Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

Persons with a disability face a wide array of difficulties at their workplaces. Although important, research on this topic is extremely limited. This study, taking the social model of disability as guiding framework, attempts to investigate the experience of the people with disability at work in Bangladesh. The study is qualitative in nature, and in-depth interviews were used to collect the data. The participants were chosen purposively, and the data were analyzed thematically. The findings show that disabled people experience discriminatory attitude from employers and co-workers, a fragile workplace relationship, additional workload and stress, and inadequate job safety and security, which, we argue, are outcome of the construction and identity built by the belief system that prevails within a society and creates the dominant narrative of disability as promulgated by the social model. Providing workplace accommodation, wage subsidy, flexible working time, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) and policy measures for raising awareness are suggested in line with the social model of disability that calls for collective responsibilities and actions and promotion of an inclusive culture to remove the socially constructed barriers that define and constitute the identity and perceived ability of the disabled people to perform at their respective workplaces.

Keywords: Social model of disability, workplace, disability policy, Bangladesh