A Handicap Lift Can Improve Mobility and Independence for the Disabled Person

One of the biggest challenges facing disabled persons is lack of mobility resulting in lack of independence. However, with a handicap lift that can change and the disabled person can regain his or her independence and freedom of mobility. A handicap lift can be installed in vehicles as well as in homes and workplaces to make life easier for the disabled person. Lifts may be vertical platforms, ramps, lifts for the vehicle, or chair lifts. It may require one or a combination of several to provide true independence for the disabled person.

While ramps are generally the most thought of devices for helping wheelchair bound persons around their home, business or in the car, they cannot meet every need. They are generally less expensive and easier to maintain. They do work well in vehicles but can take up a lot of room when not in use and obstruct the door.

In addition, not all disabled persons require the constant use of wheelchairs. The installation of a chair lift is an excellent tool for  allowing people to go up and down stairs easily and safely. Portable lift chairs can also be used for lifting persons from wheelchairs into vehicles, pools, and other places difficult to reach otherwise.

Other than ramps, there are two types of a handicap lift for vehicles: boom and platform. The boom lift places the wheelchair in the car, stowing it for travel. Booms can be fitted for most any vehicle.

Platform lifts are useful for vehicles as well. They can be mounted on the trailer hitch of most any vehicle for stowing the wheelchair while traveling. They can also be installed inside the vehicle in a number of locations depending on the need of the user. Platforms installed in the back or side will stow a wheelchair or scooter; while other side models or front driver models allow the wheelchair to be locked in place on the platform for travel while occupied.

Vertical platforms are useful in any building allowing the wheelchair or disabled person to move from one floor to another. The most obvious of these is an elevator and that is similar to how they work, but generally the lift is smaller and open. They can be installed in homes outside or inside.

Having a handicap lift makes a world of difference in the life a disabled person. Families should encourage the purchase and use of such devices.

"Don't allow your disABILITY to shut you out of life; your request for Access has been Granted"

Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities

What makes a company an inclusive and accommodating workplace to attract people with disabilities? The criteria includes: recruiting programs for people with disabilities; work/life and other accommodation benefits; diversity-awareness training that addresses people with disabilities; employee-resource groups for people with disabilities and/or caregivers; and communications, such as web sites and other materials, that feature employees with disabilities.

Consider the following about the companies on this year's top 10 list:

• All have at least one resource group for employees with disabilities.
• All offer dependent-care benefits (including childcare and eldercare).
• All feature images and/or video of people with disabilities on their corporate web sites.
• Eighty percent offer alternative career tracks for parents or others with long-term family-care issues.
• Eighty percent have mandatory diversity training for all employees.

No. 1: IBM Corp.

IBM offers diversity training that includes "What Every Employee Should Know About Harassment and Inappropriate Conduct, People with Disabilities" guidelines. Globally, the company provides disability-awareness training to all employees to ensure sensitivity to even micro-inequities, small gestures that can easily offend others. With the help of the Global Disability Networking Group, IBM introduced Accessibility & Disability Central—a web-based application that helps identify accommodation needs (such as computer-screen readers and live captioning for teleconferences), as well as accommodation options and sources, and tracks the progress. In addition, the company has active programs to recruit, mentor and train people with disabilities.

No. 2: Ernst & Young

The company has very strong work/life programs for people with disabilities, including telecommuting, dependent-care benefits and alternative career tracks for parents or others with long-term family-care issues. In addition, Ernst & Young offers disability-awareness training, which includes awareness quizzes, to all global employees and has active programs to recruit people with disabilities globally. The company also creates a poster each year for National Disability Employment Awareness Month to further raise awareness.

No. 3: Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble has had its People With Disabilities Interest Groups for more than 10 years. These groups, such as its Employees With Eldercare and Parents of Special Needs Children, aids the company in recruiting, retaining and training employees with disabilities. 

No. 4: Aetna

The company has very strong work/life programs for people with disabilities, including telecommuting, dependent-care benefits and alternative career tracks for parents or others with long-term family-care issues. More notably, Aetna has an onsite fitness center, physical therapy, a pharmacy, an employee-assistance program, and massage services.

No. 5: KPMG

KPMG's Disabilities Network helps the firm with recruitment and retention, regularly solicits and obtains feedback from members about diversity issues and holds national training events to recognize National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

No. 6: Cisco Systems

The company offers work/life programs for people with disabilities such as telecommuting, dependent-care benefits, alternative career tracks for parents or others with long-term family-care issues, healthcare incentives, an onsite fitness center, health center and pharmacy.

No. 7: SC Johnson

SC Johnson clearly places an emphasis on support for people with disabilities. The company, with just fewer than 3,200 U.S. employees, has three groups for people with disabilities. The groups—Abilities First Business Council, Elder Care Giver Support Group and Parents of Special Needs Children Support Group—help the company with recruitment and marketing efforts.

No. 8: Eli Lilly & Co.


The company has numerous comprehensive work/life programs for people with disabilities. Among them are the company's onsite medical services. The services are at no cost to employees (dependents, including domestic partners) and include personal ambulatory care through staff physicians, psychologists and nurses.

No. 9: Merck & Co.

The Differently Able Global Constituency Group (DA GCG), Merck's global resource group for people with disabilities, aids the company in offering disability-awareness training to all global employees. DA GCG also helps to recruit people with disabilities globally.

No. 10: Sodexo

The company offers disability-awareness training to all of its employees and has active programs to recruit people with disabilities. Sodexo's Organization of disAbilities Resources (SOAR) helps the company with its recruitment and marketing efforts.

"Don't allow your disABILITY to shut you out of life; your request for Access has been Granted"

What Is Possible for People With Disabilities?

