Help offered for job seekers with disabilities

By MARA MCGINNIS
Reporter Assistant Editor

A new law that will allow millions of disabled people to work without losing health benefits has made a new book by a UB career-planning expert an especially valuable-and timely-resource for those with disabilities.

Disability groups estimate that more than 2 million people will take advantage of The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, which expands Medicare and Medicaid benefits to include disabled people while they work.

"Job Search Handbook for People with Disabilities," (JIST, 1999) by Daniel J. Ryan, director of the Office of Career Planning and Placement, offers these new job seekers a comprehensive resource that explores specific job-search issues faced by people with disabilities and offers step-by-step instructions to help them promote themselves into their career choice. Ryan serves as chair of the career-planning, special-interest group of the Association for Higher Education and Disabilities and the career-services technology chair for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

A lifetime advocate for people with disabilities, Ryan says that the new law is a great triumph for people with disabilities, but that discrimination against them still exists in today's workforce.

"These individuals not only have to compete against all other applicants for jobs, they also must overcome the hurdle of convincing others-and sometimes themselves-that they are capable, valuable workers," he explains.

In the book, Ryan encourages readers to address issues relating to their disability, but stresses that they should play only a very minor role in the overall job search. The book also covers the rights and protection the law provides to disabled persons and identifies agencies and governmental programs that provide assistance, as well as offering tips on how to negotiate for special accommodations on the job