BARRIERS WHICH INHIBIT THE TRANSITION FROM SCHOOL TO EMPLOYMENT FOR THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

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BARRIERS WHICH INHIBIT THE TRANSITION FROM SCHOOL
TO EMPLOYMENT FOR THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

• Common barriers as a conclusion from a research
  among service providers for persons with
  disabilities

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Statistics

• Interviews of Service Providers form 8 countries

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Staistics

• Kind of the Service Provider

4
Statistics

• Funding

5
Statistics

• Type of services

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Attitudes / perception / Awareness

• No or little experiences of companies with PWD in
  work context
• A great part of the people do not understand the
  term disability and rather connect it with a
  psychic defect
• Society is not sufficiently informed about the
  problems and needs of the PwD
• In the case of people with a Mild Learning
  Disability, employers do not know what to expect.
  They are afraid to ask and perhaps seek guidance
  in directing students on work experience. They
  worry about Health Safety issue.
• The public dont get an opportunity to build up a
  relationship with PwD.
• Not enough cooperation (or lack of communication)
  between supporters (work-jobcoach-home).
• Mostly PwD with an intellectual disability are
  classified based on their IQscore alone. However
  their emotional level of functioning (capacity to
  cope!) is equally important.
• When a PwD can do the job and things are running,
  supporters tend to quit the support they need
  also on the long term.
• Sudden lack of daily structures and goals to
  achieve when staying at home after leaving
  school. They can experience the benefits of
  plentiful time without demands. In comparison
  with friends/peers and through their influence
  can result into a negative attitude towards work
• Not all employers are convinced that PwD can make
  a contribution to their company, organization and
  society.
• Some supporters aren't used to an integrated
  approach.
• Many service providers are used to look at what
  they can offer instead of focus on what is
  needed.
• Supporters and parents of PwD sometimes focus
  more on rights in stead of duties.
• Keeping PwD sheltered from the public is a
  barrier for them

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Our recommendations

• More input from family
• Education, onsite visits for employers to see
  the child in a school setting
• A different style of treatment and support at
  living location (home) and work. This means that
  within the training programs more focus is needed
  to the way of treatment and support in different
  environments. Also client future expectation must
  be a topic. If there is no consensus about that
  topic, caregivers do not agree about which
  direction to take in supporting the PwD.
  Different environments (work and home) should
  have one and the same focus in future
  expectations
• The society must change its attitudes and
  prejudices towards the PwD and to accept their
  existence among it. Healthy people must help the
  integration of PwD.
• There is still little acquaintance of society
  about the problems of the PwD. A media campaign
  is needed for changing the attitudes and for more
  active behaviour towards the integration of PwD.
• More and stable money for institution doing this
  awareness counselling

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Structural / administrative

• Lack of unified politics about the PwD
• Poorly developed politics about integration of
  PwD and bad conditions for life
• A number of normative documents about the
  integration of PwD have been accepted, but the
  problem is on practical level at their applying

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Our recommendations

• Training and education resources
• Training opportunities in the community
• More policies and economic incentives need to be
  put in place to encourage employers to employ
  PwD.
• Its important to offer more flexible financial
  aid to employers
• The legislation of each country must be directed
  to the integration of PwD and their socialization
  in the community
• Need of environment in which the PwD is
  encouraged to work and not to be so focused on
  Social Welfare
• The providers of services must focus over
  Training in work and social skills, Sourcing
  employment, Providing ongoing support to employee
  and employer
• It is necessary to develop a civil society, which
  is sensible to the needs and problems of PwD.
  Thus the strategy of the state and the politics
  for integration may happen.

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Environmental / physical / Accessibility

• A very limited access for PwD to schools, working
  place and bad architectural environment
• The access to the institutions is one of the
  biggest barriers for PwD in each municipality.
• Public Transport
• There are never adequate services for adapting
  working environment according to the needs of PwD
• Legislation is in place regarding accessibility
  for pwd to buildings but this is not enforced
  effectively
• The access to the outer environment is almost
  impossible. Somewhere installations have been
  made, but only formally, and it is impossible to
  be used.
• To many people involved, its not clear which
  organization is responsible for the next step in
  the process to work
• Often there is no support in the period after
  leaving school
• In employment pressure to perform is often too
  high
• A good match between the talents of the PwD and
  what's required for the job is very important.
  But sometimes a PwD or his school or personal
  network doesnt know these talents.

