“Every person has the right to work, regardless of the type or extent of disability. Moreover, regardless of the record of the disability, every person has the right to decide for himself and has the right to realize himself through work to the extent consistent with his own goals, needs and psychophysical capabilities.” (Wolan- Nowakowska, 2016, p.420.)[1]
Rehabilitation and employment of people with disabilities is a very important issue in social policy, and requires employers to understand and goodwill, and adapt their facilities to employ people with disabilities. People with disabilities want to lead active lives, including professional work. For most of them, professional work is the meaning of life, gives them a sense of value and social utility. Through work they want to develop themselves, realize their life plans and aspirations. Numerous examples show that employees with disabilities want to work honestly and achieve work results satisfactory to the employer, within the limits of their psycho-physical capabilities and qualifications.
The main objective of the study was to describe how employers and employees without disabilities perceive people with intellectual disabilities as employees in the open labor market. To conduct the study, I used a diagnostic survey technique – an interview. I conducted interviews with job coaches, employers, employees without disabilities and with disabilities.
“In pedagogical research, research problems play a primary role. A research problem is usually a refinement of the research objective. It makes it possible to know more precisely what we actually intend to study” (Lobocki, 2006, p. 21).[2]
The research problems of the present study were:
– How are people with disabilities perceived as employees by employers?
– How are people with disabilities perceived as employees by co-workers?
– How is the support of organizations, institutions working for vocational activation of people with disabilities evaluated?
– What challenges does a person with a disability face when looking for a job?
– What is the relationship between employees without disabilities and those with disabilities?
– After hiring a person with a disability, has the perception of people with intellectual disabilities by employers and co-workers?
None of the employers and non-disabled employees I spoke with had any previous contact with a person with an intellectual disability.
Research findings
The functioning of people with disabilities has been the subject of many publications and research projects. The issues they address concern various aspects of the lives of people with dysfunctions. They indicate that disability does not have to mean a problem, exclusion or marginalization. People with disabilities can perform work-related tasks and be good employees. However, they face many barriers and problems that make it difficult or impossible for them to become active in the workforce.
Factors that make it difficult for people with intellectual disabilities to be employed on the open labor market included:
(a) low awareness of the term intellectual disability and how people with intellectual disabilities function,
b) equating disability with lack of qualifications, motivation to work,
c) lack of systemic solutions for vocational activation of people with disabilities.
Employees with disabilities also commented on issues related to labor activation problems. According to them, the biggest challenge is the job interview and the requirements of employers. The inability to search for a job and to realistically assess one’s abilities is also a difficulty.
Contact between a person with a disability and an employer is also a problem for the employer himself. He must create the right atmosphere for the interview, be aware of the difficulties he may encounter during the interview, and objectively assess the skills of the person with a disability applying for the job.
According to job coaches and employers, the biggest internal barrier for people with intellectual disabilities is fear of co-workers, employers, of acting or making decisions independently, fear of not meeting expectations. Job coaches believe that the biggest external barrier is the high demands of employers. As for social barriers, the biggest problem is establishing contact with other people
The research shows that there is a lack of systemic and well thought-out solutions for the vocational activation of people with disabilities, supporting them during their job search, assessing their capabilities and how to present them to employers.
When taking measures to support people with disabilities on the open labor market, it is worth noting that there are benefits from vocational activation not only for people with disabilities. It also benefits employers as well as those working with people with disabilities.
After working with and establishing contact with a person with intellectual disabilities, awareness has increased among employers and employees about the functioning of these people and their capabilities. They changed their attitudes toward people with disabilities and stopped following stereotypes in evaluating them. As perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities changed, relations between employees improved.
People with disabilities who perform tasks adapted to their abilities, competencies and skills are very valuable and good employees. Respondents pointed out many advantages and skills that employees with intellectual disabilities possess. They described them as responsible employees who respect work, exemplify their duties and perform them conscientiously and with great commitment. They began to evaluate them on the basis of how they work what kind of people they are, rather than through the prism of disability. According to employees without disabilities, the biggest difficulty for employees with disabilities is working with people, communicating with them and working in piecework or under time pressure.
The survey shows that respondents have positive attitudes toward hiring people with intellectual disabilities. Employers’ interest in hiring these people is increasing. However, public awareness of this issue is still very low. This raises the necessity of carrying out a broad promotion of knowledge about the employment of people with disabilities – their capabilities, skills and attractiveness in the labor market.
This article is part of the thesis and contains the author’s own research.
Sylwia Komorowska, Warsaw, 2024
[1] Wolan-Nowakowska Maria “Forms of support and assistance in the process of professional activation of people with disabilities” [in:] Duda W., Kukla D. (ed.). “Vocational counseling – professional development in cross-sectional terms” Warsaw, 2016.
[2] Łobocki M. “Methods and techniques of pedagogical research”, Kraków, 2006