Is the Disability Field Spinning a False Narrative of Increased Inclusion?
–Dale DiLeo, 2020 “My daughter graduated high school last year and wants a job, but her staff say she has one already – it’s in the workshop.” I heard the above message from parents far [...]
Another Wall Being Built: The Wall of Segregation
Many of us who have been in the field of the employment of people with disabilities have been working to tear down a wall of segregation. But there are those who are now trying to [...]
Benevolent Ableism: When Help Isn’t Helping
If you are unfamiliar with the term “ableism”, it is a word, much like racism, that describes a societal condition that leads to the widespread discrimination and segregation, but in this case focused on those [...]
Perpetual Planning Syndrome: Don’t Confuse the Plan with the Action
How often do we see it when we look back at our work year? Task forces created, planning groups assigned, attending meeting after meeting, writing goals and objectives, action plans, giving assignments, and then… and [...]
Agency-Owned Social Enterprises: Is It Draining Resources for Employment of People with Disabilities?
Come down to our ice cream shop! Your patronage supports jobs for the people with disabilities who work here!Hmmm. The idea of social enterprise is a wonderful concept. Having a business that incorporates diversity and [...]
Sub-Minimum Wage Battle Heating Up
The continuing controversy regarding using sub-minimum wage for workers with disabilities (using special worker certificates under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act) rages on. Use of this provision since 1938 has led to [...]
How to Evaluate Employment First Policies
Over the last few years, the Employment First (EF) movement has taken off in nearly every state and several Canadian provinces. The clear intent of an EF movement is to make an individual, integrated, paid [...]
Finally! A Civil Rights Breakthrough
The following is a guest post by my colleague Bob Lawhead.– DaleOn April 8, 2014 the U.S. Department of Justice announced “a landmark settlement agreement between the United States and the state of Rhode Island, [...]
Thoughts on Group Service Models for People with Disabilities
In my speaking and writing, I often tout the need for services to be individualized, and take issue with the congregate models we generally see from agencies and schools in the forms of group homes, [...]
Overcoming the Multi-Tasking Bias of Employers in Hiring
In my previous post, commenters noted the benefits of my proposed supported employment process of Plan-Match-Support, but worried about a commonly reported hiring issue - the preference of employers to hire a person who can [...]
Moving Beyond “Place, then Train”
When supported employment first challenged the status quo of sheltered work over 25 years ago, the mantra was that it represented a shift in thinking. It was a movement away from Train and Place to [...]
The Two Sides of the Employment First Coin
Like a two-sided coin, the advocacy movement of Employment First has two core linked components. The first side is about ending obsolete practices – to phase out the needless segregation, less-than-minimum wages, and limited work [...]
Transition from School to Work: Time to Move Out from your Classroom Walls
Having just returned from speaking at a Transition Conference in Illinois, I was encouraged by how much enthusiasm the transition teachers there brought to learning about community employment. They took furious notes during my opening. [...]
Workshops: The Burden of Proof is On You
Over the last year, I've been in front of numerous audiences to discuss the concept of Employment First and the need to phase out facility-based sheltered workshops. I don't make the argument lightly. It is [...]
Mixed Marketing: How Job Development Can Be Hindered by Typical Agency Communications
Recruiting for an Intensive Behavioral Group Home Having visited and consulted with many disability employment organizations over the years, I believe the single skill most in need of training is in the area of [...]
The Bad Wages Stew: The Sub-minimum Pay Exposé Includes at Least 8 Critical Issues We Need to Face
Earlier this summer, the NBC's news show, Rock Center, aired a critical examination of some Goodwill agencies paying workers with disabilities wages as low as 22 cents per hour. Some viewers responded with outrage; others [...]
Sheltered Work Phasing Out in Rhode Island; Will Your State Host the Next Olmstead Investigation?
This week, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a landmark settlement based on the conclusion that the state of RI and the city of Providence failed to provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities [...]
A Future without Segregation
Can we realize a future where people with disabilities get the help they need without being segregated in a classroom, work facility, or group living?
The Good, Bad and Ugly: Trying to End Obsolete Sheltered Work in Oregon
The state of Oregon, like it or not, will have a spotlight shining on it as it plans the future of employment services for people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (ID/DD). Like most states, Oregon spends [...]
Is the Disability Field Spinning a False Narrative of Increased Inclusion?
–Dale DiLeo, 2020 “My daughter graduated high school last year and wants a job, but her staff say she has one already – it’s in the workshop.” I heard the above message from parents far [...]
