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Employment of Disabled Persons

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has selected certain impairments identified as specified severe disabilities for special affirmative action efforts. Identified disabilities in the Smithsonian work force include deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial paralysis, mental retardation and mental illness. In meeting its goals to hire two severely disabled persons, established in the Smithsonian fiscal year 1985 Affirmative Action Program for Handicapped Individuals, the Institution hired four civil service employees with specified severe disabilities.

At the end of fiscal year 1985, the Institution employed at least 31 civil service employees with severe disabilities. Such employees represented 0.72% of the total civil service work force, all conditions of employment. Since disclosure of a handicap is voluntary, only some employees choose to identify their handicap status. All handicapped persons employed by the Institution, therefore, probably are not being counted.

Closely related to the direct employment of disabled persons is the Smithsonian's employment of numerous disabled individuals on a contractual basis. The Institution employs approximately 60 disabled persons, the majority of whom are mentally retarded or possess developmental disabilities, as custodians, particularly night custodians. These employees work primarily at the National

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