Employment Challenges for Disabled People

This assignment delves into the difficulties faced by disabled people when seeking and maintaining employment. It analyzes various factors contributing to these challenges, including societal perceptions, lack of accessibility, and inadequate support systems. The assignment also explores potential solutions and strategies to promote inclusivity and equal opportunities in the workplace for individuals with disabilities.

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 1
Challenges of People with Multiple Sclerosis and Cerebral Palsy in The Job Market
Name
Institution

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 2
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Findings...........................................................................................................................................3
Discussions of Solutions..................................................................................................................5
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 3
Introduction
People with disability are normally considered unable participants in the job market be it
as a volunteer or a paid worker. They are often denied the chance to participate in existing
employment opportunities due to the employer analogy that these people will be a liability to
their organizations. These adverse barriers impact negatively to the livelihood of people with
disability. The discrimination, stigma, stereotypes, and prejudice at the workplace not only lower
their morale but also lead to quitting or resigning from their jobs (Ruhindwa, Randal & Cartmel,
2016, pg.4).
Nevertheless, some people living with disabilities to participate in the workforce and
make valuable contributions as far as economic development and personal empowerment is
concerned. Since everyone aspires to be economically independent, people with disability cannot
afford to be left behind (Bhattacharye & Long, 2015). This study unravels the challenges that
people who suffer from multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy go through in the workforce.
Additionally, it explains on possible interventions that can be followed to improve their
outcomes and productivity in their respective organizations. It highlights on supportive
techniques and rehabilitation practices that could help boost the way of life of people with
multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.
Findings
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a lasting neural illness that affects young people in their prime
life of work. It is a disorder that is mainly associated with a heavy burden on the brain as well as
a decreased ability of an individual to remain working. It mainly affects the central nervous
system that comprises of the brain and the spinal cord (Bode, Schwartz, Quaranto & Volmer,
2012, p.1626).
A person suffering from multiple sclerosis suffers a lot of challenges in his or her central
nervous system. The immune system of the body turns against its own host by attacking the
myelin coating which is a substance that protects the nerve fibers. These attacks by the immune
system end up damaging the myelin hence disrupting message passing to the brain via the spinal
cord. Mostly, the messages are slowed down, distorted or they end up jumping to another nerve
fiber.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an illness that is referred to as an individual condition. It is
known to affect people differently. This unique property of this kind of defect is that people get

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 4
affected with respect to how the illness attacks their brain and the spinal cord. There exist very
many different symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis that one individual can have all of them. Mostly,
people are diagnosed with a relapse-remitting syndrome which is a form of multiple sclerosis.
This is an attack of multiple symptoms of MS and can last for days, weeks or even months. The
relapse is followed by a time of remission where the earlier symptoms improve and even go
away with time. According to Bode et al. (2012, p.1630), the period of remission can last for
months or even years.
Another physical disability that affects people and lowers their economic productivity in
the job market is cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a collective that is used to refer to a group of
chronic conditions that affect muscle contractions and body movements. It is caused by damage
to specific areas of the brain that can occur specifically during the development of the baby
before birth or during the infancy period. Therefore, the defects do not do not occur due to
muscle problems or poor development of nerves. The poor development of motor parts in the
brain affects the brain's ability to effectively control movements of muscles hence hindering
mobility and affecting the posture of the baby. Therefore, cerebral is the brain while palsy is
muscle weaknesses or poor control of the muscles hence hindering movement (Derose, 2014).
Cerebral palsy is mostly a non-progressive ailment but other conditions might develop
over time that comprises of muscle spasticity which can worsen the situation over time. It is a
defect that is mainly caused by the inability to effectively control the mobility parts of the body
especially the muscle movement and coordination by the brain. Cerebral palsy causes several
conditions depending on the areas damaged in the brain. These conditions are muscle tightness,
gait disturbance involuntary movements, swallowing difficulties, and problems in speech
especially in constructing continuous sentences. Other effects that cerebral palsy can cause
include abnormal sensation, sight impairment, perception, hearing mental retardation and
seizures. These conditions lead to difficulties during feeding, inability to control the bowel
region, problems during breathing due to postural difficulties, skin problems caused by pressure
sores, and the inability to effectively teach (Schwartz et al, 2013, p.976).
There are four types of cerebral palsy namely spastic cerebral palsy, ataxic cerebral palsy,
athetoid cerebral palsy and mixed cerebral palsy. Spastic cerebral palsy is where people have
very stiff and rigid movements because their muscles are very tight. Hand grip and other

