{"id":29028,"date":"2018-06-28T19:05:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T19:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=409986"},"modified":"2018-06-28T19:05:53","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T19:05:53","slug":"these-are-employees-you-want-special-olympics-job-fair-is-a-win-for-athletes-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/06\/28\/these-are-employees-you-want-special-olympics-job-fair-is-a-win-for-athletes-region\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018These are employees you want\u2019: Special Olympics job fair is a win for athletes, region"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span>\u201cWhen our developers have that interaction with a person with a disability, it can be very eye opening for them to see that maybe they were not meeting the bar they thought they were,\u201d says Chinyere Samuelson, a JPMorgan Chase accessibility lead. \u201cBut once they have that experience, it opens a door. Most developers are all about the challenge, and this allows them to start owning the responsibility for making something that is accessible to everyone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3735\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3735\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/these-are-employees-you-want-special-olympics-job-fair-is-a-win-for-athletes-region.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of people standing in front of a T Mobile sign that says What Makes You Different Makes You Awesome\" width=\"260\" height=\"352\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Puget Sound employers recruited new talent at Microsoft\u2019s recent inclusive hiring job fair, including Accenture, Alaska Airlines, Amazon, AT&amp;T, Department of Services for the Blind, EY, Facebook, The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc., LinkedIn, Northwest Center, Skills Inc., Starbucks, T-Mobile, VR-Net and the Washington State Department of Corrections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bakhru says national events like the Special Olympics USA Games have the power to showcase all the things that people with disabilities can achieve. But their life skills extend far beyond the basketball court or gymnastics mat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople with disabilities can represent some of your best talent pool because they have skills that they\u2019ve had to develop throughout their lives, like problem solving and leadership and time management,\u201d says Bakhru. \u201cThere is a very high percentage of people with disabilities who are capable of working but are unemployed simply because of misperceptions or biases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Participants in the Special Olympics USA Games job fair are already working to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Corporate partners across Puget Sound and nationally have already stepped up to the plate with robust inclusive hiring and supported employment programs, says Beth Knox, President and CEO of the 2018 Games.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing a part of the employment solution is a significant priority for all of us,\u201d says Knox. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the bigger cultural shift we\u2019re focused on to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities are seen and valued as contributing members of our community. Employment plays a major role in that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harper, in the governor\u2019s office, loves working \u2014 citing the money she earns and the independence it affords to the people she gets to interact with every day. She recently asked to increase her hours from 15 to 19 hours a week, which the governor\u2019s office was happy to accommodate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love my job. I just love it. Meeting new people and interacting in different activities is really fun,\u201d Harper says. \u201cI was so excited and happy when I got the job in the governor\u2019s office. It was my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhen our developers have that interaction with a person with a disability, it can be very eye opening for them to see that maybe they were not meeting the bar they thought they were,\u201d says Chinyere Samuelson, a JPMorgan Chase accessibility lead. \u201cBut once they have that experience, it opens a door. Most developers are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-29028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}