Stop Firing Disabled People!

Dear able bodied employers,

I was enraged by a video on TikTok of a lady crying because she was fired for being disabled. I went to her profile and saw she has a chronic illness. When you think that persons with disabilities are not meeting the demands or requirements of the job, do not assume it is because they are lazy, because they are not. Many people with disabilities struggle to find a job, let alone keep a job, because of the stigma that comes with being disabled. You need to have some disabled people on your board of directors and also hire them as managers in order to foster a safer and more accepting environment.

I have seen so many companies say in their company policy that it is illegal to discriminate against persons with disabilities, and yet they find a loophole where if someone is struggling to meet the standards set forth by said company, they fire them without any warning and are also reprimanded and punished harshly and also warned that if they do not keep up with the work load, they will suffer consequences. As I stated previously, sometimes a disabled employee will be automatically dismissed with no warning whatsoever.

When you hire someone with a disability, make sure you make them feel safe and assure them that they will not be punished for their mistakes or for struggling to keep up with all the demands. It is not because a person with a disability cannot meet the demands of the job, but rather because that person needs workplace accommodations. Take an invisible disability such as chronic illness, a perfect example of how someone with said disability will have difficulties in the following areas:

Having to pretend that everything is alright, even though it is not is very taxing on the mind and leads to depression and anxiety.

According to the article titled, "13 Reasons Why Coping with Chronic Illness is Hard", published June 10th, 2018, there are reasons why relationships are hard for those with a chronic illness and why employers may fire them, because of the misconception of the person being lazy. This article states why those with an invisible disability can suffer immensely, and today, we are going to focus on chronic illnesses and how those who have it can lose their jobs.

Because symptoms of Chronic Illness are invisible, this leads to friends, family members, and employees being unforgiving and can put a strain on relationships, and can cause job loss. Employers may see this as slacking off or being unproductive, when in reality, the simplest of things can take an incredible amount of energy to do. Some people suffer from Chronic Migraines or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, for example, which may appear to be laziness or making excuses as to why not enough work is being done. But what is really happening is their migraines or fatigue are so bad, no matter how much sleep they get or what diet or medications they are on, that they literally become incapacitated and cannot perform certain tasks.

Also, those with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic Migraines, etc. struggle to get ready for work, which takes up a lot of energy. They also struggle to make and keep a schedule because their illness drains so much of their energy, and medications can also have various side affects, causing drowsiness. This results in having to plan all of their activities and try to schedule everything around their illness.

Because these symptoms are invisible to others, it may seem like those with this disease just do not want to work and are simply being lazy or irresponsible, which is not the case. It would help a lot if instead of seeing this behavior as lazy, unproductive, or being insubordinate, employers would take the time to study the symptoms of Chronic Illnesses and do their own research and stop treating people with such diseases and disabilities like bad people. It would be great if they would recognize that they suffer from a sickness which lowers their energy significantly and that they are doing their best and not trying to put off the work.

Because some people without these diseases, such as Chronic Fatigue or severe migraines, for example, cannot see the severity of these ailments, they doubt the illness ever exists and write it off as the person using it as an excuse to get out of work.

As mentioned previously, this can cause family, friends, and employers to question the illness and dismiss it as laziness or bad behavior. They can be so unforgiving instead of extending grace to them. It is so difficult for those with such disabilities to get or keep a job, because they end up missing the times they were told to work and miss so many deadlines. This is something beyond their control due to the lack of energy.

On good days, persons with a chronic illness still have struggles, but the symptoms are less severe. But they fear that their symptoms will get worse as soon as it is time to be productive again. This is through no fault of their own; this is caused by lack of energy and the body's response to the illness. As the body tries to fight the illness, it is very exhausting.

When you get a cold, your body does everything it can to fight off and cure the sickness. But a chronic illness is not like that. This is a lifetime thing and affects more people than you know. Cancer is not the only form of chronic illness, as you know. Others are lesser known and lesser understood forms of chronic illnesses, leading to widespread misconceptions and misinformation. I am trying to put out this misinformation by educating myself and others so we can all be more understanding.

As I write this article, I am educating myself on the topic of chronic illnesses. I do not want to be an ill-informed person who blames the person for not doing what I asked or not having time to spend time with me. I may not understand the severity of constantly being fatigued or constantly having to fight severe migraines, or anything else that constitutes a chronic illness. I am fortunate enough to not have to endure that, but I need to learn more about it so I can be as inclusive as I can be.

Employers, please take into consideration that those with disabilities, especially those with some form of chronic illnesses, are not being tardy or lazy and please stop writing them off as being manipulative or selfish. Please stop firing and discriminating against persons with disabilities. Disabled people need real jobs, not unemployment.

The employers at that company very much disappointed me for firing that sweet lady I saw on TikTok this morning. I am furious you decided to fire her and want you to think about what you did. You owe her an apology! You know exactly what you did.

I am calling you and other companies who practice discrimination against disabled people in their work places out because you need better management. Corporate needs to do a better job when hiring disabled people. The law requires you to hire persons with disabilities and your company policy states that you cannot discriminate on the basis of disability, yet you look for any reason to fire someone with a disability, not knowing what that person goes through on a daily basis. Because you do not see the challenges they face, you automatically assume they are just slacking off or using their disability as an excuse.

Even though the law prohibits discrimination against those who are disabled, legally, there is really no way to ensure the safety of disabled people in the workforce, nor is there really any way to see if the companies who discriminate like this are discriminating against disabled people. A company can simply write that a previous employee was not meeting the demands and expectations of the company or not following orders or the company policies, and no one would ever know it was actually a disability. There are really no means of protecting disabled people from workplace discrimination.

As I already mentioned, I am very disappointed in the company who fired a disabled woman I saw on my "For You Page" on TikTok. I am angry that we still have to deal with this. I am angry that the company fired her for being disabled. I am angry that we still live in a world that deals so harshly with disabled people. We need to do better and make sure companies cannot find any loopholes to easily dispose of those with disabilities. I will say this until the end of time: DISABLED PEOPLE NEED REAL JOBS, NOT UNEMPLOYMENT!

Source: https://thefrozenmind.com/coping-chronic-illness/