Low Productivity: More of An Excuse than Obstacle to Real Work

Several issues reside in the heated discussions over the need to change the traditional day service model for people with disabilities. But the defining one relates to competing beliefs about productivity: Can individuals with the most significant disabilities be productive in the workplace, such that sub-minimum wage is unnecessary? Those in the individualized community employment sector, myself included, [...]

Learning to Respect People’s Dreams

"Really, an astronaut?" Sometimes dream jobs expressed by job seekers with disabilities, especially those entering the employment arena for the first time, can be challenging for professionals to hear. But an element of good career planning includes the ability to be open to possibilities and what they might mean, even those that seem [...]

By |2017-05-25T15:02:08-04:00February 26th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments

The Problem with Pro-Inclusion but Not Anti-Segregation

I recently gave a speech at a conference, and afterwards was approached by an individual who had a pointed criticism of my talk. "I support your message of inclusion, but why do you have to argue against facilities? Most of us work in these places. They will eventually change and workshops and day programs will [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:03-04:00January 28th, 2013|conversion, segregation|11 Comments

The Support Gap: Research to Practice and Back

Over the years, I have visited many agencies doing their work in the service of people with disabilities. In the process I've met many caring staff. But caring, while important, is really far from enough for people with disabilities to succeed. We also need to understand people's goals and how to help them get there. [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:04-04:00November 28th, 2012|choice, research|3 Comments

Token Inclusion: A Dangerous Perversion

The concept of diversity as it is applied to including people with disabilities in common community settings is well-understood and embraced by most people in principle. After all, no one wants to be seen as "anti-disability," and diversity is a highly valued buzz word these days. So, as a concept, inclusion is a nice, progressive [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:04-04:00October 23rd, 2012|Uncategorized|4 Comments

Lessons from Down Under

I am writing this post after providing a week's worth of training to the staff of NOVA Employment, just outside of Sydney, Australia. This is my second visit to support the work of this agency "down under," and I have a number of impressions to share.The organization does not run congregated services; it focuses on [...]

By |2015-04-02T15:25:56-04:00September 27th, 2012|supported employment|3 Comments

Salary Disparity in Disability Services: The Other 1%

The Occupy Wall Street movement that began last year was in part to protest economic inequality. A main claim is that large corporations, the "1%," control the financial system in a way that benefits themselves most of all. Between 1979 and 2007, the incomes of the top 1% of Americans increased 275%. But 60% of [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:05-04:00August 22nd, 2012|exploitation|2 Comments

Supported Employment and the Higgs Boson

I have always been a bit of a science geek. I find a sense of understanding about life, and even spirituality, from the deep discoveries we are making in the cosmos, particle physics, and quantum mechanics. And the pace of recent discoveries has been exhilarating. Just a few short years ago, we only knew of [...]

By |2020-06-26T11:00:28-04:00July 30th, 2012|sheltered workshops|4 Comments

Attention Workshops: The ADA Integration Mandate Applies to You

Employment services are included in the integration mandate of the ADA! This recent ruling in Oregon by United States Magistrate Judge Janice Stewart is a huge landmark decision. It should cheer advocates who are working to slow and eventually end the growing numbers of people with disabilities needlessly spending their days in segregated sheltered workshops. [...]

A Message from the Future

Hello friends, my name is Tramus. I have hijacked Dale's blog to give you a message. I am from the future, the year 2050. If you read Dale's blog, you must be what you used to call, a "disability service provider." You probably have a building where people come to learn or work. Or a [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:06-04:00May 17th, 2012|Uncategorized|0 Comments

A Response to ACCSES: We Believe NDRN is On the Mark Regarding the Need to End Segregation and Exploitation

Open Response Letter Regarding ACCSES Response to the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) ReportMembers of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions:In an April 16, 2012 letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, ACCSES CEO Terry Farmer writes "strong opposition to the recommendations made by the National Disability Rights [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:07-04:00April 25th, 2012|conversion, segregation, sheltered workshops|9 Comments

Let Me Get This Straight. You Don’t Want the Institution to Close Because You’ll Lose YOUR JOB?

  Controversy continues regarding efforts around the country to close large state-run institutions for people with developmental disabilities. Many of these recent closure announcements have more to do with excessive costs (which are absurdly high) in tough budget times, combined with an ongoing inability to end serious abuse and neglect, as reported in the media [...]

By |2020-06-04T11:49:21-04:00March 12th, 2012|institutions, segregation|3 Comments

A Bellwether? Oregon Sued for Reliance on Sheltered Workshops

Last month, UCP Oregon/SW Washington, with the help of Disability Rights Oregon, filed a class action lawsuit challenging Oregon’s failure to provide supported employment services to more than 2,300 of its residents who are segregated in sheltered workshops. The suit says people are "stuck in long-term, dead-end facilities that offer virtually no interaction with non-disabled [...]

By |2020-06-13T11:03:57-04:00February 8th, 2012|conversion, segregation, sheltered workshops|4 Comments

Job Customization and the Babbage Principle: It’s Nothing New

Charles Babbage was an inventor who in the mid-1800s first came up with the idea of a programmable computer. His design actually worked when a museum finally assembled it in 1991. He also was accomplished in math and economics, and he described what is now called the Babbage principle, which focuses on the advantages of [...]

By |2015-04-02T15:26:06-04:00January 10th, 2012|supported employment|2 Comments

A Candid Conversation on Disability Issues

Recently, for a podcast sponsored by Griffin-Hammis Associates, Cary Griffin and I had a discussion about many facets of our service system. We talked about the resistance to change of sheltered work agencies, the needless persistence of sub-minimum wage, concerns we had about generalized employment training programs being developed for people with autism, flawed social [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:10-04:00December 13th, 2011|employment first, segregation, sheltered workshops|0 Comments

The 80-20 Rule and A Call to Freeze Referrals to Sheltered Work

The Pareto Principle is a well known economic theory that can be applied to a lot of situations. It goes something like this: about 80% of effectiveness is driven by just 20% of our activity. This distribution has also been found to relate to how a small number of people control 80% of the wealth. [...]

Discarding An Old Narrative: Shine a Light on Indignity

Some 30 years ago, some new and innovative approaches were developed to help people with disabilities lead better lives. They involved ideas such as normalization, social inclusion, individualized planning, and supported employment and supported living. These concepts were all based on focusing on the individual and not the disability, and each brought new ways of [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:11-04:00October 20th, 2011|conversion, segregation, sheltered workshops|3 Comments

Engineered Employment: An Inadequate Solution for Adult Joblessness and Student Transition

Dale, come see our great recycling program! Check out our cleaning crew! We run a bakery that our special ed students all work at!Over the past 30 plus years of providing consultation and training to agencies and schools on the employment of people with disabilities, I have visited employment programs in 49 states and evaluated [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:12-04:00September 22nd, 2011|employability, school to work, segregation, social enterprise|6 Comments

What do People with Disabilities Want for Employment Services?

The statements below are from a white paper produced from a March, 2011 Summit by leaders from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the National Youth Leadership Network, Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered, and allies. Including not only Summit proceedings, but a broad range of interviews besides, the authors "…believe that this report and the process that led [...]

By |2015-04-02T15:26:09-04:00September 13th, 2011|segregation supported employment|0 Comments
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