Another Wall Being Built: The Wall of Segregation
Many of us who have been in the field of the employment of people with disabilities have been working to tear down a wall of segregation. But there are those who are now trying to [...]
Benevolent Ableism: When Help Isn’t Helping
If you are unfamiliar with the term “ableism”, it is a word, much like racism, that describes a societal condition that leads to the widespread discrimination and segregation, but in this case focused on those [...]
Perpetual Planning Syndrome: Don’t Confuse the Plan with the Action
How often do we see it when we look back at our work year? Task forces created, planning groups assigned, attending meeting after meeting, writing goals and objectives, action plans, giving assignments, and then… and [...]
Agency-Owned Social Enterprises: Is It Draining Resources for Employment of People with Disabilities?
Come down to our ice cream shop! Your patronage supports jobs for the people with disabilities who work here!Hmmm. The idea of social enterprise is a wonderful concept. Having a business that incorporates diversity and [...]
Is the Disability Field Spinning a False Narrative of Increased Inclusion?
–Dale DiLeo, 2020 “My daughter graduated high school last year and wants a job, but her staff say she has one already – it’s in the workshop.” I heard the above message from parents far [...]
Another Wall Being Built: The Wall of Segregation
Many of us who have been in the field of the employment of people with disabilities have been working to tear down a wall of segregation. But there are those who are now trying to [...]
Benevolent Ableism: When Help Isn’t Helping
If you are unfamiliar with the term “ableism”, it is a word, much like racism, that describes a societal condition that leads to the widespread discrimination and segregation, but in this case focused on those [...]
Perpetual Planning Syndrome: Don’t Confuse the Plan with the Action
How often do we see it when we look back at our work year? Task forces created, planning groups assigned, attending meeting after meeting, writing goals and objectives, action plans, giving assignments, and then… and [...]
Agency-Owned Social Enterprises: Is It Draining Resources for Employment of People with Disabilities?
Come down to our ice cream shop! Your patronage supports jobs for the people with disabilities who work here!Hmmm. The idea of social enterprise is a wonderful concept. Having a business that incorporates diversity and [...]
Is the Disability Field Spinning a False Narrative of Increased Inclusion?
–Dale DiLeo, 2020 “My daughter graduated high school last year and wants a job, but her staff say she has one already – it’s in the workshop.” I heard the above message from parents far [...]
Another Wall Being Built: The Wall of Segregation
Many of us who have been in the field of the employment of people with disabilities have been working to tear down a wall of segregation. But there are those who are now trying to [...]
Benevolent Ableism: When Help Isn’t Helping
If you are unfamiliar with the term “ableism”, it is a word, much like racism, that describes a societal condition that leads to the widespread discrimination and segregation, but in this case focused on those [...]
Perpetual Planning Syndrome: Don’t Confuse the Plan with the Action
How often do we see it when we look back at our work year? Task forces created, planning groups assigned, attending meeting after meeting, writing goals and objectives, action plans, giving assignments, and then… and [...]
Agency-Owned Social Enterprises: Is It Draining Resources for Employment of People with Disabilities?
Come down to our ice cream shop! Your patronage supports jobs for the people with disabilities who work here!Hmmm. The idea of social enterprise is a wonderful concept. Having a business that incorporates diversity and [...]
Is the Disability Field Spinning a False Narrative of Increased Inclusion?
–Dale DiLeo, 2020 “My daughter graduated high school last year and wants a job, but her staff say she has one already – it’s in the workshop.” I heard the above message from parents far [...]
Another Wall Being Built: The Wall of Segregation
Many of us who have been in the field of the employment of people with disabilities have been working to tear down a wall of segregation. But there are those who are now trying to [...]
Benevolent Ableism: When Help Isn’t Helping
If you are unfamiliar with the term “ableism”, it is a word, much like racism, that describes a societal condition that leads to the widespread discrimination and segregation, but in this case focused on those [...]
Perpetual Planning Syndrome: Don’t Confuse the Plan with the Action
How often do we see it when we look back at our work year? Task forces created, planning groups assigned, attending meeting after meeting, writing goals and objectives, action plans, giving assignments, and then… and [...]
Agency-Owned Social Enterprises: Is It Draining Resources for Employment of People with Disabilities?
Come down to our ice cream shop! Your patronage supports jobs for the people with disabilities who work here!Hmmm. The idea of social enterprise is a wonderful concept. Having a business that incorporates diversity and [...]