Employment Services

As businesses and organizations seek quality workers, they continue to find that hiring and retaining individuals with disabilities strengthens their company with an array of experience, talent, and skill while showing a commitment to all West Virginians who wish to be part of the workplace environment.

WVU CED Employment Services connects job-seeking clients with disabilities to the businesses that hire them in order to find the perfect match. We work one-on-one with individuals to help them prepare for employment and find the right job. Employment Services also strives to refer great candidates to employers and offer technical assistance on disability-related labor issues.

Services offered include:

• Employment counseling.
• Skill assessments.
• Career exploration/interests.
• Resume writing.
• Interview preparation and mock interviews.
• Assistance with job-seeking and applications.
• Information on disabilities in the workplace and Equal Opportunity.

Astronaut With Disability Cleared To Go To Space Station

European Space Agency para-astronaut John McFall, center, during parabolic flight training with Novespace/AirZeroG in 2023. (ESA/Novespace)

For the first time, an astronaut with a disability has received medical clearance for a six-month mission to the International Space Station.

British surgeon and former Paralympic sprinter John McFall had his right leg amputated after an accident when he was 19 years old. In 2022, he participated in a study with the European Space Agency to assess the possibility of space flight for astronauts with physical disabilities. McFall says some of the technologies they have already developed will eventually provide benefits for prosthetic users around the world.

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Credit: NASA

Leland Melvin

According to Samantha Timmers of the University of Louisville, former professional football player Leland Melvin was the first official person with a disability to reach space, as he was left deaf in one ear after a NASA training. Timmers’s thesis titled “On the advantages of the disabled in space” confronts the stigma faced by aspiring astronauts with disabilities, while making a case that some disabilities may actually provide advantages suited for space travel and work.