Access to Independence helps disabled lead productive lives

Kory Tabor has a degenerative neurological disorder that keeps her confined to a wheelchair.

"It's called … are you ready for this? Spino-cerebellar ataxia, ataxia with ocular aproxia type 2," she said. "Basically, that means the part of my brain that regulates voluntary muscle control is dying."

Though her speech is slurred and she has an apparent lack of dexterity in her hands, Tabor, 30, is quick-witted, sharp-minded and engaging. Despite her disability, she lives alone, manages well using public transportation and holds down a full-time job.

"My parents are in New York and because I'm out here, they worry about me. But I do OK on my own," Tabor said with a chuckle. "When my mom calls and asks how I'm doing, I usually leave out the part about how I fell and hit my head."

The freedom to live alone without having to rely on others to see to our basic needs is something most take for granted. Getting around town, going to work, taking care of children or shopping for groceries are all things we expect to do in the natural course of life.

Unfortunately, anyone can suddenly find themselves with a disability.

Providing services

In Madison, an organization called Access To Independence provides services and resources to make it possible for people with most any kind of disability to lead productive lives.

The group helps individuals and institutions create solutions that accommodate the special needs of the deaf, the blind, the physically impaired and those with cognitive deficiencies.

"Having a disability is the largest minority group, because it cuts across all race lines, all ethnicities, all income levels," said Tabor, an independent living coordinator at Access To Independence.

"What we're all about is giving people choice and giving people options, hope. You can live a very fulfilling life as a quadriplegic. You can live a very fulfilling life being deaf or blind or any variety of disability."

Eight offices

Access To Independence is a nonprofit organization with eight facilities throughout Wisconsin. The Madison office provides services to consumers in Dane, Dodge, Green and Columbia Counties.

"The main thing we do is provide information and referral services, advocacy services and independent living skills training," Tabor said. "That would include things like taking the bus, cooking, budgeting and peer support."

Many of Tabor's colleagues at Access To Independence are also disabled. The shared experience of managing both the bureaucracy of social service organizations and the challenges of daily life make them uniquely qualified to assist their clients.

"There's that inherent peer support just coming in," Tabor said. "I know I have a degenerative condition and as I've changed over time, I've come in and said, 'Hey Valerie how do you do this?' Or 'Rebecca, how do you do this?' We can offer that same personal service to anyone who comes through the door because we've been there. We know what it's like."

Overcoming obstacles

For anyone with a disability, Access To Independence offers a wealth of information on how best to overcome daily obstacles.

Clients also get assistance in applying for grants and loans to make modifications to their home, acquire adaptive technology or improve their transportation options.

And for institutions, the group can provide resources to help meet the needs of their disabled employees.

"It's a very broad mission because we serve people with all types of disabilities," said assistant director Tracy A. Miller. "We really try to have something to offer just about everyone who calls. We can assist with reasonable accommodation issues. If employers have questions about employing people with disabilities in their businesses we can help."

Disabled city workers

Sherry Severson is the occupational accommodation specialist for the city of Madison. Her office helps provide disabled city employees with resources to improve their working conditions.

"We'll contact Access for Independence when we need ideas," Severson said. "If someone needs help grasping a writing implement, for example, or if we need a special ergonomic chair, they can help us figure things out."

It's good idea for employers to know in advance where to go for help in accommodating their disabled employees.

"The thing about human beings is we all have the potential to become disabled," said Bob Gregg, a member of the Society for Human Resource Managers and an employment relations attorney with the Boardman Law Firm in Madison.

"Employers shouldn't plan for the possibility of having a disabled employee, but the probability. Knowing where to go for these resources is critical."

About 10 percent of Madison's city employees have some kind of disability, Severson said. "When we make an accommodation for one employee," she said, "in some ways everyone benefits."

Workplace accessibility is hardly limited to people in wheelchairs. Wider hallways, ramps, safety railings and low shelving units make life easier for everyone.

As the work force ages, with more employees on the job past the traditional age of retirement, accessibility in office buildings and other work sites will become more important.

Bob Unkel, the interim executive director of Access To Independence said minor accommodations for even moderately disabled people among the elderly would help boost the local work force with high quality employee candidates.

"People need to understand that somebody with a disability in many cases has worked very hard to get a job," Unkel said. "And they're going to do everything they can to keep it. I've read many accounts of employers who talk about the quality of the employee they get, because this person is dedicated to working."

And employers shouldn't be overly concerned, Unkel said, about the cost involved when making accommodations for their disabled employees.

"I did some research a few years ago and the average accommodation is less than $200," he said. "That's not a very expensive proposition."

Access To Independence gives employers resource options to make a safe and comfortable workplace for their disabled employees.

Fulfilling its primary mission, the group makes it possible for the disabled to work and live independently regardless of their physical limitations.

"In many cases you're taking people that are unemployed our underemployed and now you're providing a situation where they are not only more self sufficient, but they become taxpayers," Unkel said.

"They are able to increase their consumer spending to other businesses in the community. For that basis I think it's really good business sense."

James Edward Mills is a Madison freelance writer.