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ore than 50 years have passed since Congress approved the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the first major federal protection for people with disabilities. This became the model for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Numerous barriers to accessing employment remain, particularly for someone with a sensory, mobility or cognitive disability. Still, people with disabilities are finding and keeping part-time or full-time jobs. Last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 22.5% of people with a disability were employed nationwide. This is the highest recorded rate since comparable data was first collected in 2008. In North Carolina, more than 2.7 million adults have a cognitive, physical or sensory disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Furthermore, data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey reports that approximately one out of every nine working-age (18-64) adults
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in the state has a disability, ranging from cognitive to physical impairments. “I guarantee there are people in your organization who have a disability,” said John Samuel, co-founder and CEO of Ablr, a nonprofit subdivision of LC Industries. “They may not feel comfortable disclosing, so you need to build that trust with your employees.” In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, we spoke with leaders and employees at companies that strive to create an inclusive and accessible workplace, including RTI International, LC Industries, Ablr, Part & Parcel and Candor, to understand just some of the physical, digital and cultural barriers that people with disabilities face daily. We also learned what these organizations and businesses are doing to overcome those hurdles, improve the lives of individuals and, in turn, raise the overall quality of life in our communities.
GETTING THERE “One of the biggest barriers to blind employment is transportation,” said DuWayne Gilbertson, LCI’s chief revenue officer. He was born with ocular albinism, nystagmus and severe astigmatism. “I’m like the luckiest
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Shelly Layton helps manufacture mattresses at the LC Industries, one of the nation’s largest employers of blind and visually impaired workers. person in the world for visual impairment – I drive,” he said. Gilbertson uses assistive technology in the form of a bioptic telescopic lens he wears when he gets behind the wheel. He said his condition is stable and will not continue to worsen over time. Ablr CEO Samuel was born fully sighted and grew up in Cary. He was a college freshman when he learned the cause of his clumsiness on campus.
“I was bumping into park benches and fire hydrants, and my shins were always cut up and bloody,” he said about life before his diagnosis of a genetic, degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa. It was only a matter of time before he would become totally blind. Until then, he was determined to develop a meaningful vocation. “I left North Carolina in 2006 because I didn’t think anyone with a disability could actually