major benefits to business.

Dr. Steven Charles Duckworth said the disabled took less sick leave and time off work, and stayed with firms longer.

And he claimed: "Life is made difficult, not by the disabilities themselves, but by the way society is organised and designed.'' The English doctor, paralysed following a rugby accident, was speaking at the Hamilton Lions Club's weekly luncheon.

He told the gathering at Hamilton Princess about the problems facing the handicapped today, and their solutions.

Dr. Duckworth, guest speaker for Access Awareness Week, said disabled people were as normal as those without handicaps and part of the diversity valued by today's society.

In the United Kingdom, 14.2 percent of the population was disabled and faced the same problems as everyone else.

Dr. Duckworth, accompanied by his wife and son, highlighted the benefits employees gained by hiring handicapped people.

He said the disabled -- strengthened by the challenges they had already faced -- brought many qualities sought by employers.

In Britain, for example, disabled people had less sick leave and time off, and stayed with a firm longer, thus cutting turnover costs.

They also had fewer accidents, thereby reducing compensation, were equally or more productive, and tended to work well in teams.

Dr. Duckworth, who studied at Southampton University, England, added the handicapped could give managers a great sense of achievement, as well as provide a good working atmosphere among employees.

Handicapped people made up 15 percent of the US population, he said, and an American hotel chain had found disabled people in front-line jobs attracted more customers.

"This shows that disabled people belong.''