People who have physical or mental disabilities have a hard time living their lives. There are many things that we take for granted that physically disabled people consider a hurdle. It could be anything from going into a building to reaching for something on the top shelf, among others. They sometimes find it difficult even to communicate their problems to others.
Furthermore, physically challenged people face a lot of challenges to get employment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, physically disabled people are 50 percent more to be unemployed as compared to physically able people. That is a dire statistic, and it shows precisely how much trouble it is for them to find and maintain a professional job. Sometimes even the smallest tasks are tough for them to handle.
How Things are Changing
Thanks to technology and advancement, things have changed a lot for the better. Nowadays, there are many opportunities available for physically challenged people, and they can benefit from them quickly. One of the ways that technology has helped them is to present multiple works from home scenarios where they don’t even have to leave the comfort of their homes. They can just connect to their employers remotely and continue to do jobs online.
These opportunities come from not only the advancement in technology but also because of the state laws that are passed to address this concern to ensure that physically challenged people can become a valuable part of society. Now disabled people have the chance to connect with the Disability Employment Services (DES) and find out jobs that they are fit for and can do effortlessly and effectively.
How does a hiring disabled person benefit employers and employees?
Employers are now making various changes in their office environments so that they can easily cater to disabled people and their needs. Those changes can come in the form of building ramps so that they can get to the office efficiently. Or they are integrating their offices with adaptive technologies that can help them work or making sure that the environment of the workplace is adjustable for caretaker animals that need to accompany them, among other things.
Furthermore, not only employers present the right company image in front of the world, but they also get the benefit of knowing that they are providing a service to the communities that they work in and thus increase the goodwill between them and their audiences. Another advantage is that employers who hire disabled people are shown to be more at ease and satisfied with their work. According to one study, employers who hired disabled people, forty percent of them said that they could rely more on their physically challenged workers than others. Another forty percent of them said that there were no differences between physically challenged workers and others.
What are the jobs that physically disabled people can perform?
Here we are going to list down the top five jobs that disabled people can easily do and even outperform their counterparts.
1. Accountants
We all know what accountants do. They keep track of financial records, analyze them, handle the taxes, and crunch the numbers. They have the option of working in-house, or they can work remotely from home. As an accountant, a disabled person can either work for one company or offer his services as a freelancer in the market and work with multiple clients. Although, large companies have their teams of accountants so that they can get the work done on time, every time.
As a freelancer, you can accomplish general accounting tasks for companies, or you could excel in a specific niche like tax returns or any other and provide specialized services.
The lowest degree that you need to become a certified accountant is a bachelor’s degree, and you can increase your set of skills and knowledge by doing various certifications in whichever branch of accounting you are more interested in pursuing.
2. Salesperson
Salespeople are necessary for companies as they are at the front of the company. They are in direct contact with the customers and can convince them about their products or services or help them and guide them when necessary. They are the ones that get to talk to the potential clients and as for the feedback from existing ones. Disabled people can easily do this job as it doesn’t require too much travel. All it needs is that the salesperson knows about the industry, products, services, and the customers that they are communicating with.
Nowadays, you can even use technology to become a salesperson and talk to clients over the phone, through email, chat, or any other way.
3. Self-employed Worker
A lot of disabled people find it better to be independent rather than work for someone else. This field encompasses almost every other area like accounting, writing, sales, marketing, digital media marketing, or any other city. They can even own their own business or an agency like a marketing agency, accounting firm, consulting firm, or any other. They can work as consultants and offer their highly sought after services to businesses in their localities or around the globe.
4. Teacher
One of the best jobs in the world for physically challenged people or anyone else for that matter is teaching. Teaching encompasses many other subfields like training, coaching, mentoring, counseling, and others. Disabled people can work with any demographics that they want, like children, teenagers, adults, or more. They can help others improve their lives or their skills.
Ever since the emergence of online teaching, the field has expanded, and now there are more opportunities than ever. A disabled person can even do this from his home and never have to leave the house.
5. Writers
That is the age of Search Engine Optimization and content marketing. Physically disabled people can easily make their way into this field and choose writing as their profession. They can create unique and original content for others, or they can do it for themselves in the form of a blog and make money from it.
They can even work as a ghostwriter and write novels, e-books, and other things for people who need them written.
Conclusion
Gone are the days when disabled people had to depend on others for each and everything. In today’s world, there are opportunities abound that anyone can avail of and make the most of it. The professions mentioned above are very suitable for physically challenged people as they can build their self-esteem and make them a productive member of the community.