Less Intellectually Disabled people in the Workforce

10 Mar 2014: A friend of mine sent me a link to a very important story and issue. Being that there are less Intellectually Disabled people in the workforce. An easy option is to stick the Intellectually Disabled people in sheltered workshops and pay them an unethically low wage, give them no hope or prospects of furthering their career and segregate them from the rest of the world. I've seen it and have even worked in a sheltered workshop environment where most people there got paid $50 a week!

There is no way out once they make you believe that this is your only option and your life would be far worse on the outside. They remind you every day how disabled you are and that you will never be ‘normal' like the support workers around you.

I lasted 9 months in my sheltered workshop then I got a job teaching at TAFE that paid $52 an hour!!! Who said I couldn't do better?

Anyway, back to the Intellectually Disabled – NOVA does a great job of seeing each of their clients, which most have an Intellectual Disability, playing to their strengths to advocate for a good job in the community, with award wages, and room for growth and promotion. NOVA staff are slowly breaking down the barriers and showing employers that people with an Intellectual Disability can work in the community and will give 100% and stay on as a loyal worker.

To read more of the article mentioned, go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/17/intellectually-disabled-w_n_4802446.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009