This article appeared in the October 2006 issue of
DiversityInc magazine. The gray area between being supportive and overbearing can be difficult to navigate when interacting with co-workers with disabilities. According to the 2004 National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey of People with Disabilities, only 35 percent of working-age people with disabilities are employed. But what muddies the issue is that there are no set parameters when it comes to interacting with colleagues with disabilities. What might be perfectly acceptable in one case, such as assisting someone in a wheelchair, might be offensive in another scenario.
