Willing and able: hiring people with disabilities benefits individuals, companies and communities.

• Author: Francom, Sarah Ryther
• Position: Focus

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Temple Grandin, renowned autism spokesperson, is known for saying, "The world needs all kinds of minds." The same sentiment is true for the business world. Hiring individuals with disabilities not only benefits the individual hired, but also benefits your business, employees, customers and the community at large.

Leah Lobato, director of the Governor's Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities, which is part of the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation, has seen countless lives changed when companies actively recruit and hire disabled workers. She points out that one in five Americans has a disability, and that 30 percent of families have a family member with a disability. She says the numbers are anticipated to increase.

"As we have more Baby Boomers, we're going to see more age-related disabilities. Also, more people survive situations that they wouldn't have survived 10 or 15 years ago because of medical advancement," she says. "Being disabled is the only minority group that anyone can enter at any time. It's a situation that any one of us could face at any time in our lives."

A win-win hire

Hiring individuals with disabilities isn't just a feel-good idea--it can have a positive impact on a company's bottom line. Individuals with disabilities often bring a diverse range of skills and attributes to the workplace and can enhance the team dynamic.

"Individuals with disabilities have had to problem solve a lot of different situations in their life due to their condition, so they bring a unique perspective," says Lobato. "Maybe they learn a little differently. Maybe they have anxiety or depression and have had to figure out how to handle stressful situations differently. Maybe they're autistic and can think differently and outside the box in ways that others would never even imagine. The diversity of people with disabilities and what they bring to a company is really broad."

Beyond bringing diverse skills to the workplace, Lobato has found that individuals with disabilities often have a strong sense of loyalty to their employers. "Individuals with disabling conditions often either have struggled maintaining or finding employment, or struggle finding work after a gap in...