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Enabling the Disabled

Katherine Dobbs, RVT, CVPM, PHR

Although some may think I’m crazy (and I can’t really argue), I enjoy the subject of Human Resources. Mainly, I like to help people do their jobs better, and enjoy their jobs more. But there are a lot of other aspects to the broad category of Human Resources. One of these is employment law, albeit my least favorite section.

That’s only because it changes and morphs on a constant basis, with new laws and even newer precedents set in courts of law. One of the basic philosophies that has found protection under the law is discrimination. Simply put, it’s not legal to discriminate against people for certain things, and these are spelled out in the legal system creating what is called “protected classes.”

We’re all probably familiar with the fact that disabled Americans are protected under the law. Basically, you cannot discriminate against people who are best qualified for the job simply because they are disabled. You also have to determine whether “reasonable accommodations” would be necessary to help them do the job if they are most qualified, yet your environment poses an issue.

In veterinary medicine, you simply do not see many disabled employees. In my long career (longer than I like to admit at times), I have only actually seen one person hired, as a technician, with a disability. Her hearing was impaired, yet she had the credentials, experience and education that made her the best qualified for the position at the time of hiring.

So, then the practice had to determine if they could set her up for success in the environment of their practice. It required education of the staff first and foremost. The staff needed to understand what this new employee needed to do her job to her fullest capability. This meant facing her when talking so she could enhance her understanding by reading lips. This meant facing their own hesitation, insecurity, and ignorance around having disabled employees on the team. It also probably meant that she had learned to notice fluid pump alarms not by sound, but by site and flashing red lights, for example. Or a barking dog or cat vocalizing by noticing the movement of their mouths rather than the sounds they issued. She adapted and had succeeded to this point, and the practice had to meet her halfway basically.

It’s human nature perhaps to immediately assume, How could she do this job if she can’t hear an alarm or dog howling in pain? How can I relay information to her if she can’t hear me from across the room? It takes patience, perhaps, and creative thinking…but if this is the career she has chosen and pursued, then who are you, or we, to stand in her way?

This topic was mentioned to me recently when I spoke at a conference in Nova Scotia. The situation involved a woman with sight impairment, who had pursued an education to be in the veterinary profession but was running into walls trying to find employment.

When she talked about the lack of understanding and willingness to be creative or even accepting that she was finding, I felt ashamed on behalf of our profession. It just seems that we are often in the position of having to explain what we do, why we deserve respect, why we deserve to make a decent living, and the importance of our position no matter what it is in the practice. It just seems that of all people, we would understand the need to accept people for who they are, and do our best to help them succeed.

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Enabling the Disabled

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