Leveling the playing field for people with disabilities has been a work in progress since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. The legislation, which mandated employers to provide adequate accommodations for employees with disabilities, was a major step toward equality. Fast forward 17 years and the employment gap is still wide. For an in-depth analysis of this issue and how it affects your workplace, read the Nov./Dec. 2007 issue of DiversityInc magazine, available now.

Read the compelling two-part story of Regina Anderson to find out what life is like for talented people with disabilities these days and how this woman won over her gatekeepers despite the odds. Click here for Part I and click here for Part II.  

A recent analysis released by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, based on a survey of 215,852 people who participated in the 2005 American Community Survey, estimates only 38 percent of non-institutionalized people with a disability ages 21--64,  regardless of ethnicity, were employed. This compares with 80 percent of working-age people with no disabilities.

Here are a few highlights from the poll:

• The median annual labor earning of working-age people with disabilities working full time in the United States was $30,000.The median household income was $36,300; the median household income was $65,400 for people without disabilities.
• A total of 56.6 percent of Americans without disabilities worked full time versus 21.7 percent of people with disabilities.
• 12.7 percent of white working-age adults in America have a disability, along with 17.5 percent of blacks, 21.7 percent of Native Americans and 6.3 percent of Asians.
• The poverty rate among people with disabilities was 25.3 in 2006, 16 percent higher than the poverty rate for those without a disability, which was 9.2 percent.   

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