship between class cultures, or habitus, and formal sports institutions has been further analysed, at a theoretically more sophisticated level by John Hargreaves (1986). He shows how the practises and technologies of schooling and sport have served as instruments of class domination, and have contributed to the cultural reproduction of class difference and social inequality. The rigid distinctions erected between the amateur and the professional were in the end rooted in class domination. The formation of these institutions on the base of public school and university sport made them also an expression of the domination of social life by men. This does not mean that no women or working class people were involved in sport. But such involvement was always within the bounds of authority exercised by men of the bourgeoisie (Horne, Tomlinson & Whannel, 1999). The making of modern sports has been a predominantly masculine narrative, with women marginalised or disenfranchised at most stages of the narrative. Women's involvement in cricket too, was marginalised early on, and Sandiford (1994) notes that cricket was seen as too much a ‘manly sport' even for the tennis and hockey playing women students at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford in the late nineteenth century. It was not until 1926 that the British Women's Cricket Association was founded, by hockey and lacrosse players from Malvern College (Hargreaves, Jennifer. 1994). Colley et al (1987) supported that participation of 16-18 year old males an females suggested that sports are still strongly sex typed. This enforces inequalities in society as people have images and expectations to live up to, or risk being ridiculed. Before the era of mass media, the recording of cultural imagery was firmly linked to the power of the church and the aristocracy. Painters were commissioned to celebrate the material wealth of owners. Sporting paintings portrayed the horses and dogs of the land -owners (Goldman, 1983). There were also paintings of scenes of carnivalesque celebration, such as the famous Derby Day painting, and of everyday low life showing cock-fighting or dog-fighting. The sporting press began to emerge in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The 1870 Education Act had helped produce a new reading public. The first sports pages began to emerge in 1896 with the launch of the Daily Mail. This initiated the modern era of mass circulation of popular newspapers (Horne, Tomlinson & Whannel, 1999). Instead of having a positive effect on the portrayal of women in sport, the hegemonic group who have dominated sport for all time, are still dictating what images get published. During the 2000 Olympic games, the Daily Star published no less than 70% of photographs of sporting males. However, outside the sports pages during the games 70% of the photographs were of the Olympic women. These shots did not show them in the same light as their male counterparts, who were obviously of the same world class standard. They sexualised the athletes, exposing flesh. Would this have been the case if the Olympic moto had been constructed as ‘Balance, Flexibility and Ultra Endurance', instead of ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger' ? (Lines, 2001). These issues are not restricted to prejudice in women's sport, but create disadvantages for ‘races' who do not conform to the hegemonic group's system. For example, in the relationship between sport and national identity, cricket is invested with more significance than any other sport in India. Even although India dominated international hockey for decades (not losing a match in the olympics from 1928 to 1960) (McDonald, I. 1999). However, the low international prestige associated with success in hockey, has divested hockey in India of significant political importance. The widespread popularity and therefore, the commercial nature of international test and one day cricket in India can be discerned from a comparison with the game in England. Whereas the sponsors of English cricket have traditionally been banks and insurance companies, Pespi and Coca-Cola vie for predominance amoungst the benefactors of Indian Cricket (McDonald, I 1999). This merely confirms the class and ‘race' inequalities established in Britain. Class, gender and ‘race' are all inter-linked, they overlap and share some similar issues. It is clear from studies in inequality in society, that financial, ‘racial' and sex-typing have influenced British sport for many years. It is because of this that often when it comes to international competition and World championships, Britain regularly falls short of other countries. Although the introduction of the national curriculum in 1991 saw one of the first major attempts to reduce inequality; no separation between class, gender or race, with everyone participating in the same activities with the same opportunities. However, private schools are exempt from the national curriculum and thus are geared to more affluent games, reinforcing the polarisation of the classes. While Gruneau (1983) argues â€Å"mass participation in sport during the second half of the twentieth century has meant that class inequality in sport has apparently declined and there is now a leisure mass instead of a leisure class†. Ruling class ideology is still evident today and although there have been attempts to reduce its effects, people are still influenced. The prevention or reduction of inequality is a large and important issue. Attempts by the women's liberation groups and the government to establish schemes that allow access to equipment for all – 1997 ‘Sport for All' campaign. However, strong inequalities still exist in the form of oppression by the ruling classes, stereotyping of women and ‘racial' discrimination. Until these are reduced and controlled Britain will remain to fall behind on the athletic stage.

