Employer Presentation

This section provides a summary of presentation options followed by one detailed outline for delivering presentations to employers about hiring work-based learning participants with disabilities.

Purpose

To help employers become more aware of:

the rights, responsibilities, potential contributions and needs of interns with disabilities
how to recruit students with disabilities into their programs
how to ensure equal access into their programs
how to accommodate interns with disabilities
adaptive technology that provides access to computers
who the key players are on a typical college campus

Length

The following presentation examples are designed to accommodate a wide variety of participant needs. You may choose to deliver a presentation in a service club or professional organization meeting, as a conference session, or as a pre-conference workshop.

Develop a 10-minute, one-on-one presentation to describe the benefits of hiring interns with disabilities. Share the Finding Gold: Hiring the Best and the Brightest videotape presentation and distribute the handout with the same title.
Develop a 30-minute to one-hour presentation to deliver at a service club or professional association meeting on how to accommodate interns with disabilities. Show the Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology, and Equal Access: Computer Labs videotape presentations. Distribute the handouts titled Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology, Meet the Speakers in the Videotape -- Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology, and Equal Access: Computer Labs.
Develop a 1/2-day workshop on recruiting and accommodating interns with disabilities. Share the Finding Gold: Hiring the Best and The Brightest, Equal Access: Computer Labs, and Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology videotape presentations. Use the overhead transparency templates provided in the Tools section. Extract appropriate information from the Strategies and Access to Computing for People with Disabilities sections, and distribute the following handouts: Finding Gold: Hiring the Best and the Brightest, Equal Access: Computer Labs, Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology, and Meet the Speakers in the Videotape -- Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology,.

Presenter

A Career Counselor, Cooperative Education Coordinator, Disabled Student Services Officer, Adaptive Technology Consultant, or a fellow employer may deliver this presentation. Little experience working with students with disabilities is required to give a short presentation; longer presentations require more specialized expertise.

Preparation

Secure a site.
Select presenter(s).
Develop handouts and overhead transparencies of resources available on your campus and in your community.
Photocopy selected handout templates.
Prepare overhead transparencies.
Advertise presentation well in advance.
Send a presentation reminder to registered participants.

Possible Presentation Outline

The following sample outline can be tailored to your audience, and can vary from a brief 10-minute overview to a half-day workshop.

Logistics

Introduce presenter(s).
Introduce participants.
Identify accessible restrooms, telephones, and provide other site logistics.
Discuss presentation agenda and schedule.
Describe and distribute handouts.

Introduction

Provide background and overview.
Discuss employment statistics of people with disabilities.

Legal Issues

Describe the Americans with Disabilities Act and it's implications.
Discuss who is covered, reasonable accommodations, undue hardship, and related issues.
Talk about appropriate and inappropriate situations in which to ask about disability.

Access Issues

Discuss how to provide access to computers.
- Computer lab/workstation access
- Adaptive technology
- Access to electronic resources

Hiring Students with Disabilities

Explain methods for recruiting students with disabilities.
Describe accommodation strategies.
Identify "key players" on campus and in the community.
Share the Four-Step Accommodation Model and Abilities Profiles. Provide specific examples.
Identify school and community resources.