Work & Leisure Planning

Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

Q: Isn't it true that the jobs my family member can do are very limited?

A: Supported employment has taught us never to underestimate the kind of job someone can do. Letting past experience convince you an employer would never hire your family member is selling him or her short of what might be achieved. There are many people working today who just a few short years ago were labeled "unemployable". They work in factories and law offices, from small family businesses to large corporate offices. People with disabilities also now hold all kinds of jobs, from clerical to high technology, and cleaning, to customer service.

Q: Will my loved one be safe in a community job?

A: The work world may seem like a more risky place than a sheltered workshop, home, or some other self-contained place. And it is true that the real world can be more unpredictable. But supported employment includes designing the level of support, assistance, and supervision each person needs to ensure well-being. Ultimately, to fully live life, one needs to be able to experience it. It seems far more risky to be kept isolated from the rich mix of learning, growth, and friends that the real world offers.

Q: Doesn't my family member need more training to be ready for supported employment?

A: We have learned that the very best training for job success comes from on-the-job training. Supported employment is designed to ensure that the level of training each person needs to succeed on the job is provided right at the setting. When there are performance gaps due to disability, a supported employment professional can help negotiate an accommodation from the employer. For instance, the employer may provide extra time, a more flexible schedule, a modification of equipment, or a change or elimination of certain tasks.

Q: What about transportation to get to work?

A: Getting to and from jobs is a service that nearly all supported employment programs offer. If community transportation systems are used, the program will offer training and support on how to use them safely.

Q: Won't my family member lose benefits if she starts making a salary?
A: This is a common concern, but can generally be managed with good benefits planning. With recent changes to social security programs, work incentives encourage workers with disabilities to earn a gainful income with only minimal loss of benefits and/or health insurance.

Q: What kinds of jobs can people with mental retardation do in the community?

A: A few jobs where workers with mental retardation have proven themselves competitively include: animal caretakers, laundry workers, building maintenance workers, library assistants, data entry clerks, mail clerks, textile machine tenders, carpenters, medical technicians, store clerks, nursery workers, messengers, cooks, automobile mechanics' helpers, engineering aides, printers, assemblers, factory workers, furniture refinishers, radio and TV repair helpers, photocopy attendants, nursing aides, cashiers, housekeepers, statement clerks, automobile detail workers, and clerical aides. Other jobs are continually being identified

In some cases, it may take people with mental retardation longer to master some of the tasks associated with a job. Supervisors may need to spend some extra time with these workers during the first few days or weeks on the job. However, once trained, workers with mental retardation have demonstrated effective job performance over the long term.

Q: Isn't it considered exploitation when someone with a developmental disability works without getting paid? I don't understand why you are suggesting volunteer work.

A: You are right to be concerned, especially in light of how people with these disabilities were expected to provide "free" labor on farms and in institutions, some 40 or 50 years ago, when they had to "earn their keep." However, things have changed. In recent years, volunteering and community service are seen in a new light by parents, providers and professionals in the field. Now they are viewed as avenues through which people with disabilities can: gain marketable skills that might lead to paid jobs; try out new areas of interest as career possibilities; develop social connections that can be meaningful to the person and/or be a step toward job networking; experience the pleasure of the activity itself; and, receive the satisfaction that comes from helping another person.

Q: My 52-year-old son says he wants to retire, like some of his friends have done. Can you explain how someone who has never really worked at a job can "retire" ?

A: It's all in how you think of the words, work and retirement. For starters, you should realize that some people with severe lifelong disabilities (especially Down Syndrome) age at faster rates than you might expect from their chronological ages. Some will experience aging changes 10-20 years earlier than expected.

Second, many people with developmental disabilities who are in their late 40s and 50s have been going to workshops (or other vocational training programs) for 20, 30 or more years, doing the same or similar piecework all the while. Though their wages may have been minimal, these folks have been working, as much as anyone in the general population. And like the general population, they have earned the right to retire, as they get older. (Many in the disability field were late in recognizing this right and are now scrambling to put together retirement programs and create individualized options for the older people they serve.)

Retirement may be considered, generally, as a change from having to spend every day in task-oriented, productive labor to being able to spend each day in social or recreational activities of one's choosing. Retirement schedules can run the gamut from continuing to work part time, to complete retirement and participation in the many activities of local senior centers which are so ubiquitous in Florida. (For more details, go to Step Two.)

To determine the best choice for your daughter, take into account her interests or passions and match those with existing service opportunities (e.g. an AmeriCorps project). Also look at any specific learning goals she may have. Finally, see if the necessary supports are available in order to help your daughter participate in this activity. If not, consider how they may be created.