Physics Help Us in Daily Life Essay

Well how does the study of physics made a milestone for the world. And how does it help me in my daily life. Physics is the science of matter and its motion, space-time and energy. Physics describes many forms of energy – such as kinetic energy, electrical energy, and mass; and the way energy can change from one form to another. Everything surrounding to us is made of matter and Physics explains matter as combinations of fundamental particles which are interacting through fundamental forces. It will not be an exaggeration if it is said that Nature is almost Physics (apart from the fact that the word Physics itself is derived from Greek â€Å"physis† meaning nature). Physics is all around us. We can find Physics as the backbone for any daily life example such as an electric light, electricity, the working of our vehicle, wristwatch, cell phone, CD player, radio, plasma TV set, computer, and – the list goes on Physics and its principles are integrated with almost everything you do. A few of the things physics controls are how: †¢Pool balls react and move †¢Heat transfers into your cooking †¢Refrigerators cool the contents †¢Car engines work †¢Airplanes fly †¢Televisions and computers operate †¢Water gets to your house and sewage leaves †¢There is fizz in your soda or beer †¢Paint sticks to a wall The problem is that these activities are so integrated with your experience that you know how to throw a ball so it gets to the catcher in baseball (for example) without doing the math. However in the same way you can appreciate music without under standing the key, attack, dwell or pitch musicians (and in physics, scientists) need to know them to make more for your enjoyment.

Malcolm X Essay example - 1793 Words

Malcolm X Malcolm’s family was a victim of racism before he was even born. His father, Reverend Earl Little, had experienced the death of three of his brothers by white men and one by lynching. This caused Rev. Little to become a preacher of Marcus Garvey’s pro-black and Back-to-Africa beliefs. Because of these beliefs, Malcolm’s family was often a target of racist acts. Due to an incident by the Ku Klux Klan while Malcolm’s mother was still pregnant with him they moved from Omaha to Milwaukee. There their were still many hate crimes. They a couple more times and then to Lansing, Michigan. Malcolm experienced friction between his parents and child abuse of his older siblings by his mother, Louise. One night in September 1931†¦show more content†¦Malcolm experienced many things for the first time... ‘I had never had tasted a sip of liquor, never even smoked a cigarette, and here I saw little black children, ten and twelve years old, shooting craps, playing cards, fighting....children threw swear words I’d never heard before....† Malcolm met Shorty, a man who had a significant influence on Malcolm’s life. Shorty helped Malcolm find a job as a shoeshine boy for a large ballroom. Malcolm was trained for a few nights by the exiting guy. This training included not only shoeshining but also the dealing of drugs and the hiring of prostitutes for customers. Soon Shorty had showed Malcolm how to wear s zoot suit and put his hair into a conk (a hairstyle African Americans wore to straighten their hair). Malcolm soon learned how to dance and ended up quitting his shoeshine job. In the process of dancing, he met Laura, an educated girl who was also an excellent dance partner. Malcolm began going out with Laura and was involved in a serious relationship until he met Sophia. Sophia was an older white girl whom Malcolm immediately went after at a party. It wasn’t long until Sophia was was with Malcolm. Soon after in 1942 in an attempt by his aunt to get him away from Boston and Sophia Malcolm becam e a dishwasher foe the railroad company. Malcolm soon became a local street hustler but was forced to retreat back to Boston after finding out another hustler, the Mafia, and police were allShow MoreRelatedMalcolm X2364 Words   |  10 Pagesï » ¿ Introduction Malcolm X is seen as quite a controversial person. His admirers see him as a courageous human rights activist who campaigned for the rights of African Americans and showed white America how racist it was. His enemies see him as a racist, anti-Semitic and violent person. Malcolm X was orphaned early in life. At the age of six his father was killed and it has been rumoured that white racists were responsible. 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It is his standout views and beliefs that make Malcolm X one of the most prominent and fascinating African-American leaders in the 1950s and 60s. Malcolm X was born May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska by the name of Malcolm Little. His childhood was plaguedRead More Malcolm X Essay1409 Words   |  6 PagesMalcolm X Malcolm X, a civil rights leader in the 1960s believed that blacks and whites should be segregated. He also believed that white man was evil and were trying to brainwash all blacks and that Martin Luther Kings non-violent protests werent working and that violence was needed for change. Malcolm Xs life was a life with a lot of conflict and violence in it. Malcolm X was born under the name of Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska in 1925. His father was a baptist minister and anRead MoreThe Education Of Malcolm X Essay984 Words   |  4 Pageswrite to express your feelings and communicate with others. 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