Sen. Durbin’s speech on hiring workers with autism and other disabilities
by Beth
On World Autism Day this year (April 2), Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), introduced a bill that would increase vocational opportunities for people on the autism spectrum. The bill, called the Autism Treatment Acceleration Act, would fund programs to test new ways to provide vocational training, employment assistance, transportation, and other services so that adults with autism will have a better chance of finding productive employment and improving their quality of life. The bill is co-sponsored by 16 other Senators.
Durbin talked about the bill during a speech he gave at Illinois Wesleyan University on August 12. The speech stressed the need for more job opportunities for people with autism and other disabilities. Quoting from a recent DePaul University study on the costs and benefits of employing people with disabilities, Durbin reminded his audience that people with autism and other disabilities make very loyal employees.
This is what the study found: on their annual performance reviews, employees with disabilities rated slightly higher than their co-workers without disabilities. Employees with disabilities took fewer scheduled and unscheduled days off work — just the opposite of what many might assume.
In addition, the average cost of accommodating the workers with disabilities — modifying the workplace to meet their needs — was $313. As investments in good, dependable workers go, that’s a bargain. And you know what the most frequent request for “reasonable accommodation” was? Flex time, which costs nothing.
Sen. Durbin ended his speech with a long list of scientists, inventors, and writers with autism whose contributions have changed the world.
Clearly, not everyone on the autism spectrum has the potential to become a Nobel laureate or invent a world-changing device. But millions of Americans with autism and other disabilities do have talents and contributions that our nation needs. And in this economy, with government at all levels facing budget cuts, doesn’t it make sense to try to bring more people into the workforce rather than leaving them to rely so heavily on public programs? That is all people with disabilities are asking for: the chance to be full members of our society, to make the most of their God-given talents, and to work to the best of their abilities.
Amen.