FSACentral is proud to once again celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month by featuring people with disabilities who are out in the workforce.
Name: Elyse Loderhose
Hometown: Riverview, Florida
Employer. Hillsborough School District
Position: DHH (Deaf Hard of Hearing) Itinerant Teacher
Length of time at current job: 2 years as a DHH teacher (but 15 years working for the school district)
Elyse Loderhose is a self-advocate living with cerebral palsy, veteran special-education teacher, and a foster & adoptive mom. Currently, after over a decade of classroom teaching, she serves as an itinerant teacher for hearing-impaired students in Hillsborough Country. Itinerant means she travels around to different schools to do her job.
What is the best advice or encouragement you’d give to a fellow self-advocate about accessing or keeping employment?
I found success in being candid about my disability and trying to make others around me as comfortable as possible. I try to encourage questions and want to educate them on my cerebral palsy and speech impediment.
What advice would you give employers about hiring a person with a disability?
I know that hiring someone with a disability is scary and that there’s so many unknowns, but if you allow that person a chance, some wonderful learning experiences and insights will arise.
What’s the most significant employment-related challenge you face as a person with a disability?
Assumptions are the biggest challenge that I face on a daily basis. Due to my speech impediment and the way that I move, people tend to assume things about me that are not true.
How should we be advocating for better employment opportunities and practices in Florida?
We have come such a long way in giving individuals with disabilities better employment opportunities! As a society, we need to keep educating and “normalizing” different disabilities.
Which agency was the most helpful to you in accessing and maintaining employment?
During high school and college, I received help from VR services. They provided me money for books, a computer, job training interest inventories, and a Speech Easy (a small device that goes in the ear to help reduce stuttering) when I went on job interviews.
In your opinion, how does employing a person with a disability help their quality of life?
Being able to be a contributing member of society and knowing that I am helping is such an incredible privilege that I know many do not have. It allows me a sense of purpose in my life and gives me the opportunity to live my best life. I recently adopted my former foster daughter, Hollis, whom I absolutely adore. Being able to have a career has opened up so many doors and opportunities that I would have never had if employers such as Sylvia Hastings (former principal who first hired me 15 years ago) had not seen past the disability and took a leap of faith. Because of employers that were open and willing to learn and make simple accommodations, I have had the resources to travel the world, be a foster mom, and teach incredible students that have taught me so much about what life is truly about.
FSACentral would like to thank Loderhose for her time and thoughtful answers.