70% of Disabled are Unemployed

Seventy percent of people with a disability — that’s 7 out of 10 — are unemployed in America. This striking statistic speaks to the harsh burden a disability can place on a person. Rachel Tanenhaus, the executive director of the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities, shares this an other disturbing facts to illustrate how overcoming prejudice and defeating misconceptions about disabilities are a key focus of her work.

In this episode of unPlanned, we are also joined by Michael Muehe, who preceded Rachel as executive director at the commission, in a wide-ranging look across the disability world. We learn about Universal Design — a set of design principles geared towards ensuring physical spaces are accessible to all, and we delve into the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal legislation that forms the template for policies and practices in public and private spaces. We also discuss the online world, a realm that is becoming more and more crucial to our everyday lives.