Bureaucracy at Work

[Selden]

I'm not trying to be political, and I hope this will remain apolitical, as I think this sort of thinking transcends administrations, but may be endemic to bureaucracies.

 

DOJ has released a memo re "Hiring of Persons with Targeted Disabilities." No problem with that, as I know and have worked with people with various disabilities (including a brilliant student, blind from birth, who wore glasses with big yellow happy faces over the lenses. "How can you see through those things?" "I can't.")

 

I'm even OK with psychiatric disability (USC law professor Elyn Saks has written about living with schizophrenia). However, I am having a hard time with targeting the hiring of people with "severe intellectual disability" as DOJ lawyers. (No lawyer jokes, please.)

 

 

[Dave McReynolds]

I think a person could have a very low IQ and still be capable of doing many jobs. In fact, I would feel more comfortable hiring a person with a low IQ to do a job within his capabilities than a person who was a schizophrenic, whose job might be within his capabilities one minute and totally impossible for him to cope with the next.

[Selden]

You're right; I was thinking of potential DOJ lawyers, but the beginning of the memo says "...a program to recruit, hire, and promote qualified attorneys and non-attorneys..." [italics mine]. And, this story shows what's possible: Autistic File Clerk Credits His Photographic Memory with Success at His Law Firm Job.

 

May it please the Court, I withdraw my objection.

[Mike]

However, I am having a hard time with targeting the hiring of people with "severe intellectual disability" as DOJ lawyers.

 

Actually, it seems to be a long-standing tradition.

[Rocer]

Ah gee, I was just getting wound up with some examples like Stephen Hawking, the U.S. surgeon with Terrets Syndrome and our own federal MP who is a quadriplegic and then you go and post "May it please the Court, I withdraw my objection."

[moshe_levy]

Selden-

 

As those of us who deal with Uncle Sam know, much of these forms are total boilerplate and nobody bothers to check anything until someone calls them on it. I've had purchase order which specifically forbid me to ship early and then one line later say "early shipping preferred." That's why their hammers cost $900!

 

-MKL

[Matts_12GS]

Selden-

 

As those of us who deal with Uncle Sam know, much of these forms are total boilerplate and nobody bothers to check anything until someone calls them on it. I've had purchase order which specifically forbid me to ship early and then one line later say "early shipping preferred." That's why their hammers cost $900!

 

-MKL

 

It all sounds like a good reason to get the government further from our lives...

[Antimatter]

I was struck by how many of those conditions could apply to folks who were injured during military service. Does bad PTSD count as 'severe intellectual disability'? The other thing it reminded me of was the enlistment chapter from 'Starship Troopers'. Anyone was allowed to serve (since that's how you earned the right to vote), and the government was obligated to find them a job regardless of their condition, if they volunteered.

 

That's not a bad thing, I'd say.

[pbharvey]

Why is dwarfism a protected class and gigantism isn't?

 

A dwarf can sit on a phonebook or use a stool; a giant on the other hand could pose big problems in an ordinary work environment.

[4wheeldog]

Giants, by and large, don't have long lifespans. Most would be out of the work force early, anyway.

[moshe_levy]

Selden-

 

As those of us who deal with Uncle Sam know, much of these forms are total boilerplate and nobody bothers to check anything until someone calls them on it. I've had purchase order which specifically forbid me to ship early and then one line later say "early shipping preferred." That's why their hammers cost $900!

 

-MKL

 

It all sounds like a good reason to get the government further from our lives...

 

Not if you're the guy selling the $900 hammer!

 

-MKL

 

 

[Paul Mihalka]

Why is dwarfism a protected class and gigantism isn't?

 

A dwarf can sit on a phonebook or use a stool; a giant on the other hand could pose big problems in an ordinary work environment.

May be Tim (Tallman) has a answer for that. I sure hope he has a long lifespan.

[lkraus]

I think you need to keep in mind that last sentence. I submit that a person with a severe intellectual disability would NOT have the "background, skills and experience" to be an "appropriate selection for interview", much less appropriate for hiring.

 

Larry