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Balancing work, life and disability

Exploring strategies and practices that enhance wellbeing, job satisfaction and job retention among workers with disabilities

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Please take our quick, anonymous poll to help continue research on work-life balance & disability issues.

Poll: Have you experienced physical assult in the workplace?

Work-Life Balance & Disability Diagram

Although workers with disabilities have the same types of work and life concerns as their colleagues without disabilities, this model shows some of the additional work-life challenges faced by employees with disabilities.

Work-life Balance Diagram
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Nearly 30% of participants in YTI's Work-Life Balance & Disability Study had children under the age of 18 living at home.

"I hire others to work for me as home health aids and I work with them to make sure my personal needs are met and I can successfully meet the demands of a full-time job." — Participant, YTI Work-Life Balance & Disability Study

“If I can address the personal stuff and feel well physically, everything else falls into place and I feel self-motivated to do anything I wish.”

- Participant, YTI Work-Life Balance & Disability Study

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“Work… (is) an opportunity to me to show what I can do. It becomes very difficult when the social messages that you get all the time from various places are that you don’t have a lot of value.”

- Patti Clay
“I have been publically treated as if my presence at work was a detriment to the organization; as if I could not do the job even though I have proven my ability with reasonable accommodations.” — Participant, YTI Work-Life Balance & Disability Study

“Working is hard. But, not working is harder”

– Christina Crosby, author of A Body Undone

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“It takes a LOT of willpower to say NO when I used to be able to say YES to so much more.”

- Participant, YTI Work-Life Balance & Disability Study
“I find exercising critical to my balance; it helps me feel stronger, less stressed, and happier.” — Participant, YTI Work-Life Balance & Disability Study

“Sometimes I wish I could change it. I wish I could just do the things that I want to do, but I’m finding more creative ways to do what I want to do without compromising my health.”

- Aubrey Lang

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“I am careful not to over commit, but instead offer to try and help so that I am not boxed in on a schedule doesn't offer the flexibility I need.”

- Participant, YTI Work-Life Balance & Disability Study
“My supervisor did not acknowledge my strong desire to have a staff interpreter so I could fully participate within the organization. There was a lot misunderstanding and interpersonal stress, and as a result, I would go home and need to vent. This is not healthy for me.” — Participant, YTI Work-Life Balance & Disability Study

Additional Resources

For more information about issues raised by participants in YTI’s Work-Life Balance & Disability Study, refer to the project-related publications and other sources listed below.

Cook, L. H., (in press). Workplace bullying and harassment of individuals with disabilities. In T. Heller, S. Parker Harris, C. Gill, & R. Gould (Eds.), Disability in American Life: An Encyclopedia of Concepts, Policies, and Controversies Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
This article explains what workplace bullying is, and how anti-harassment law applies to disability-related bullying.

von Schrader S., & Cook, L. (in press). Disclosure & Self-Identification in the Workplace. In T. Heller, S. Parker Harris, C. Gill, & R. Gould (Eds.), Disability in American Life: An Encyclopedia of Concepts, Policies, and Controversies Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
This article explains the difference between disability disclosure and disability self-identification in the workplace, as well as the benefits and potential drawbacks that can make disclosure decisions uneasy for workers with disabilities.

L. Cook. (2017, August 30). Family caregiving, disability, and work-life balance. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/family-caregiving-disability-work-life-balance-northeast-ada-center
This blog post highlights how being in the role of caregiver and/or care recipient may influence the work-life balance of people with disabilities.

Cook, L. (2017, August/September). The workplace disclosure dilemma. Ability Magazine, 2017, 42-43. Retrieved from https://abilitymagazine.com/disclosure-decisions-pros-and-cons
This article describes some of the factors to consider when deciding whether or not to disclose a disability in the workplace. It includes findings related to disability disclosure from YTI’s Work-Life Balance & Disability Study.

Cook, L.H., Foley, J.T., Semeah, L.M., (2016). An exploratory study of inclusive worksite wellness: Considering employees with disabilities. Disability and Health Journal, 9(1), 100-107. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2015.08.011
This paper presents findings from a study that explored participation in employer-sponsored wellness programs by workers with disabilities. Individual, social, and organizational factors, including the provision of user-friendly marketing materials and social support from workplace colleagues, influenced participation.

Cook, L. H. (2014, Oct). Balancing work, life and disability. Ability Magazine, 2014, 58-59. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1624968869?accountid=10267
This article describes possible work-life challenges for people with disabilities and offers suggestions for effective work-life management.

Cook, L. H., & Shinew, K. J. (2014). Leisure, work, and disability coping: “I mean, you always need that ‘In’ Group.” Leisure Sciences, 36(5), 420–438. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01490400.2014.912167
This paper presents findings from a qualitative investigation of the role of leisure in the work-life balance of employed people with mobility impairments. It highlights the benefits of a positive disability identity, the importance of accessible leisure, and the value of similarly able friends on work-life management.

von Schrader, S., Malzer, V., & Bruyère, S. (2014). Perspectives on disability disclosure: The importance of employer practices and workplace climate. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 26(4), 237–255. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10672-013-9227-9
This paper presents findings from a survey of individuals with disabilities focused on identifying and better understanding the factors that influence disability disclosure decisions. Results highlight the barriers and facilitators that influence individuals’ decision to disclose and the important role that employers, managers, and workplace climate play in the decision.

Santuzzi, A. M., Waltz, P. R., Finkelstein, L. M. & Rupp, D. E. (2014), Invisible disabilities: Unique challenges for employees and organizations. Industrial & Organizational Psychology, 7, 204–219. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/iops.12134
This paper proposes that a worker’s decision to adopt a disability identity in the depends on various factors that function at the intraindividual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels, impacting disability disclosure and requests for accommodations, as well as workers’ safety and well-being.