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law. During the 20 years since the ADA was enacted, I have seen positive steps taken on many levels when it comes to changing attitudes regarding people with disabilities.

The ADA put the spotlight on a severely underrepresented group in our nation. Because of the ADA, people with disabilities are a group with a voice; we are now a legitimate constituency that has come of age. The disability community is a constituency that votes, that works, and that pays taxes. Human beings, who were once invisible, are now visible and can no longer be ignored.

The second prominent change I’ve seen in the last 20 years centers around the attitude of the American people and how our nation now perceives leaders. For example, the glass ceiling was symbolically and continually broken when women began to take on numerous leadership roles previously held by men.

You know these women as well as I do. In politics, regardless of political orientation, they include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, holding powerful jobs previously held by men.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention another change in attitude we were all witness to: the historic election of our first Black president, Barack Obama. This attitude change in America bodes well for people with disabilities as we, as a community, aspire to similar leadership positions.

The third change I’d like to mention has to do with technology. For the first time in history, everything is connected—businesses, workforces and transactions.

There are 1.2 billion people, millions of businesses and perhaps a trillion devices connected to the World Wide Web today. By 2011, it is estimated that the Internet will reach two billion people—nearly one-third of the world’s population.

Given the proliferation of technology, it shouldn’t be surprising that 70 percent of the computer chips produced today do not go into “computers.” They go into cars and planes, appliances, roadways, shipping containers, pacemakers, emergency rooms and every product with a radio-frequency identification tag … all “intelligent” and all connected.

With this technology revolution emerges a key point: Technology is the great equalizer for people with disabilities and will continue to play a major role in enabling people with disabilities to reach their full potential.

Between now and 2015, as the baby boomers retire, America will need between 10 and 15 million new workers. Add to that the demand for skills we see around the world and it becomes clear that businesses cannot afford to exclude any one constituency group from the talent pool.
This is especially true when it comes to people with disabilities, a large and under-utilized workforce that is employed at dramatically lower rates than the population of people with no disabilities, both in the United States and around the world. In August 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate of people with disabilities was 14.5 percent, higher than the rate for those with no disability, which was 9 percent.
Looked at another way, the employment-population ratio—the proportion of the population that is employed—was 19 percent for people with disabilities. Among those with no disability, the ratio was much: 64 percent.

The U.S. Census Bureau has previously reported that 51 million people, or 18 percent of the population, have some form of disability. Globally, the World Health Organization reports that between 750 million and 1 billion people have a disability. In addition, this constituency group controls $1 trillion in aggregate income and more than $220 billion in disposable income annually.

This data suggests that we should be able to leverage more of this under-utilized talent than we do today, if for no other reason than because it is good business—and people with disabilities are both customers and part of our talent base.

The global environment argues against the exclusion of talent of any kind. Globalization, in my view, actually favors people with disabilities in the workforce, more than at any other time in history.

This is the new world of work, a world I believe is extending a hand to people with disabilities to not only participate but to lead. This is a time of great opportunity for people with disabilities to be a leader in business, government or other areas of employment. But more must be done to close critical gaps that will allow people with disabilities to become more fully integrated in society and the workplace. 

To achieve this, we must strengthen partnerships with government and non-governmental organizations to help people with disabilities get to work as well as earn enough to wean themselves off our well-intentioned social programs. To accomplish this, three areas require attention: transportation, technology and inclusion.

First, transportation: According to a National Organization on Disability/Harris survey, people with disabilities are twice as likely to have inadequate transportation when compared with the mainstream population (31 percent versus 13 percent).

Lack of mobility is a major inhibitor if one aspires to a leadership role. The inability to travel, or the perception that one cannot travel easily, may even remove people with disabilities from consideration for a variety of jobs, making career advancement more difficult. Is this perception right? The answer is no. Does it exist? The answer is yes.

Government and business must continue to partner and look at transportation from the perspective of people with disabilities. A holistic approach must be taken, beginning with a person with a disability at home and mapping a route from home to work and back. The basic elements include: education and training, health care needs to get up and leave the house, appropriate transportation (public or private), and a workplace that is accessible, flexible and inclusive.

Second, technology: The Harris survey also reported that Americans with disabilities not only rely on assistive technology but a third reported they would lose their independence without technology.

Many assistive-technology accommodations cost as little as $500.00. The investment in technology to employ a professional with a disability may be less than the price a business pays for repeated costs of attrition, recruiting and hiring. Investments in technology can help make all employees more productive.

Finally, we can all do more when it comes to inclusion—that is, being comfortable with people who are different than we are. For some employers today, the inclination is to think that if an employee has a disability, the employment issue can be handled by just providing technology that enables an employee to work from home. In some cases that may be true or even necessary. But I think it’s critical for people with disabilities to be visible and in the workplace. To overcome basic misconceptions, a professional with a disability must be fully integrated into the workplace, not isolated.

I’m sure there are many organizations that will hire a person with a disability with the right skills for a job, but how many have the vision to consider that same person to run their company or organization? Take a look at people with disabilities who are professionals in your own organizations; they may just be the leaders you are looking for—right under your nose and ready to lead. I ask that you employ people with disabilities not just for a job but for a leadership career in your organization.

Although we have seen significant changes in the world, we still have a long way to go. As you reflect on this topic, consider these questions: What do you see when you look at a person with a disability? Do you see just a blind person, a person who is deaf, or a person who uses a wheelchair?

The next time you meet a person with a disability, I would like you to see a business colleague ... possibly a person who could be your next manager or even the next CEO of your organization.

Until we change our perceptions, we will never see what is possible. Until we see and act upon what is possible, we will never change the present.

"Don't allow your disABILITY to shut you out of life; your request for Access has been Granted"