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 5
mobility functions are difficult to control. This type is common in the United States especially to
people who suffer from cerebral palsy (Whidden, 2013).
Ataxic cerebral palsy is another type that leads to a poor coordination of movements and
low muscle tones. It causes shakiness or trembling during writing when turning pages or during
typing b using a keyboard. Normally, unsteady walking, as well as poor balancing, demand extra
brain concentration and more time to effectively complete movements.
Athetoid cerebral palsy is a condition that involves a mixed muscle tone. For instance,
involuntary movements always lead to movements in other parts of the body such as the arms,
face or other upper body parts. Sitting upright, maintaining postures and walking requires extra
work and more concentrations. About twenty-five percent of people with cerebral palsy have
athetoid cerebral palsy. Finally, mixed cerebral palsy is where the muscle tone is too high in
other muscles and too low in others. This muscle tone difference is what is referred to as mixed.
The mixed cerebral palsy affects one-fourth of all the people with CP (Whidden, 2013).
Discussions of Solutions
Workers having cerebral palsy always suffer from vision and hearing impairments that
can compromise or affect their outcomes especially their productivity in their duty execution.
They have challenges in controlling eye movements as well as having problems in maintaining
their visual contact. Additionally, hearing impairments affects how these people communicate
with their colleagues. These continuous conditions and challenges ought to be looked into by the
employers to ensure that they assist their employees where possible to enable them to execute
their mandate without leading to losses in the company (Dufton, 2017).
Other challenges that workers with cerebral palsy suffer from include learning disabilities
and other intellectual challenges. This condition affects the workforce tremendously since an
individual may not be able to learn difficult or specific tasks that may be paramount in the
execution of his or her duties. The inability to read or perform specific arithmetic tasks that
demand regular learning due to the several changes in an organization hinders the performance
of disabled individuals especially in case of people with cerebral palsy because of the adverse
damages to particular parts of the brain (Dickey, 2017).
To address these challenges in the organizations, employers ought to understand and
specifically know the kind of problem that their employees are going through. To make these
possible, employers and other affected individuals must put themselves in the shoes of these

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 6
individuals so as to understand primarily their challenges and come up with effective ways to
assist them to execute their duties at ease. Generally, it is evident that everyone aspires to be able
to work and earn a living so as to gather for their economic challenges and gather for themselves
and their family at large. Every person irrespective of their disability dreams of being
independent in all possible ways (Holland, 2017).
People with cerebral palsy have a certain degree of limitation or variance compared to
other people without a disability. These individuals need accommodation between their
colleagues to enable them to perform their jobs at ease. The accommodation ideas range and
differ with respect to the type of cerebral palsy or condition an individual may be suffering from.
Daily activities of people with disabilities must be in a close proximity to restrooms and
washrooms. Organizations should create workstations that allow easy access to restrooms if they
don’t have restroom features. Moreover, the workstation ought to be rearranged to allow people
reach items easily (Scroxton, 2017). For instance, people with cerebral palsy have challenges in
muscle control and mobility; therefore, the shelves in the workstations should be lowered so that
they can reach their items easily. Additionally, their desks and chairs must be designed
professionally to guarantee comfort which is directly proportional to the performance and
success of the worker.
Worker motor impairment of the disabled individuals can be addressed by the employer
by ensuring that pathways and hallways are unobstructed so as not to hinder this person from
accessing their workplace. Workplaces must be designed in close proximity to office machines
or other machines that these individual use while working. Cognitive impartments, speech and
hearing problems can be solved by introducing software programs that can help the employees in
word predictions, editing and for grammar checks. Additionally, computers can be used to create
instances of reminders so as to eliminate instances of forgetting assignments (Whidden, 2013).
People with multiple sclerosis also need to be assisted and the challenges they face in the
job market need to be looked into in the job market. Many people with this condition do not
consider themselves as disabled. However, this disability has been clearly defined and
highlighted in the equity law, equity act and the disability discrimination act of Northern Ireland.
Therefore, it is unlawful and punishable to discriminate against an individual suffering from
multiple sclerosis. Therefore, it is paramount for every organization to derive ways to enable
their employees to adjust to the needs and demands of their job (MS Society, 2015).

