Narrator (00:13):
This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development Online University.

Michelle Sparling (00:19):
Hello, and welcome to Networks' podcast on disclosure. We're so excited that you're able to listen today to our discussion on disclosure with Suzanne Erb. Welcome, Suzanne.

Suzanne Erb (00:32):
Hi, Michelle. It's really great to be here today and it's great to discuss disability disclosure. This is a topic that's really near and dear to my heart. I have been blind since birth and have not always been proud of it, but I am now, and so I have really come a long way in terms of my understanding of disclosure, especially as it pertains to employment. I'd like to share with you today some of my feelings about it, so Michelle, I'm ready.

Michelle Sparling (01:10):
Wonderful. I guess the big question to start with is, what is disability disclosure as it pertains to employment?

Suzanne Erb (01:17):
Well, as it pertains to employment, disability disclosure means that you disclose a disability that you may have that can impact the way you do a job. For example, in my case, as a blind person, I have found it necessary to disclose that I'm blind because I read and write differently from the way most people do. I do read and write. I can read and write in ways that everyone else can, but I do it a little bit differently, so it's important for my employer to know what I can and can't do. That means that somebody who might have an invisible disability, for example, an intellectual disability, or a mental health disorder, or even something like diabetes, might want to disclose their disability, if it happens to pertain to the particular job they're doing.

Michelle Sparling (02:28):
Great. Thank you for that explanation. What are some reasons that people might not want to disclose their disability? Because sometimes people just, they don't want to, they're uncomfortable.

Suzanne Erb (02:40):
Well, there are a lot of reasons for that. I would say really these reasons go back for thousands and thousands of years. People, up until recently, have really thought about disability in terms of the medical model, that the disability really defines the person, and so if you can't see, or you can't walk, or you can't do tasks in a normal way, in whatever way, shape, or form, or if life just presents you with interesting to challenges that other people might not experience, it's your fault, you're the one who is having the problem. That's sort of referred to today as the medical model.

Suzanne Erb (03:31):
Fortunately, our society has changed, or at least we are trying to push society to change, to think about disability as a social thing, and that really, society has to change in order to make sure that people who have disabilities are able to function in the society that we live in. For example, those of you who know, and if you look around you, you'll find curb cuts in modern buildings, you might find rail signs on elevators and other places, you might find all kinds of things. Very often, these things will help people as well who don't have disabilities. For example, curb cuts help people who use strollers, or baby carriages, or just people who are coming back from the grocery store with carts.

Suzanne Erb (04:33):
But there is still such a stigma about disability in our society that lot of times, people don't want to disclose and are afraid to disclose their disability because they're afraid that they might not get hired, they're afraid that they might not be promoted on the job. They're afraid that they just might be fired if people found out. Those are some reasons why people do not want to disclose their disability on the job.

Michelle Sparling (05:06):
Difficult situation and it's very individual, right?

Suzanne Erb (05:09):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Michelle Sparling (05:10):
I wanted to ask you a question around reasonable accommodations as it applies to disclosure. Why would you want to or not want to disclose when you're considering reasonable accommodations on the job?

Suzanne Erb (05:22):
Well, when you're on the job, and if your disability impacts the way you do your job, then it's really important to disclose your disability to your employer. That doesn't mean that you have to go around and tell every single person on the job that you have a disability and go into any long dissertation about what the disability is, but in order to get any kind of reasonable accommodation that you might need for your job, it's really important to let your employer know. For one thing, they aren't going to provide you an accommodation that you might need for your job if you haven't told them that you have a disability. For example, if you need quiet because you have a hard time concentrating when there's noise, if that impacts how you do your job, then you really have to let your employer know so that they can maybe put you in a cubicle that isn't in an area that's as noisy. Or if, for example, you're hard of hearing, and you need a specific kind of phone in order to do your job, then you really need to let the employer know that, too.

Suzanne Erb (06:48):
Also, another thing that's important is that in order to advance on your job, you need to have the reasonable accommodations that will enable you to do your job to the best of your ability so that you can maintain your employment and get promotions and all that sort of thing. Otherwise, you really might experience ceiling. If people don't think you can do your job as well as other people, for whatever reason, then you could really suffer from not having disclosed your disability.

