Disabilities & The World Of Work

Recently I have obtained firsthand knowledge of the challenges involved in ensuring the participation of persons with developmental challenges in the world of work.

Special Needs Network, the charity that employs me as Executive Director, recently decided to hire a staff member with a developmental disability. There have been a number of surprises, but perhaps the most difficult challenge has been to deal with the realities of social services and employment rules and regulations. This experience has led our organization to find out more about employment and disabilities, and I would like to share some of that information with readers of this column as my learning progresses.

Note that this information will be specific to Ontario, but hopefully it will be of interest to other jurisdictions as well.

Changes are currently being implemented in developmental services, and these will be discussed in detail in my next column. A good place to start for proper background is the Family Benefits Allowance (FBA) which most people with a developmental disability receive. FBA is given on the assumption that the recipient is "permanently unemployable". This means that a person on FBA who attempts to support themselves through employment runs the risk of proving themselves "employable", and thereby ineligible for FBA benefits. I know, it sounds a bit absurd. In other words, the person with a developmental disability is treated like any person receiving social assistance (welfare) who would lose their benefits at such time as their circumstances change and they become capable of working.

People with developmental disabilities are of course capable of working, this has been proven time and again. However, the ability of a person to work is not an indication that their disability has been eliminated, and does not mean that they do not require economic assistance (or the possibility of assistance) to augment their employment income. This has been borne out by our own experience at Special Needs Network. At this point, the gentlemen we hired as an office assistant is not ready to take on more than 3 or 4 hours of work. Obviously, this does not provide a sufficient income, so additional supports are needed.

Many barriers exist which make it difficult for a person with a disability to achieve long term employment. Even when a person with a disability is successfully employed, they may be first on the chopping block if cuts are made. Changes in technology, changes of supports as co-workers come and go, and changes in job expectations are all elements which lead to significant uncertainty in the workplace for persons with disabilities. People with disabilities who choose to face these challenges do so recognizing that they may well be shown to be "employable" in the eyes of the government, and thereby ineligible for further social assistance support. It seems, however, that this may be changing.

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