Category: Employment

Supporting Families of Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) assists state and local workforce development systems to better serve all youth, including youth with disabilities and other disconnected youth. NCWD/Youth works to ensure that transition age youth are provided full access to high quality services in integrated settings to gain education, employment and independent living.

Among NCWD/Youth’s many resources are numerous “Info Briefs” including:

Supporting Families of Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education  is intended to create increased understanding of the important role that families can play in the post-secondary success of students with disabilities.

The many other “Info Briefs” Fact Sheets and other publications, all organized by topic, can be found at  NCWD/Youth Publications

The 411 on Disability Disclosure

Whether  a new college student, a new graduate, or a student looking to participate in an internship or co-op, the question “should I disclose my disability?,” can be a thorny one.  Students in this video talk about disclosure at college and in the employment setting and share why they think its important to disclose all the while acknowledging that disclosure is a very personal issue.

Other helpful resources on disclosure can be found at the Student Resources page under the heading, Should I Disclose my Disability?

Dear Hiring Manager: All the Disability-Related Skills I Can’t Put on My Resume

Not all of the students collegiate disability service providers work with will be as gutsy, or articulate about their disability as Sarah Blahovec, but they can learn something from her.

Sarah was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age 15. She graduated from college summa cum laude and has had difficulty finding a job. As an individual with a disability, she has acquired unique skills, including the ability to manage multiple doctors’ appointments, understand complicated treatment information, clearly communicate, and multitask.

Sarah wrote a “Dear Hiring Manager” cover letter that included all of her disability-related skills that she felt did not fit in her resume. She notes that many employers and human resource professionals see her disability and become doubtful of her strengths, skills, and efficiency. But Sarah is not her disability. It is a part of her that has enabled her to acquire a marketable set of skills.

The full story can be found at, Dear Hiring Manager: All the Disability-Related Skills I Can’t Put on My Resume, The Blog, Feb. 24, 2015, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-blahovec/dear-hiring-manager-all-the-disability-related-skills-i-cant-put-on-my-resume_b_6732922.html)