Recently, public rehabilitation has focused only on the most severe disabilities which represent just a small percentage of the persons with disabilities looking for jobs and an even smaller percentage of the clients who come into your offices. But it requires specific training, guidance and technical assistance. Just as Human Resource interviewers need to evaluate their attitudes and beliefs about persons with disabilities, so does the placement professional. A training covering attitudes, myths and beliefs about persons with disabilities, along with language and etiquette, is a vital first step in any placement professional's training. It would be a shame if a placement professional did not refer a person with a disability to a job that he or she would have been considered for, simply because the placement professional could not picture the person doing it.
Many disabilities present communication challenges.
Training in communication with persons with disabilities is vital for the placement professional. It will also teach the placement professional how to recognize when there may be a problem for a client in a job interview and how to advise both the client and the employer. Working with employers. Persons with disabilities do best in job interviews when the placement professional has established a rapport with the employer and has prepared the employer to interview the client. Understanding employers fears and concerns about persons with disabilities in employment is vital for any placement professional.