ADA Sign Depot Blog — The ADA and Your Business

To expand the pool of workers, companies are recruiting stay-at-home parents, retirees and people with disabilities. Will they keep it up if the economy sours?

What is "age disability?" According to the World Health Organization, the percentage of the world’s population over 60 will nearly double by 2050, rising to 22 percent from 12 percent. In the United States, the Census Bureau projects that by 2035, people 65 and older will outnumber children for the first time.

The issue is as complicated as people are. As with all forms of discrimination, there’s a world between what the law says and how we relate to one another that’s murky and difficult to navigate, even for legal professionals, disability-rights advocates and those long-practiced in explaining themselves to a world not built for them. But there are ways to make it easier, and difficult truths everyone should know.

Chances are you have heard the story of Roselle, the amazing Labrador retriever guide dog, who on September 11, 2001, patiently guided her blind handler, Michael Hingson, down 78 flights of stairs to life and safety, away from the crumbling World Trade Center. 

Learn more about the vibrant life Michael Hingson has been living, before, and after, 9/11.

New research strongly suggests that the opposite — that hiring people with disabilities is good for business.