Friday, March 30, 2007
Community Jobs
OK, people, it’s time to get serious. I have heard enough stories already about finding people with developmental disabilities a “job” in the community instead of a sheltered workshop.
My latest favorite is the person with a disability riding in their wheelchair alongside a non-disabled person on a bike. The person with the disability has a “paper route.” When they get to a house, the person in the wheelchair looks at a list and determines whether or not this house gets a paper. If it does, the non-disabled person delivers one.
I’m sorry… this is not a “job.” This is teaching the person with the disability one task of a job. That’s a good thing - learning all the tasks involved in a job - but most jobs do not consist of a single task and we are not doing the person with the disability any good by telling them (and ourselves) that they have a “job.”
Stop it!
Stop complaining that sheltered workshops are “segregated.” So is my work site. It’s not open to the general public, and it isn’t in a downtown location. Segregation would be if there were no non-disabled people anywhere around where people with disabilities gather. All the sheltered workshops I have seen have non-disabled people working right alongside of people with disabilities, teaching the people with disabilities all the tasks they need to know to get a job.
Instead of thinking up new names for programs (Customized Employment), how about providing training for staff people in sheltered workshops and day programs about how to do their job? And I don’t mean just one task, but the whole job.
Please people… get a grip.
My latest favorite is the person with a disability riding in their wheelchair alongside a non-disabled person on a bike. The person with the disability has a “paper route.” When they get to a house, the person in the wheelchair looks at a list and determines whether or not this house gets a paper. If it does, the non-disabled person delivers one.
I’m sorry… this is not a “job.” This is teaching the person with the disability one task of a job. That’s a good thing - learning all the tasks involved in a job - but most jobs do not consist of a single task and we are not doing the person with the disability any good by telling them (and ourselves) that they have a “job.”
Stop it!
Stop complaining that sheltered workshops are “segregated.” So is my work site. It’s not open to the general public, and it isn’t in a downtown location. Segregation would be if there were no non-disabled people anywhere around where people with disabilities gather. All the sheltered workshops I have seen have non-disabled people working right alongside of people with disabilities, teaching the people with disabilities all the tasks they need to know to get a job.
Instead of thinking up new names for programs (Customized Employment), how about providing training for staff people in sheltered workshops and day programs about how to do their job? And I don’t mean just one task, but the whole job.
Please people… get a grip.
# posted by John @ 1:36 PM 
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I agree with you to an extent. I have heard way too many stories of people being put into workshops and sort of left there for years and then when they develop behavior problems everyone is like "what's going on with so and so?" Community employment is the way to go, but jobs like the paper route you mentioned do give our industry a bad name, especially to potetial employers who feel hiring people with disabilites is a charity situation rather than getting their needs met.
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