MEN WITH DISABILITIES

Grey River Argus, 14 August 1937, Page 6

MEN WITH DISABILITIES

Work Being Provided CASES OFF THE BEATEN TRACK. In the course of their duties the contact officers of the State Placement Service are frequently reminded that among the men who are seeking private employment are many who are suffering from some form of physical disability that considerably discounts their chances of securing satisfactory employment. Indeed, there are some in this class who have never untit'recent months had more than a few days’ Probably because of tne nature of their disability, a good number of these men have no industrial qualifications at all, and they constitute a problem in placement very difficult to solve. Fortunately, the majority are in a position to give to employers value for the remuneration offered; but there is in some quarters a strange reluctance to offer employment to any but those who are physically without disability. Here we have a double-edged dif-ficulty-—men whose usefulness to employers is somewhat doubtful because they have no industrial background; and employers who are diffident of having on their staffs men suffering from any kind of disability. JOY OF ACHIEVEMENT. The belief implanted in Placement Service workers is that difficulties are sent merely to try them, and those of them whose special duty it is to concentrate on finding suitable work for men who are disabled in any way, or who have some disability that needs treatment, proceed on the principle in St. Luke’s exhortation to the publicans and sinners: “Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” The placement of a man who has hitherto been denied the privilege and right of earning a livelihood because of a disability is regarded as an achievement greatly more creditable than the provision of employment for a physically fit and able applicant. In many cases employers have shown kindness of heart and sympathetic co-operation, and social organisations and private individuals have promtly responded to calls for practical help when the need was shown to be urgent. It is hoped that gradually the barriers against these men who are handicapped in life’s race will be lowered, and that is the task that the officers of the Placement Service have set themselves.

In some instances a considerable amount of “spade-work” has to be accomplished before men who come under the “disability” designation are in a position to interview a prospective employer, and this frequently necessitates interviews between the contact officers and various organisations that have funds available for specific purposes, or which know of channels whence advice and help may be obtained. Doctors have been specially helpful in this phase of Placement Service activities, for they have given advice and treatment free of charge. SERIOUS CASES RELIEVED. As illustrating the nature of some of this preparatory work there may be mentioned the case of a man aged 30, suffering from nervous debility induced by a particularly serious form of scalp disease. The man had been a capable worker, and doctors agreed that he could be cured, so a contact officer to whom the man nad applied for help arranged, for him to be sent to hospital. The head trouble has now been cured, and the other ailment has so far abated that very shortly the man will be able once more to become a wage-earner. Then there was the case of a family comprising the parents and eight children, a boy of 16 being the eldest. The father had lost one leg, and because his artificial limb was in serious disrepair he was unable to work. The family was therefore in a most distressful state of poverty, as the Hospital Board’s maximum assistance could not provide for more than a portion of its needs. A Service officer discussed the case with the Hospital Board representatives, who agreed to meet the cost of repairs to the limb. When these were effected, the man was able to accept employment, and suitable work was provided, greatly to the joy of his family. A somewhat similar case was that of a young man aged 23, who had repeatedly failed to obtain work because he was deaf. The case was referred to the special officer of tne Service, who arranged with the Smith family to care for the young man while enquiries were made on his behalf. Employers regretted that they could not employ him on account of his disability, though he was particularly bright in accountancy and clerical work. The only way to overcome this difficulty was to bring science in the shape of a hearing apparatus to bear upon it. The cost was fairly heavy, but the contact officer induced the organisations previously referred to to make the necessary contributions, and he was then enabled to arrange for the youth to “enrol at a Technical College, where his education will be completed; suitable work has been promised when he is ready to accept it. There are quite a number of cases much as these—all off the beaten track of Placement work, but all most emphatically worth the time de-1 voted to them.