The nonprofit Easterseals Southern California is working to change that.
Among those who have been helped by the organization is Makena Bonkadar, who is learning the tricks of the trade -- from prepping candied apples to dipping strawberries in chocolate -- during her first week on her brand-new job at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Temecula.
Asked what kinds of things she enjoys making, she told ABC7: "I like making any kind of chocolate -- dark, vanilla -- any kind of chocolate."
Makena is challenged with a speech impediment and is perhaps understandably a little nervous at her first job.
Jennifer Cox of Easterseals, who helped place Makena in the job, said: ""We are about changing the way the world views disability. We ultimately want people to be seen for who they are."
October is Disability Employment Awareness Month, and Cox says Easterseals customizes placements for 20 to 30 people per year.
"It's unfortunate, a lot of the people we work with, by the time they come to us, they have no self esteem, or the way the system is designed, they're slapped with labels at a young age, and they're made to feel they can only accomplish so much, and there's been limits places on them," Cox said in an interview.
According to Easterseals, not only does the program help people like Makena, but the businesses they work with as well.
"I've had businesses tell me they're changing the way that we look at hiring," Cox said. "Because they would never have hired that individual if we wouldn't have built that relationship and connection with them."
As for Makena, she has this message for others: "Never give up. Stay strong, stay positive."
Added Cox: "It's really about being accepted for who they are, so when someone is accepted and valued for who they are, and you take disabilities out of the equation, it really opens the door and possibilities are endless."