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Disability is ubiquitous.

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It does not discriminate based
on race or gender or ethnicity

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or socio economic status.

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It is something that
many, many more people

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are affected by than you know.

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And so I don't want people
to think about disability

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as this small minority
of people that you

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have to do something
special for,

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because if you acknowledge
that, by valuing disability,

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by valuing diversity, you're
truly valuing everyone.

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Why should you hire
people with disabilities?

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We are hard workers.

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And we're very good
at solving problems,

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and we're not afraid
to speak our mind when

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we see process improvement
that could benefit the company

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and actually make it more
inclusive and diverse.

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We are really, really, really,
really good at problem solving.

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And I would say that
in my day, like I

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have to think 20 steps
ahead of everything

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that I'm doing because things,
for example, if I drop my cell

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phone on the floor
it's going to take me

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20 minutes to pick it up.

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So I'm really good at not
dropping my cell phone.

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I look at disability
as just another aspect

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of an individual's life.

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It's another aspect
of diversity.

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And I think we all
see the benefits

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to having diverse staff,
people who have different life

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experiences, different
perspectives, and the richness

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that can bring to
the organizations

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when we're working together.

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Many of us,
historically, have lived

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in organizations or communities
or environments that are not

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necessarily built for us.

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And so we really do
have to think ahead.

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And we have to be flexible.

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And we have to be able
to adapt on the fly.

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So I'll talk for a
moment about why you

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might want autistic employees.

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We sometimes have a bad
rap because we may not

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make a lot of eye
contact, or the way we

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act may seem a bit different.

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But one of the defining
traits of people with autism

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is an ability to focus.

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And that hyper
focus has benefitted

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me a great deal at work.

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It's actually
shocking how much work

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I can accomplish in a small
amount of time because of this.

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That means that
I'm already, when

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I see a problem, going to
think in an innovative way that

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might not otherwise
be represented

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by people in your workplace.

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What should employers then know
about their disabled employees?

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Is that they want their
work to be valued,

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and to be treated with
respect and as an included

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member of your community.

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Having that communication to
be able to ask and see what

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your employee needs.

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And sometimes getting
asked just kind

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of takes the burden off
of you as the person

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with the disability to
have to make that initial--

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if you need an
accommodation or something,

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to have to make
that initial ask.

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I think accommodations and
working with any employee,

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it's a process and it's
a relationship, right?

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And I think people just have
to remember that, and again

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have patience.

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Ask your disabled employees
what works best for them.

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They tend to know.

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They might not always, but
often they'll have a good idea.

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And remember, you
generally do not

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need to know their
specific diagnosis.

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I actually can't think
of a time anybody's

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ever needed to know my
specific diagnosis because I

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can communicate what I
need without you knowing.

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And I encourage you all to
have the same sort of humility

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to acknowledge that,
even as you're trying,

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you are still going
to get it wrong.

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You are going to
then find out things

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after that you've messed up.

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But if you have an
honest and open approach

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to wanting to include
everyone, then you

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will be on the right path.

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And realizing that
solutions that you

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think you're creating
just for disabled people

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are likely things that
many other people can then

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benefit from as well.

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