Assistive Technology Gets Sears Employee with Mobility Impairment Back on the Job and Back on His Career Path

Less than two years after Tony Norris ran in the 1984 Chicago Marathon, doctors discovered a tumor wrapped around his spinal cord. Surgery to remove the tumor left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Norris was released from rehab in fall of 1987 "feeling rotten" and facing life in a wheelchair at age 42. He was recuperating at home and learning to deal with the extent of his impairment when he got a call from his former supervisor at Sears, Roebuck and Co., where he'd worked for 18 years. "What will it take to bring you back?" the supervisor asked.

Determination, Commitment and AT Combine for Accommodation Solution

The answer required a determined employee, a retailer whose business philosophy had long embraced workforce diversity, and an evolving set of physical accommodations and assistive technologies that empower people with disabilities to lead fulfilling and productive lives—including work lives.

Norris celebrated 34 years of employment at Sears in 2002. The assistive technology he relies on today is chiefly the Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition system which runs on his Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer at Sears headquarters. Along with a microphone and speakers, this technology enables Norris's PC to respond to the sound of his voice. Norris also uses a special dialing system which allows him to make outgoing calls and answer the phone using just his voice.

Computers and Internet Provide Pathway to Productive Work Life

Using a voice-controlled PC, Norris is adept at using e-mail as well as off-the-shelf applications including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer. He considers it a remarkable turnabout for a man who had no computer experience prior to returning to work in 1988 able to move little more than his head. "The computer, and especially the Internet, is a tremendous doorway to me. Assistive technology has changed my whole life."

Norris gives Sears credit for his long and fulfilling career, pointing out that the company has been a leader in recruiting, hiring, and accommodating people with disabilities since 1948.

Sears Advances Commitment to Workforce Diversity

"Our organization strives to focus on the inclusiveness of all individuals because we want to be representative of the people we serve," explains Peggy Sledge, vice president of diversity at Sears. "We want to make sure that the perspectives and opinions of Sears associates—regardless of race, age, gender, physical ability or what-have-you—reflect those of our customers."

Sears CEO Alan J. Lacy mirrors that sentiment in a statement posted on the company's Web site: "Diversity is not just the right thing to do at Sears," Lacy says. "It is a business imperative."

Accommodating People with Disabilities—A Corporate Mind-Set

Jan Drummond, the senior director of external communications at Sears, says accommodating disabilities is a corporate mind-set—it's simply "a smart thing to do. Whether you accommodate someone already in your employ or you accommodate a new hire, it adds an element of loyalty," Drummond says. "And it's good for the morale of a company to see an employer running on all cylinders, working on all phases of diversity, including disability."

Sears also takes pride in its reputation as a good place to work. Providing jobs and assistive technologies for people with disabilities—like all of its efforts to encourage associate diversity—is part of a package that also includes competitive salaries, flexible work hours, and tuition reimbursement. Sears sees such incentives as ways to enhance its position as the retail industry's employer of choice.

Sears Uses Common Sense Approach to Accommodations

Sears has learned that the cost and effort of accommodating employees with disabilities is generally reasonable. Depending on the nature of the work, the company feels it can be creative about accommodating a person's impairment and that the solution doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. Technology solutions run the spectrum from upgrading to a new version of an e-business application or Windows operating system to buying a special keyboard for someone with arthritis or providing a specialized computer and software to accommodate a blind employee who reads Braille.

Obstacles Cleared for Customers

Sears also works to clear obstacles for customers. At its 3,000 retail locations that means making changes to physical spaces as remodeling progresses and new structures are built. In terms of technology implementations, accommodations for people with hearing impairments including Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) and teletypewriter (TTY) are provided at certain locations, for example.

Sears has found that patience, persistence, and a sound grasp of an individual's needs are imperative to the successful implantation of assistive technologies in the workplace.