Co-workers who are handicaped/disabled

Well first of all I mean no offense to anyone by making this thread, I wish to discuss this topic and ask a few questions on this subject, I apologize if my words offend you.

Well, at the employer/company I work for which will remain nameless, our work crew has two deaf/mute people.

**The following is just my own opinion and how I work with them, you don't need to read it to reply, and it may or may not offend some so its being put in spoiler.



So I am asking, how many of us have co-workers who are disabled/handicapped? How is it working with them? Can it be stressful, fun, enjoyable or difficult at times?

On a side note, this is UNCONFIRMED, but I heard that my employer actually receives money from either state/federal/or even corporate for employing people with disabilities/handicaps. This is still unconfirmed, but I would also like to hear thoughts on this.

I have a friend who is hard-of-hearing. Basically, she can only hear from her right ear, and she needs a hearing aid for that. She works for a craft store that shall remain unnamed, and afaik, she is one of the well-liked employees at that store. Working with her isn't difficult; you just have to take into consideration that when you talk to her it has to be at a slightly louder volume that you'd talk to other people, and you have to be somewhat to her right. It also helps that she works the floor, and it's not really a job that is dangerous or needs a whole lot of communication.

If a company hires someone from a "targeted group," like handicapped persons, ex-felons, veterans, or welfare recipients, they get a tax credit. This is supposed to pay for any accommodations necessary, like training the rest of the staff, adding specialized computer software, etc.

He may not be a co-worker, but I have a friend who's mildly autistic. He looks normal and all, but you can really tell that something's not quite right with him. He's sorta over-enthusiastic about everything, and has wild mood swings that just occur randomly. Most of my friends are annoyed by him, and I admit, there are times when I get really irritated too. Though we do talk to him, try to include him in our group, it's really sorta stressful, so we usually give up.

I must admit that when I saw the title of the thread I though of Christopher Reeves wearing his Superman costume in his wheelchair...>_<"

In any case, physical disabilities are easier to work around, but mental disabilities are much, much harder.

If so, well, none of use received training, we have no specialized stuff, were just told by the rest of our co-workers, "oh btw thats' "_____" and "_____" they're deaf so do what you can to get there attention if you need there help, oh and around her don't let her see you making any kind of hand gestures or she'll think your making fun of her and she'll txt the boss, and you'll probably get in trouble"
While working I only work around 1 of the 2, only biggest thing we have to remember is that when break and lunch are called, we need to go tell him.

I don't mind working with a person of different abilities, as long as they do their job and not use it as an excuse to slack off.

In the ideal world, companies should be hiring workers or employees with phyiscal disabilities, mainly because they want to help these people secure jobs and obtain opportunities in life like anyone else, not for the sake of profit through tax exemptions, etc.

Getting back on topic, communication is definitely the key to creating good working relationships. In Looking4Moar's case, perhaps a set of hand signals can be developed. Better still, send employees to a basic sign language course, although most corporations are reluctant to part with their money...

I recently worked for [company] to help write the story for [videogame] and one of the things that we did was have the writing team/artist play volley ball against the designers/programers. We did this once a week and it was pretty fun later on.

Initially it was sorta fustrating - partailly because I am no good at volleyball. But what was awkward was having someone with braces on his legs be on our team. He didn't have to play (no one did) and we didn't mind him playing even if it was a disadvantage for us. The problem was he DEMANDED he play the net - a position where jumping REALLY comes in handy. So he couldn't block or spike, and thats fine. The trouble started when we wanted to change positions to mix things up or let someone else serve the ball. This guy DID NOT want to give up his position no matter what. He came just short of accusing us of not letting him play on the net because of his disabilty (i.e. "Why do I have to move? What is the reason? Is there some reason I can't play this position?").

I dunno if he thought he was being discriminated against or what, but I think the moral - if there is one - is that disabilties are going to be noticed at the work place. I suppose it is up to both you and the person with the disablity as to how you are going to handle it.