Katherine Grussi has enjoyed a long and successful career with the company. The 21-year veteran of the North Haven, CT, office began her tenure as a COBOL programming trainee, and has held a variety of jobs over the years, leading to her current position as Corporate Privacy and Security manager. Obviously, Kath, as she's known around the office, is proud of her career accomplishments. She's also proud of and appreciates the fact that she's one of a minority of disabled Americans currently employed in the United States.

In a survey conducted in 2005, only 38.1 percent of people with disabilities reported being employed full- or part-time, compared to 78 percent of those without disabilities. Kath and others like her serve as clear examples that people with disabilities can thrive and succeed in most occupations held by those without disabilities. She is hopeful that the above statistics will continue to change for the better.

Kath is both hearing- and vision-impaired, having been diagnosed with Usher Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, later in life. She has no peripheral vision and is virtually blind at night, requiring a great deal of focus on her part in order to navigate her way around the office or public buildings. She has adapted well to her hearing impairment by becoming proficient at lip-reading, wearing hearing aids and using other assistive devices when possible.

Kath is quick to state that her vision and hearing impairments do not interfere with "the ability to do my job well."

"I'm just as able to accomplish what I need to and do my job just as well as anyone," she explained. "I just go about things in a different way. For example, because I can't identify a phone ring as mine, I have a display phone that also lights up when I'm getting an incoming call. I also have an amplifier on my phone, which is critical because I'm part of a virtual team and spend a lot of my time on conference calls. To deal with my vision issues, I have a large computer monitor and adjust my resolution to magnify the type. Technology is really a great asset and allows me to do my job more efficiently."

Kath is pleased to report that her work experience at Anthem has been very positive.

"I consider myself very fortunate," she said. "I have done many things and have had tremendous opportunities due to my skills and my ability to be 'differently able,' as I like to call it. I sincerely feel I'm treated very fairly by my colleagues and the company." She noted that, given the fact that approximately 62 percent of disabled Americans remain unemployed; there is still work to be done about educating others regarding the "employability" or accommodation of disabled workers.

"Disabled Americans remain one of the largest untapped resources for employment," said Evelyn Kaiser, a representative from the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services. A Dupont survey found that performances of people with disabilities are equal to others in the workplace. Most disabled employees do not require special training and when needed, outside assistance is available, frequently at no cost. Hiring more workers with disabilities also brings additional diversity into the workplace.

Kath stresses that advocacy is the key. "I feel that I need to lead by example and continue to speak for others who lack the confidence to speak for themselves. The only true way to increase the numbers of employed disabled workers is by educating employers, co-workers, legislators, anyone who'll listen. You look at other groups who had to fight for equality in the workplace; women and ethnic or racial minorities for example, and you can see how it's still an ongoing process; the same holds true for disabled workers. We've come a long way but there's still a lot of room for improvement in this country as demonstrated by the statistics

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