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Career Resources for Students with Disabilities

 

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As a person with a disability entering the workforce, you may find yourself faced with additional challenges related to your disability. The following collection of resources may be helpful for entering the workplace. If you have questions about career planning, concerns about your job search, and are questioning how your disability might influence your career decisions, we welcome and encourage you to discuss these concerns with a career counselor.

  • DisAbility Online: The US Department of Labor.  Employment and Training Resources contains extensive information about all areas of disability.
  • The Office for Personnel Management has a web site to assist people with disabilities who are looking for federal government jobs.
  • Disabled Public Service Employee's Association is an organization that is made up, primarily, of former and current high risk public service personnel in law enforcement, fire services, and emergency medical personnel.  Our sole aim is to aid our fallen brothers and sisters that have suffered a career ending injury, or potentially career ending injury, in the line of duty.
  • Women with Disabilities is an organization to help women overcome social, financial, physical, or other kinds of barriers to health care services and information. It puts a wealth of useful information together into one place for women with disabilities, caretakers, health professionals, and researchers.
  • Search engine for disabilities organizations, Mobility International USA (MIUSA).  Choose a region, county, disability and submit your query.
  • Disabilities-Online is a directory of information available on the World Wide Web for people with disabilities, their families and friends.
  • Disability Etiquette, and other free booklets from the United Spinal Association can be ordered (or printed out) free online. It is a good resource for counselors, social workers, and others who work with people with disabilities, as well as for families and friends.
  • Americans with Disabilities Act, US Department of Justice, Reports and Publications (check the list under ADA).
  • The US Access Board, an independent federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities.
  • National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research.
  • DisabilityInfo.gov: This government portal covers federal resources for individuals with disabilities. It is extremely comprehensive, but difficult to navigate because it connects to all information the federal government offers online about disability. The information you need is probably here, but it might take a while and some help to find it.
  • Department of Labor's Resources for People with Disabilities: This site is simpler to use than DisabilityInfo. Some very good information comes from the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), which provides a FAQ for job seekers and employees and a list of employers, organized by state, who have told ODEP they're interested in hiring employees who are disabled.
  • Federal Jobs: The federal Office of Personnel Management(OPM) provides resources for job seekers with disabilities who are interested in obtaining a federal job.
  • The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI): The mission of this organization from UMass Boston is to, "support the rights of adults and children with disabilities" and employ those with disabilities in community settings. Contains a great deal of information and additional resources and agencies.
  • US Health and Human Services SAMHSA on Disclosure: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services to the study on mental health in which they surveyed a number of people for their opinions on when and whether to disclose mental health issues to an employer.
  • Resources for Librarians with Disabilities: Primarily this is just a list of general resources and accessibility information, but the focus is on the workplace needs of librarians. Article, "Is There a Place for Us? Toward the Full Inclusion of Blind and Other Librarians with Disabilities."
  • Swimming in the Mainstream: eSight's blog is designed to "facilitate discussions and increase networking opportunities for people with disabilities, the career counselors who serve them and employers who are disability friendly." The blog links to many of the articles hosted on the main eSight page. Articles cover topics such as "Straight Talk: What to Say to Co-workers About Your Disability.

Job Banks

  • American Council for the Blind: Job listings for individuals with vision loss.
  • Hire Sign Language: A job bank for seekers who are deaf or interested in working with the deaf community.
  • Job Connection from the American Council of the Blind: The American Council of the Blind has a jobs bank of jobs posted by employers interested in hiring workers who are blind.
  • JobAccess: JobAccess lets job seekers enter their resume into a database that employers may search. It also includes a job bank listing openings by employers who are interested in recruiting qualified individuals with disabilities.
  • National Business & Disability Council: This organization of employers committed to hiring people who are disabled provides a job bank and and other resources for job seekers who are disabled.
  • recruitABILITY: recruitABILITY allows job seekers with disabilities to post resumes for free which can be viewed by interested employers.
  • eSight Job Resources: eSight provides a large number of resources for job searchers who are disabled, including a job bank and a large number of articles.
  • CareerConnect from the American Council for the Blind: The American Foundation for the Blind also has a comprehensive list containing many resources for job searchers who are blind, including a mentor database, a job bank, and articles about the usual topics.
  • ExceptionalNurse.com "is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 resource network committed to inclusion of more people with disabilities in the nursing profession. By sharing information and resources, ExceptionalNurse.com hopes to facilitate inclusion of students with disabilities in nursing education programs and foster resilience and continued practice for nurses who are, or become, disabled."

Internships

Disability Employment Law

  • Americans with Disabilities Act
    Information and technical assistance with The Americans With Disabilities Act. This website provides information about the rights of people with disabilities.
  • U.S. Department of Labor Office Of Disability Employment Policy
    Five important federal laws that protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination in employment and the job application process.
  • Job Accomodation Network: A service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) of the U.S. Department of Labor. The offer both web resources and telephone/in person consultation about accommodation advice, ADA information, and general information about seeking and holding a job. They have an extensive searchable database of adaptive devices and recommended accommodations for individuals with given limitations.