Brian Laird asks for precious little at his workplace.

Just deliver a piping hot cup of coffee to his desk each morning, and he’s set – ready to work 16-hour days organizing hundreds of volunteers, talking to students in schools or consulting with businesses.

His boss describes him as a person “very much in demand.”

Others simply call him amazing, as they watch him juggle a whirlwind of work without the use of his arms, and only one leg.

Jack Dagley, Business Edge
Bev Matthiessen and Brian Laird of the Alberta Committee of Citizens with Disabilities work together at a computer in the non-profit group’s reception area.

“There’s really not much I can’t do in the office,” says Laird, a triple amputee since a farming accident 30 years ago.

Well, there is one thing. The 56-year-old divorced father of two young adults can’t carry a hot cup of coffee. “I’m the only one in the office who has a coffee delivered to me when I arrive,” he says. “For that I feel very, very privileged.

“But I do pay dearly for it,” he joked. “There are many small things I do to compensate.”

Laird is one of eight full-time staff members at the non-profit Alberta Committee of Citizens with Disabilities (www.accd.net) in Edmonton.

It’s a group, says executive director Bev Matthiessen, that practises what it preaches about how organizations can be flexible in hiring and accommodating workers with physical and mental disabilities.

Earlier this year, the group was honoured for its diligence in hiring workers with disabilities when it was named a winner in the annual Alberta Business Awards of Distinction.

Created more than 30 years ago, the Alberta Committee of Citizens with Disabilities has a mandate to educate, advocate and promote full participation in society for Albertans with disabilities.

As part of its policy, Matthiessen works to ensure that of the employees it hires, at least half have a disability.

The group employs up to 20 full-time and contract workers at any given time and Matthiessen acknowledges that it’s not always easy to find a disabled worker with the special skills required for a task.

That’s where her organization shines by being flexible and open to ideas.

As an example, she cites the case of a blind person who applies for a job that requires going to the bank each day.

Most people, she said, would assume the applicant couldn’t do the job. But she thinks differently.

“I’d ask them how they would get there,” she added. The person might get picked up each day after work by a spouse or friend, who may be able to adjust their pickup time to allow the person to go to the bank late in the afternoon.

Or if they couldn’t go to the bank, he or she might be willing to switch tasks in the office with someone who could.

No one in her office receives special treatment, Matthiessen notes. People are asked if they need an accommodation, and if it’s possible, changes are made to aid the employee.

Otherwise, people simply wish to be treated with dignity and respect – they don’t need to be patronized or pampered.

“It’s something that took me a while to learn,” Matthiessen says, recalling that on joining the organization in 1991, she would run around trying to do things for board members, all of whom have a disability.

But after a while, she realized that if a person needed something, they would ask.

It’s a point she tries to make with employers. Anyone willing to employ a disabled worker, and make the necessary accommodations, usually lands a dependable worker.

And then there’s more. “There’s a business word I like to use to describe it,” she says. “It’s value added.”

“I think it’s a tremendous value added to have a mix of employees. I could tell you story after story about a (disabled) person who gets a job or volunteers at an organization, and the staff rallies behind that person. Pretty soon that person is one of the most important people they have.”

A case in point is Laird, the human dynamo who joined the Alberta Committee of Citizens with Disabilities on April 25, 1988.

Consider that Laird’s day starts at 8:30 a.m. and often runs to 3 a.m. Responsible for organizing 100 bingos and a dozen casinos each year, he not only organizes the volunteers, but he works the events at night as well.

Additionally, he speaks at area schools as part of an education outreach program, and acts as an adviser to businesses on accessibility for the disabled.

Most mornings, between sips of his wakeup coffee, he manages the front desk, answering or redirecting questions on the phone, doing paperwork and working on the computer.

“If you look at the work area, there really aren’t any accommodations made for me,” Laird says. He explains that he uses a hands-free phone, and with the use of a hook on his right arm, he can type on the computer.

“On the computer I’m pretty fast,” he says. “Not as fast as most people, but I don’t gear for speed. I try for accuracy. So that’s where I get my speed because I don’t have to go back and correct it.”

Outside the office, he does require some support. He usually takes Edmonton Transit home. But if he’s working a bingo or travelling across town to make a presentation, a fellow staff member drives him.

“I guess it’s not perfect,” he says. “But it gives me a chance to have one-on-one time with another person in the office, so it has its good points.”

It’s just a normal part of the routine; the way the office does its business.

And it’s how a man, very much in demand, does his job.

Note: The Alberta Committee of Citizens with Disabilities this year won the Alberta Human Resources and Employment Employer of People with Disabilities Award of Distinction, one of 14 categories open to businesses big and small. The deadline for applications for the 2005 annual Alberta Business Awards of Distinction is Nov. 15. Details can be found at www.abbusinessawards.ab.ca.

(Mike Dempster can be reached at miked@businessedge.ca )