Re: techwr-l digest: March 30, 2002

[Brad Jensen <brad -at- elstore -dot- com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Jacobs" <jacobskl -at- jacobs -dot- coxatwork -dot- com>
> I appreciate the comments on "stand-up" training.  I, however,
would
> like to reply from the side of one who has been hit by this
> discrimination.
>
> I have been a trainer, training manager, and training consultant
since
> the late 1980's.  In late 1998, I had surgery on one of my
knees.  Since
> then, I have had 4 more, 2 of which included bone movement and
extreme
> recuperation (think replacement level recovery effort).  Even
with these
> surgeries, I can not stand for more than an hour or two at a
time.
>
> This means that I no longer train professionally for pay.  No
one (at
> least in my end of the country) is willing to hire a contract
trainer
> who can not stand for an entire day.

Oh yes they will.

Can you get onto and off of a tall chair, like a bar stool (with
arms, swivels) or a tall folding director's chair?

If I were you, what I would do is specialize in training for ADA
compliance issues.

They won't dare NOT hire you.

And you become your own teaching aid. You can point out that most
disabilities are temporary, and
most people will have at least one period of disability during
that person's life. (I just made these facts up,
but I will bet that they are true.)

Disability protection is for all of us. It is like health
insurance. I'd be willing to bet that most disability comes
as a result of sickness or injury, such as car wrecks. You start
out the class by picking five volunteers.

Then you randomly pick four out of those five and make them go
stand on one leg. When they are all standing on one leg, you turn
to the class and say 'chances are four out of five that at some
point in your life, you will experience a disability severe enough
to affect your ability to work at your customary work.  When you
have one, you will feel about as comfortable as these four people
standing on one leg.

At some point you should let the four sit down - and say "are you
comfortable? The ADA is designed to give you a chance to sit down
at a time in your life when you will be standing on one leg. It
will be there for you then, if you are here for it now."

Etc.

Are you making a point of the fact that you sit down for your
seminar? I wouldn't/. If they have a problem with it when you show
up, let them deal with it. It is part of the learning experience.

You only have to look the lion in the eye once.

(I just made that up too , but I'll bet it is true for lion tamers
with new lions.)

"I'm specializing in this are because I have this temporary
disability, and it has made me realize the importance of this area
of training. Did you know that four out of five ...." Etc. Of
course no one wants to believe it will happen to them, but you can
say "this can happen to your wife, your kids, your mom, your
friends..."

Get someone to make you or customize a collapsible chair for you
to get in and out of, that you can take with you to your
presentations. Or just try a tall folding director's chair. Give
them lots of eye contact and a confident smile.

Brad Jensen
www.eufrates.com




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