People with disabilities: Employment and assistive technology in northern British Columbia.

With the advances in assistive technology, it was anticipated that people with disabilities would be able to participate in the workforce at a greater rate however, people with disabilities are still underrepresented in the workforce in Canada. In addition, little research has been conducted on the desire of people with disabilities to be self-employed. To explore the desire for self-employment and why the advances in assistive technology have not increased the number of people with disabilities in the workforce, a mixed methods sequential exploratory study was used. The respondents said that their disability was the main factor that prevented them from working, not the lack of assistive technology, although most were not aware of the various assistive devices that were available to them. In addition, the majority of respondents wanted to be self-employed. The results suggest that more education about assistive technology is needed.