7A: Testing the Hypothesis

Individuals with disabilities finding work

• Opportunity:
• Many individuals with disabilities are not able to find work because of the assumption that they are not able to function at a certain level.
• The who: Individuals with disabilities
• The what: These individuals not being able to find a long-term job
• The why: These individuals deserve to not face adversity because they face challenges that other do not.
• Testing the who: The scope of "individuals with disabilities" that have a hard time finding work extends just to this group of people. Everyone possesses a certain trait that may lead them to be less likely to find certain work, but these individuals have a hard time finding a job in total because of who they are and the characteristics they possess. 
• Testing the what: The boundaries of this need are that most people with disabilities are limited to the jobs they can perform, if they are allowed to perform any at all. Most companies are not okay with individuals having work in their establishment. They are scared of the liability, the extra work needed, and the challenges that come with employing a person with disabilities. 
• Testing the why: The range of why people with disabilities are unable to find work is because they are looked at as a challenge and as a liability. These individuals face adversity because of the way they face day-to-day tasks and how they live their lives in a different way than others do. Though some companies offer work for people with disabilities, many do not and the gap between those who do and those who don't, needs to be shortened. I think the opportunity to find people with disabilities work would create a healthy relationship between all people that face different kinds of adversity. 
• Interview #1:
• In this interview, I interviewed one of the teachers of students with disabilities. They said that even though some companies are beginning to hire people with disabilities, it isn't enough for all the students to find work. She said that it is alarming to see that some of the students will leave high school just to go home and hangout all day. She said that there needs to be a solution to the amount of people that cant find jobs because they have a disability. 
• Interview #2:
• In this interview, I went to Publix and asked a worker if they knew that people with disabilities have a hard time finding work. The worker proceeded to tell me that they can see why people may have a problem hiring these individuals, but that Publix does it and they have see good results and a more positive work force in the stores. He said that these individuals will bag groceries, stock shelves, and greet people. He said that it is a shame that more companies wont promote this kind of diversity because it has helped shaped the Publix stores and the characters of their workers. 
• Interview #3:
• In this interview, I spoke with a pre-health student and asked what she knew about people with disabilities and how they find work. She had told me that she didn't know how hard it was for these individuals to find work and that it is not spoken much about. She said that she has taken 2-3 courses related to people with disabilities and it has something that has not been brought up. She said that she just assumed that these individuals didn't want work and that they just had a caretaker. 
• Interview #4:
• In this interview, I interview a lady that has a daughter with disabilities. I asked her why she believed that it was harder for people with disabilities to find a job and she said she thinks it's because companies are scared to face challenges that they aren't prepared for. She said that she wishes companies would promote diversity because they would be more willing to see how they would affect these individuals lives. Her daughter is young so she said she hasn't experienced this much because her daughter is not of age, but she hopes that this trend changes for the better. 
• Interview #5:
• In this interview, I interviewed a business student. He told me that a good idea would be to start a chain, like a coffee shop, that only hired people with disabilities. He said that this would help promote workplace inclusive. This idea is one that would make a lot of sense because a coffee shop would promote friendliness and it would allow these individuals to perform tasks that aren't too tiring. This boy said that this would be a great opportunity to spread awareness about this subject. 
• Given your interviews, what do you know about the opportunity that you didn't know before? 
• I didn't realize that a lot of people realize that this problem exists. Before I got involved with people with disabilities, I was blind to this problem and didn't realize it existed. Knowing that these people know the problem is there, I am hopeful that they can spread awareness and that this opportunity will find a solution. These people that I interviewed seemed very eager to help find a solution to this problem.
• From the mom that I interviewed, I found that parents of people with disabilities are very anxious about what their child when do when they become of age to not be in school anymore. This first hand experience with a person with disabilities has shown me the raw emotion that goes into facing these day-to-day problems.
• When I started interviewing people, I did not think that someone would think of an idea for a business that would help change this problem. This idea is one that could change the way others view people with disabilities and it could help shed light and positivity on the subject.
• Something that surprised me about these interviews is how interviewee #3 has taken 2-3 courses on people with disabilities, but the difficulties that are present when they try to find a job aren't discussed about. This was surprising because having a job is a big part of anyone's life, and people with disabilities should find inclusion on this subject as well.