Nationwide, harassment and discrimination have become crucial matters, a large percentage of it being towards those with disabilities. .
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has marked its 23rd anniversary this past July. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. However, having a law enacted does not mean opportunities will accompany. According to the Disability Funders Network, the Social Justice Movement of the 21st Century, the unemployment rate of people with disabilities is ten times greater than the national unemployment rate, yet many of those unemployed individuals have the skills you need ("Disability Stats and Facts" 8). Many people with disabilities have given up on finding employment, exhausted from hearing the answer "no" repeatedly.
Many controversies occur with the contentious debate of hiring those with impairments. Disabled people who can and are eager to work face a multitude of obstacles. They have fewer opportunities to develop experience and skills, experience practical complications, such as inaccessibly transportation, and typically experience negative attitudes from employers and customers. Businesses tend to not hire people who are considered disabled because they are hesitant in risking a possibility in the decrease of production. Businesses believe that the developmentally disabled are unable to handle the stress that comes upon a job role. Because people with developmental disabilities typically have limited social skills, and practical restricted physical abilities, companies believe that hiring a disabled person would reduce the productivity in their labor, thus reducing their corporation profits. They sustain this thought. .
Hirers also see that the developmentally disabled have a more difficult time dealing with stress that comes about daily life, along with performing simple tasks. Because of these conditions, corporations are forced to spend an additional amount of money on training and accommodation materials for the disabled employees.