Accessibility

Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports (VASS) runs skiing and snowboarding programs for people with physical and cognitive disabilities at local Vancouver mountains. VASS is operated by volunteers, including instructors, program coordinators, and a Board of Directors, dedicated to making the mountains accessible to all, regardless of age or disability.

The program uses adaptive equipment, such as sit-skis, along with specialized teaching techniques tailored to the specific needs of the student. The instructors are trained to use the adaptive equipment and specialized teaching techniques, and are enthusiastic about sharing their love of skiing and snowboarding. Programs from beginner to advanced are offered, including snowboarding, sit-ski, stand-up skiing and advanced adaptive ski racing.

As a volunteer-run, community-based program, VASS is always looking for new volunteers, either as instructors or through an administrative or fundraising role. Skiers or snowboarders who want to be teaching and helping on the mountain must attend a classroom training session focused on improving ability and knowledge of teaching the sport, followed by an on-snow training session in which they learn how to adapt their teaching plan based on their student and enhance their techniques for motivation and communication. If you are a skier or snowboarder who is passionate about making snow sports accessible to all, or if you are interested in volunteering off the mountain in fundraising, marketing, or volunteer coordination, visit www.vass.ca/vounteer for more information.

VASS seeks to enhance quality of life for people with disabilities by providing opportunities to experience the joy, freedom, health and wellness benefits of adaptive snow sports. Programs are offered at Grouse, Seymour, and Cypress Mountains from January until March each year, in the evenings or on the weekends. Two instructors are typically assigned per student, and the student works with the same instructors for the whole season. That way, the instructors know the student’s strengths and abilities, and learn how to best communicate with him or her over the course of the lessons.

Student registration for 2019 is now closed, but registration for the 2020 session opens in mid-October 2019. Students must be at least six years old. If you know someone living with a disability who is interested in learning or improving their skiing or snowboarding, more information on the program can be found at www.vass.ca or by emailing [email protected].

Companies want employees that will excel in their jobs and stay with the organization for a long period of time. People with disabilities are a group that are often overlooked by hiring managers, but have a proven track record of success and loyalty. Studies have found that workers with disabilities were five times more likely to stay on the job than their colleagues without disabilities, and these findings have been reflected in several real-life industries. Further, people with disabilities are frequently well educated and highly innovative, after a lifetime of navigating societal systems that could otherwise leave them at a disadvantage.

Data has long shown, that unfortunately, people with disabilities are greatly under-employed as compared to their non-disabled counterparts. But some say this represents a large, untapped market.

“…[I]n today’s market, when we are always hungry for growth, by ignoring that market you are ignoring a huge opportunity to grow,” says Rich Donovan, an expert on disability and corporate profitability.

Advocating for people with disabilities in the workforce

Donovan, a former Wall Street trader living with cerebral palsy, is also the founder and CEO of the Return on Disability Group, a company that manages a tool that helps measure the impact of the disabled workforce. He has dedicated his life to promoting the employment of more people with disabilities in the workforce as well as advocating for a market that attracts more customers with disabilities. But he does not see this as a charity effort.

“We tell our clients, ‘You want to do this to benefit your shareholders’,” Donovan says. Return on Disability provides data and strategies that allow companies, governments, and investors to act on disability in ways that add value to many types of shareholders. The company’s long-term vision is to be the firm that unlocks the economic potential of disability globally and creates catalysts and processes for their customers to act on this market.

In 2006, Rich founded Lime, the leading third-party recruiter in the disability space, and has worked with Google, Pepsi, TD Bank, and others to help the companies attract and retain top talent from within the disability market.

In his book, Unleashing Different: Achieving Business Success Through Disability, Donovan writes that there are over six million Canadians who identify as having a disability, and that group controls $55.4 billion in disposable income. Globally, Donovan says the population of people with a disability – a population of 1.3 billion, about the same size as China – is the world’s last emerging market with billions of dollars of untapped potential.

“We want businesses to understand how including people with disabilities can be beneficial to the company’s bottom line or their top line. That it would help enhance their profitability, rather than looking at this as an act of charity,” says Donovan.

With major companies setting the trend for hiring people with disabilities, attitudes are certainly changing. More brands are running ads including people with disabilities, and incorporating disability into their core messages and campaigns. Donovan says that he now hears companies talk about how workers with disabilities improve customer satisfaction, increase market share, and drive value. The success of these companies further shows that hiring people with disabilities is not only a positive step towards inclusivity, but makes good business sense.

*Image courtesy of https://www.reward-strategy.com/news/news/guidance-update-access-to-work-4629