For more than a few years, I have involved myself in the work of
nAblement (disclosure: I work for
the parent company) as well as the Milwaukee-based Goodwill Services group
AbilityConnection in finding work for professionals with disabilities in Information Technology. As someone who has one foot planted firmly in the communications / marketing discipline and the other in the recruiting world, I've struggled mightily with terminology that is both accurate and acceptable to the communities of people who live with various disabilities. "Professionals with disabilities" or "people with disabilities" (PWDs) seem to be the most accepted ways I've learned to refer to these communities but the problem is how unwieldy it is to use in communications. The abbreviation, PWD, is no better since it looks like an abbreviation for "password" and could, according to Google, stand for "Public Works Department" or "Portuguese Water Dog!"
This unwieldy terminology hurts efforts at
Search Engine Optimization and, therefore, is an obstacle to raising awareness about this underserved, underutlized workforce. Someone entering PWD in Google, for instance, could end up finding a picture of this cute little puppy as opposed to discussions about people with disability.
Last night, I attended the premiere of a documentary about hiring professionals with disabilities titled
The Forerunners. You can
learn all about the movie and get some great resources about employing professionals with disabilities over on my friend
Pat Maher's nAblement blog.
In the documentary, one of the individuals interviewed really hit on something when he brought up how his efforts to push boundaries in the workplace and overcome challenges through the use of technology and by pursuing a technology career. He referred to those disabled individuals who right now are paving the way to make life easier for future people with disabilities to enter the workforce as "forerunners" and it unsurprisingly became a very fitting title for the movie.
From now on, when I'm talking about anyone who is a professional with a disability in the workforce, I'll refer to him or her as a
forerunner. It fits, it provokes conversation (What is a forerunner you ask? I'll tell you!), and it works as a respectful, optimistinc, and powerful name for the community of PWDs.
The movie is going to be posted soon up on YouTube and is a terrific short watch that speaks volumes about the viability of careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
By the way, I know of some truly great Information Technology-specialized forerunners who are available for internships, part-time and full-time employmet in both the Milwaukee and Chicago areas. Know of some opportunities for them?
Okay, so being a complete Internet nerd it may sound from time to time like I think nothing exists outside of the aether, but I've always maintained that personal contact is the bedrock of establishing a good working relationship, especially in hiring situations.
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