http://www.nationalmssociety.org/articles.asp?SMContentIndex=1&SMContentSet=0
September 15, 2001
Sep. 14--When Madeline Orr learned
she had multiple sclerosis in 1994, she said she never had any reservations
about telling her employer.
"I never felt any threat about letting
them know that I might need some time off," said Ms. Orr, who works in
national accounts marketing for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
The Chattanooga-based company has
received one of the highest distinctions given by the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society, earning the Employer of the Year award for businesses
with over 100 workers.
Frances Haman-Prewitt, a spokeswoman
for the health insurance firm, said BlueCross tries to accommodate employees,
whether it be by providing large computer screens or ergonomic keyboards,
orthopedic chairs or adjusting schedules.
"Everybody wins," she said.
Arney Rosenblat, of the 700,000-member
National MS Society, said the group tries to encourage companies to be
sensitive to people with disabilities and take advantage of their talent.
"Disability and inability are not
synonymous," she said.
Jeanne Brice, programs director for
the Chattanooga area MS chapter, said BlueCross fits the qualifications
for exemplary employers.
"They provide flex time, accommodations.
They abide by the Americans with Disabilities Act," she said.
Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic disease
of the central nervous system and mostly diagnosed in adults 20 to 40 years
old. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in limbs, or severe, including
paralysis or loss of vision.
Another BlueCross employee, Stacy
Tate, 33, said she has so-called silent symptoms which people don't see.
While she hasn't had to ask the company for accommodations since diagnosed
with MS seven years ago, Ms. Tate said the insurer has policies and an
environment in place that would help her.
"In my department, when someone hurt
their ankle, they had the parking spot moved" closer to the work place,
she said.
Ms. Orr, 38, said she, too, asked
the company to provide parking that is more convenient. In terms of other
accommodations, " I know it's there if I need it," she said.
Ms. Brice of the local MS chapter,
which covers 20 counties in Tennessee and Georgia, said people with the
disorder are "very employable."
"Many you would look at them and
not know anything was wrong. They can be profoundly effective," she said.
BlueCross, which shared the award
with a Pittsburgh company, Highmark Inc., is to receive a plaque from the
national MS group.
The National MS Society reports that
just 35 percent of people with the condition are employed, which officials
believe is too few. The group said accommodations for workers are rarely
complicated or expensive, and new drugs and technology can help keep people
on the job.
"They don't have a disabled personality,"
said Ms. Brice.
Welch Fluorocarbon of Dover, N.H.,
received the under-100 employee award.
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(c) 2001, Chattanooga Times/Free
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