NASA Space Center Levels Playing Field for Employees with Disabilities

posted on Oct 20 by Guest Author in the Advocacy, Disability News, Employment, Wheelchair Accessibility category

Business owners who still think accessibility is not that important should take a hint from NASA. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s inclusive culture impressed Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy, during a tour of the space center’s satellite testing facility. He shared his experience on the WhiteHouse.gov blog.

According to Dale, Goddard fosters a culture that emphasizes recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining employees with disabilities. Goddard’s human resources managers attended a first ever disability job fair held by the Office of Personnel Management in 2009. The center has hired many qualified engineering, science, math, and technology candidates thanks to its relationship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Internship Program. The space flight center also works with the Workforce Recruitment Program and vocational rehabilitation centers to obtain qualified staff. These hiring and recruiting practices enables Goddard to achieve internal veteran and disability hiring goals.

Goddard also sets a standard for accessibility that any businesses should strive for: ensuring new-hire training for all, regardless of physical ability, through a feedback system that helps minimize unintentional barriers. Staff and management also participate in learning and development sessions that give employees an opportunity to address accessibility and insensitivity issues, as well address disability-related issues.

Lack of reasonable accommodations is a common barrier to employment for job applicants with disabilities. Goddard ensures a level playing field for all employees by maintaining a centralized accommodation fund that allows managers to make accommodations without having to worry about their operating budgets.

Dale was impressed with how well the staff diversity matched the diverse skill sets necessary to stay on the cutting edge of space and earth sciences. He, along with a group of other individuals, got to meet some of the staff responsible for designing “some of the coolest hi-tech stuff.”

The group was welcomed by a blind EEO specialist. They were given a demonstration of a space vacuum simulation that was presented by a thermal engineer with a physical impairment. Deaf engineers showed group mockups and test equipment designed for the satellite’s command and data center. For Dale, it was proof positive that persons with disabilities are capable of doing anything they set their minds to, if given the opportunity.

Sources:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/26/nasa-goddard-space-flight-center-disability-employment-done-right
http://www.aaas.org/careercenter/internships/
https://wrp.gov/

Image source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa_goddard/sets/72157627238955455/with/6012239474/