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 7
Employers must protect their employees from internal or external discriminations. Most
people with physical challenges normally get harassed by unwarranted comments or jokes that
are made about their symptoms or how they walk, talk, or how they execute their duties (Lee,
2017). Additionally, employers are not supposed to favor them because of their disabilities. This
also is deemed as discriminations. Therefore, a legal way must be followed in dealing with
disables individuals in accordance with the safety and health laws.
Recommendations
Establishing and improving dialogues with people with multiple sclerosis is important in
every organization. It is paramount for an employer to know the concerns of their employees
especially to know that they are going through so as to determine the best way of helping them.
Assumptions must be avoided at all costs especially when trying to determine what duties your
employee can do and what duties the employee cannot do. The employee may be able to execute
his or her duties even after usually without the need of any additional support or care. Despite the
fact that multiple sclerosis effects become worse over time, it is wrong to make a comparison
between people with multiple sclerosis and your employee since everyone suffers differently
(Raqqi, Covelli, Schiavolin, Scaratti, Leonardi & Willems, 2016, p.938).
Normally, people tend to sympathize with people with disability. However, the emotional
response is not always helpful compared to the support that can be given to the employees.
Employer-employee conversations should be fostered in a manner that will boost trust hence
encouraging opening up. For instance, it is advisable to arrange frequent meetings like
quarterlies that is separate from performance review meetings so as to talk about how the
employee's multiple sclerosis is affecting the employee and to decide whether work adjustments
are necessary. Creating policies and ways of how to record such discussions is also important for
review in the future (Simonite, 2017, p.16).
Reasonable work adjustments are important as far as the employee performance is
concerned. Working environments can be adjusted and rearrange to enable individuals to work
with ease. In other circumstances, job rotations are also important especially when an employee
suggests to be given lighter duties so as to avoid straining. The rights to adjustments are
normally enshrined in equity laws though they also depend on the organization policies that may
have been put in place (O’Mahony, 2017).

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 8
People with multiple sclerosis at times should be given flexible and reduced working
hours with breaks in between to enable them to rest in case there is a need. Moreover, the
workstations also should be moved closer to the toilets and washrooms just like the case of
people with cerebral palsy. The organization also should be flexible so as to be there for their
employees especially when they have medical appointments. Resting also is also important and
must be factored in the job market (AG, 2012).
Conclusion
In conclusion, employers should follow legal procedures as well sticking to their
professionalism to ensure that people with disabilities are assisted so as to improve their
livelihood and comfort in the workplace. Moreover, people with disabilities must be given an
opportunity to access improved healthcare services, rehabilitation, and social management and to
be protected against any form of discrimination so as to enable them to achieve their dreams
irrespective of their challenges (Ruhindwa, Randal, Cartmel, 2016).
Work environments also should be made accessible due to better hallways and spacious
elevators that will enable people using assisted technology move easily. Supportive services and
other cares should also be provided so as to minimize disruptions but to improve their
productivity in all areas. Flexible working hours also is a condition that organizations and
employers must consider with the aim of giving their employees time to relax. Social protection
schemes should also be bolstered and made available to the people with disability (PWD)
especially in relation to their type of work.

CHALLENGES OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND CEREBRAL PALSY 9
References
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