By james art October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, celebrating the value and talent that workers with disabilities add to America’s jobs and economy. Columbia University Irving Medical Center is dedicated to supporting employees with disabilities and inclusive hiring practices. Our commitment includes the first sod Project opportunity an initiative that has since 2020 created 14 jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at CUIMC.
This month, we spoke with employees at Columbia who identify as disabled, including some hired through Project PossABILITY, about their experiences navigating the workplace.
Marlon Curbelo*
Separate Support Analyst, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health
As the department’s support analyst, Marlon Curbelo helps scan and edit documents and maintain a digital database of files that his colleagues in the Department of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health can easily access.
Curbelo’s colleagues, he says, make him feel welcome to be himself at work.
“This opportunity gave me the platform to be myself with my employer, which made the transition easy for me,” Curbelo says. “My colleagues and advisors give me the reassurance that they are here to help me, guide me, and give me what I need to be successful. They are not ashamed to give me hard work and treat me like a normal employee.”
For Curbelo, the possibilities of what he can achieve are endless.
“When you apply the same work ethic, the same skills, the same focus and maintain that focus in whatever you do in life, the sky’s the limit for you,” Curbelo says. “Get hold of something you’re passionate about and really want to do, then go for it and never look back.”
Benjamin Boudreau
Postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Medicine at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Benjamin Boudreau is a postdoctoral researcher working in Keith Diaz’s Laboratory of Behavioral Medicine, where he studies how daily levels of physical activity, sedentary activity (such as sitting or lying down), and sleep affect cardiovascular disease.
“I have a unique perspective on living with a disability,” says Boudreau, who has a doctorate in exercise physiology. “I struggled with social difficulties. People say, “How does someone with autism work in behavioral science?” For Boudreau, analyzing and modeling human behavior is fascinating because “you learn more about a person instead of just looking at one part of their behavior.”
In 2020, Boudreau was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, but that didn’t stop him from his dream of running last year’s New York City Marathon. “A lot of my colleagues and my advisor and coordinators came out to support me,” he says. “I have a great support system even outside of the work environment.”
Boudreau is not employed by Project PossABILITY, but his adviser, Keith Dias, is the founder of the program.
“I appreciate them taking this initiative,” says Boudreau. “We hope other institutions will follow suit with this important mission.”
Clarissa Rosa*
Serious cleaner, facilities management
Clarissa Rosa, a heavy cleaner working in Facilities Management at CUIMC, didn’t initially think she would get a job at Columbia. “I was humiliating myself, but people told me I could do it,” she says.
“My favorite thing about working here is that people recognize my work, tell me I’m doing a good job, and get recognition,” says Rosa. “People with disabilities are like everyone else and we can do the job just like anyone else. I have been working here for five months and I think I am doing a good job.”
Rosa credits her colleagues for encouraging her during her time in Colombia.
“People are friendly here and they help me with my confidence,” she says. “They help advise you on how to improve your work.”
Jacob Waltuck*
Assistant Professor of Comparative Medicine, Institute of Comparative Medicine
At the Institute for Comparative Medicine, Jacob Waltuck works as an assistant, enjoying the hands-on work of caring for lab mice and keeping their enclosures and water bottles clean. “Working in this place is a big step forward and my family is very proud,” says Waltuck. “This job helps me manage things in a less stressful way and I don’t have to sit in front of a screen all day.”
Waltuck hopes to inspire others with autism to achieve their goals and change their work.
“Being a person with autism and doing a job that seems very challenging like this can make other people realize that they can take on very big tasks, too,” Waltuck says. “When you do something small, like taking care of these lab mice, you make a big difference. Not only do I want to continue helping these lab mice, but I also want to help doctors and nurses care for and examine autistic patients in a humane and gentle way.”