In Season 1, Episode 1, hosts Jeremy Opperman and Jeremy Warriner of the Rotary Disability Advisers Group have a lively discussion on the challenges of disability advocacy and the need to encourage not only changes in approaches to disability rights but also to thinking. Both are members of Rotary International and they share a vision of that organisation being more inclusive for people with disabilities, Each host comes from a different perspective on the READ MORE
Category: Disability
Disability Disclosure with Lucille Greef (Aephoria) and Jeremy Opperman
In this YouTube clip, Jeremy describes how his long career in Disability Equity in South Africa has given him great insight into the complexity and challenges of disclosing one’s disability in the workplace. He explains the various occasions where disclosure might be required, including before applying for a position and during one’s career. Jeremy provides anecdotes and examples of how this might be successfully practiced and how employers might stimulate greater disclosure from their staff READ MORE
A Short Story: I am Disabled so I have the Right to use it
“How cool is that?”, said Jim, as he was told about the new computers in the public library in his suburb. In particular, Jim was delighted that one of the six available PCs was equipped to cater for blind and visually impaired users by providing both screen-reading and magnification software. This meant something to Jim as he himself was visually impaired and used special magnification software on PC’s when he had a chance to do READ MORE
Paws for Thought:
“Ok, left, left, good boy!”“Find the pole, find the pole, good boy!”“Wait, ok, forward.”“Find the kerb, good boy.”“Find the pole, good boy!”“Forward, find the kerb, good boy!” And so begins Jeremy and Guide-Dog Ronnie’s journey to a nearby park.
A Brief Overview of Blindness in South Africa
by Jeremy Opperman and Lois Strachan To say that South Africa was a complex country with regard to disability in general and blindness in particular would be a woeful understatement. Some explanation and historical context may be helpful. South Africa as a democratic country is less than 30 years old. Prior to 1994 SA was a racially divided and segregated society. At face value, this could be stated as a divide between Black and White. READ MORE
Disability and Recruitment (Clip 3/3)
In the last of this three-video series, Jeremy unpacks the thorny issue of ‘reasonable accommodation’ in the context of the employment of People with Disabilities (PWDs). Using examples and anecdotes, he guides viewers through best practice and things not to do. He also introduces the practice of competency-based recruitment and wraps up by outlining five common problems associated with Disability Equity.
Disability and Recruitment (Clip 2/3)
In the second of this three video series, Jeremy analyses the employment cycle in the context of disability employment. Drawing on colorful anecdotes and case studies, he focuses primarily on the dangers of unlawful practices, stereotyping and the lack of political will in the employment of persons with disabilities.
Disability and Recruitment (Clip 1/3)
In the first of a three-video series, Jeremy addresses the fundamentals of employing People with Disabilities (PWDs). He also highlights the challenges facing employers, and emphasises the need to engage with these challenges so that barriers to successful recruitment are addressed. Jeremy focuses strongly on ignorance and attitude as the primary barriers to disability inclusion. Using his unique ‘Trinocular’ model, he also stresses the need for perspective. Click here to view.
Forget Disability Day. How about Disability Year?
On the eve of yet another International Disability Day, on 3 December, I find myself, as I always do at this time of year, pondering the point of this day. Like many thinkers in the area of disability mainstreaming, I tend to be rather cynical about the day and am inclined to ask why we pay attention to disability on just this day? What about the other 364 days? I guess you could say the same about READ MORE
What about disability integration? Is it all about jobs?
One of the most common questions that I get when I teach disability awareness, is why don’t we see many, or any CV’s of Persons with Disabilities? This usually comes from HR practitioners, but sometimes line as well , and of course from agencies too . I am tempted to go into another train of thought which examines the stereotypic response to CV’s denoting disability, but I will leave that for another discussion. No; what READ MORE