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Conclusion

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Disability in the Workplace

Part of the book series: Palgrave Explorations in Workplace Stigma ((PAEWS))

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Abstract

In this text, discussions focused on disabilities within Anglophone Caribbean organisations, specifically to critically examine diversity, inclusion, and discrimination for persons with disabilities, within the workforce. The nature of impairments and disorders which affect persons with disabilities (PWD) in the Caribbean and their ability to gain and retain suitable employment were examined, and we found the existence of a hierarchy of impairments, which permeates employment practice, such that, some impairments are less discriminated against relative to others (Smith, 2012). Notwithstanding the number of Caribbean islands who have become signatories to the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the subsequent enactment of the requisite anti-discrimination laws, the expected comprehensive changes as it relates to (improving the fortunes of) persons with disabilities and employees with disabilities have not been fully realized. The insights offered in this text, provide tools of clarification and direction and will act as a catalyst of change for stakeholders towards a more diverse, inclusive and equitable Anglophone Caribbean region.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cognitive distortions in relation to persons with disabilities are informed by culturally accepted information, which has become normalised as stereotypes about a societal group. Stereotypes are heuristics, and as such do not apply to all group members. Thus in the same way that it would be offensive and irrelevant to make a recruitment decision as to a candidate’s suitability based on their height, all employment related decisions should be done on a meritorious basis, after evaluating the candidate, being considered, specifically their knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, qualifications and aptitudes for the job role, rather than what is believed to be known all persons with disabilities (Krieger, 1995; Reskin, 2000, 2018).

  2. 2.

    The point of departure between pre- and post-lingual hearing impairments, with respect to the former, impairment occurs before spoken language acquisition in infancy, and with respect to the latter, impairment occurs after spoken language skills are acquired (Campbell & Sharma, 2014; Cavender & Ladner, 2008; Firzst et al., 2012; Nance et al., 2006). “With postlingual deafness, speech training is much easier and often successful while with pre-lingual deafness, speech training is much more difficult and often unsuccessful” (Cavender & Ladner, 2008: 28).

  3. 3.

    Article 9, Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, identifies the objective of the convention which is for signatories to “enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, take appropriate measured to ensure to PWD, access on an equal basis with others to the physical environment, transportation and to information and communication inter alia, to include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility”.

  4. 4.

    Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) refers to a “set of helpful, discretionary and extra-role behaviours exhibited by employees that are not recognized formally, but have a positive effect on the operation of the organisation” (Organ, 1988).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Jacqueline H. Stephenson

  2. University of Trinidad and Tobago, Point Lisas, Trinidad and Tobago

    Natalie Persadie

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  1. Jacqueline H. Stephenson
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  2. Natalie Persadie
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Correspondence to Jacqueline H. Stephenson .

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Stephenson, J.H., Persadie, N. (2023). Conclusion. In: Disability in the Workplace. Palgrave Explorations in Workplace Stigma. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19340-8_10

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