Suzanne Erb (07:29):
Another reason for disclosing is that some of us who really believe that we have something that's very unique to share, some of us really do believe that it's okay to have a disability, and in fact, some of us are proud of having a disability. For example, I'm proud to be blind because of all of the great blind men and women who have gone before me and who are currently alive and who will be alive long after I'm dead. For example, I am very proud of people like Louis Braille, who despite all kinds of obstacles, invented the system that I use to read and write. I am proud of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy, who really pioneered in the 20th century and have changed forever what it means to be blind and deaf-blind. Those are just two examples of people that I am proud to be among and feel very much part of a community. This enables me to teach an employer about disability and it can really turn into one of those teachable moments that we all love to share.

Michelle Sparling (09:05):
Thanks, Suzanne. You mentioned pride. I wanted to ask you a different question. What about people-first language and disability pride? How do these concepts fit into the disclosure discussion?

Suzanne Erb (09:19):
Well, that's really a good question, Michelle, because there's people-first language, there is identity-first language. These two concepts are important for people to understand. People-first language means that you're not your disability. I am not blind Suzanne. I am Suzanne. One of my characteristics is that I'm blind. It's not the only characteristic, and in many senses, it's not the most important characteristic. However, as someone who is blind and who is proud to be blind, sometimes I might capitalize Blind because I feel very strongly that it is a characteristic, it is part of who I am, it is part of my identity, but maybe not the most important part of my identity.

Suzanne Erb (10:23):
I sort of feel like, for me, anyway, I like people to think about me as Suzanne and everything else is secondary. However, I reserve the right as a blind person to be proud of who I am and what I've accomplished and what I hope I can still accomplish because I'm a member of two groups now because I have turned 65, believe in it or not, and so I'm also a senior citizen. That's where the whole concept of blindness, and not just blindness, but disability and pride and people-first language comes in. These are all important.

Suzanne Erb (11:18):
You might want to think about some other things that, and I didn't put this in before, but I think it's a concept we're thinking about, if you think about times in your life, when you've been with a group of people, let's say something really very minor, like everybody at your party, let's say you're at a party, it's not your party, but it's somebody else's party, and everybody at that party likes Coke, and you like Pepsi. What are you going to do? Are you going to say, "I like Pepsi, and I don't care, I want Pepsi," or are you going to go along with the rest of the group and drink Coke? There are lots of reasons why you might want to do either and you might really feel uncomfortable saying to the rest of the group that you don't like Coke and it really makes you feel uncomfortable and you don't want to say anything because you're afraid that people might get angry with you. If you can think of that, then that's something that might help you understand why sometimes people with disabilities might not want to disclose their disability to their employer.

Michelle Sparling (12:47):
Yeah. Well, thanks for that example. I have one more question for you. What can employment professionals do to help the people they support with their disclosure decisions?

Suzanne Erb (12:57):
Yeah, this is something that you guys can do. People who are employment professionals can do so much to help people with disabilities on their disclosure journey because I think for a lot of us, it sort of can be a journey. One thing that you can do is help people with disabilities be proud of who they are by treating them with respect. That doesn't mean paternalistically or telling them that they're great when they're not, but what it does mean is compliment them on things that they do do well and give them a sense of pride in who they are. If they have a sense of pride in who they, they might be more likely to be willing to disclose to an employer what their disability is, and how it can impact their performance on the job.

Suzanne Erb (14:06):
Another thing that you can do is you can maybe do some role-playing with people that you're supporting and give them a chance to discuss their disability with you as if you are the employer and they're applying for a job. You might want to video your discussion, or record it in some way so that they can look back at it and say, "Well, maybe that wasn't the best way to do it." Definitely make sure that the people that you're supporting know why it might make sense for them to disclose.

Suzanne Erb (14:46):
Also, I think maybe the most important thing of all is that you believe that the person that you're supporting can work, and if you believe that they can work and have a valuable position in the community, then you can impart that belief, that feeling, that passion to them, to their employer, to their families, everybody that is involved. That's perhaps one of the most important things that you can do as an employment support professional.

Michelle Sparling (15:30):
Yes, I absolutely agree 100%, Suzanne. Well, thank you so much for your time to talk about disclosure. We're happy to be able to share these nuggets of wisdom with people that attend our courses and others who listen to our podcasts. Just one note, if you are listening to this podcast as part of Networks' ACRE SE 101 course, please remember to watch the disclosure video that will accompany this podcast. Thank you so much.

Narrator (16:05):
Thank you for listening. We hope the information provided was helpful. Don't forget to stop by our website and take advantage of all we have to offer.