Disability shouldn't keep one from entrepreneurship
Farrah Gray/NNPA Columnist
Issue date: 10/4/09 Section: Business
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Despite all their challenges, over two million disabled U.S. workers fill valuable jobs daily such as telemarketing, graphic design, teaching, healthcare, electronic assembly, language translation, pet care, and even cooking. Of this group, 13 percent or 260,000 are self-employed entrepreneurs operating home based businesses.
In fact over 55 million or 18.7 percent of the total population in the United States, according to the Census Bureau reported some level of disability. The unemployment rate of the disabled is almost 17 percent, according U.S. Department of Labor. Of course, as for all entrepreneurs, going into business as a disabled individual is a significant undertaking not only is it challenging to obtain financing, but it requires agility, stamina, and determination.
In 1933, while completely paralyzed from the waist down, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the President of the United States. Stevie Wonder, a blind musician singer, songwriter, producer, and humanitarian has won two-dozen Grammy Awards. Dr. Steven Hawking, a world-renowned theoretical physicist-thinker, among many other accomplishments, was awarded the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And finally, during his struggles with cancer, Carnegie Melon University Professor Randy Pausch gave his now famous, "Last Lecture Series: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." These disabled pioneers are truly an inspiration to us all demonstrating there are no limits for the human spirit to achieve extraordinary goals.
The majority of disabled workers have impaired sight, mental, audio hearing and back-related problems. Their numbers are increasing and it's likely the trend will continue-as the population ages. For many Americans with disabilities, self-employment and home-based businesses in particular offer empowerment, control, and the flexibility to succeed while accommodating their own unique needs that they may not otherwise find in the more traditional corporate workplace.
For less than $1,000, a typical disabled entrepreneur can upgrade their home-based office. Several home-based office concerns include spacing, lighting, Internet communications, easy bathroom access and furniture or chair comfort for long periods. Several Federal tax incentives promote the independent lifestyles of disabled people including the Accessibility Tax Credit, Federal Disabled Employment Tax Credit, and Elderly Disabled Tax Incentives. These policies are covered under the American Disabilities Act of 1990, Disabilities Education Recovery Act 2009 and The Disabilities Rights Laws.
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