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Our recommendations

• Family involvement would help
• Adaptation of workplaces and buildings in general
  to fulfill the needs of persons with
  disabilities.
• Awareness raising and court action for violating
  accessibility legislation

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Education / training /including informal learning

• Training towards employment needs to begin in
  school.
• The poor qualification of PwD is also a barrier
  on the market of labour.
• After leaving school people dont know how to and
  where to find support if leaving school did not
  result in finding a job
• Mostly the way educational programs are designed
  the emphasis is on gaining knowledge and skills,
  whereas the work environment asks for skills
  beyond those learned at school, such as social
  skills, adaptation, start work on time, and
  taking initiatives
• Lack of support by proven method and thus
  specific goals at dag care/activity centre.
  Therefore it is sufficient when PwD are doing
  okay, even when there is no progress. This also
  inhibits the process of employment in the future
• A scholar with disability is vulnerable,
  sometimes there's a lack of understanding of
  teachers, other children and their parents.
• Segregation of children in special schools makes
  full participation and functioning in a regular
  job difficult.
• PwD have access to professional training, but
  this depends on financial resources.
• One of the Main barrier is not the disability
  itself but when it comes to an additional lack of
  competencies (e.g. soft skills such as
  flexibility, politeness, virtue in work)
  problems arise
• Lack of funding, therefore not enough one to one
  education /training /, which people with
  intellectual disability need to prepare them for
  employment.
• there are no sufficient opportunities for
  inclusion of PwD in specialized/ vocational/
  informal training courses

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Our recommendations

• more input/mentoring is required from employer
• Parental support for career development
• Regular professional training and informal
  training
• Granting of regular professional training on
  place is necessary
• It is necessary PwD to receive adequate
  professional training, which to respond to the
  possibilities for realization in the labor
  market. Still PwD can not receive such training,
  because it is related with financing.
• The direction of work must be towards improving
  the quality of education, given to the children
  with disabilities in school. A possibility for
  profiled specialties must be given, which to
  enable the children in their future searching and
  finding work.
• More resources and volunteers needed to achieve
  more active involvement.
• Finding employment tailored to the needs and
  interest to the person.
• Finding employment tailored to the needs and
  interest to the person.

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Resources / Opportunities

• Insufficient acquaintance and lack of practical
  possibilities for PwD for receiving additional
  financing out of the state aids
• Very feeble information about possibilities for
  financing
• Internships for PwD need to be subsidized as this
  would encourage employers to employ PwD
• Negative state of economy means less
  opportunities for apprenticehips
• For PWD with low or no graduation its very hard
  to find a possibility for internships
• Sufficient financial recourses are not granted
• PwD who start in an activity center are supposed
  (when reached a certain level) to proceed to
  employment. This is often not the case. There is
  no flow of PwD through the different levels of
  employment/day care
• Not enough possibilities for traveling to work
  public transport isn't always accessible and
  individual (support with) traveling is expensive.

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Our recommendations

• More focus on future career at school stage
• More work experience in the community at school
  stage
• Internships
• Personnel and preparation are needed to support
  the transition from education to employment
• Subsidization of employers for a one year post
  vocational training programme would help

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Accessibility

• People are not informed about the financial
  possibilities for support, they can receive
• Lack of support by society and in family
• PwD do not always have opportunity to choose
  social services tailored to them, there is not a
  large choice and sometimes they have to take what
  they get.
• There is a lack of opportunities due to lack of
  funding and lack of education of the public with
  regards to needs of PwD
• Information access
• literacy difficulties
• Lack of confidence
• Lack of support outside office hours ad at
  weekends
• PwD can not move freely on the streets their
  access to public buildings and cultural events is
  difficult
• Not enough (qualified) support and individual
  coaching at the workplace

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Our recommendations

• More support in the community
• Attendance through the transition and at the work
  process is very important for the employers and
  makes it easier for PWD to join the labour
  market.

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• PwD have very low standards of life, labor
  realization and low fees
• Shortage of appropriate work experience and
  employment sites.
• The financial and economic crisis cuts
  everything, social work, time, personnel etc.
• Negative state of economy means less
  possibilities for internships
• Frequent changes in legislation
• The employment of PwD is difficult. There is no
  clear legal frame for its realization
• Lack of tolerance to PwD
• Jobs that were paid in the past are now often a
  part of other jobs. Where in the past one person
  did all the copywork, now every employer does his
  own.
• Due to higher pressure to perform (more
  efficient/multitasking), people are less patient
  and busy. They have little time to support
• PwD are dependent of the choices of governments
  and service providers in times of recession

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Our recommendations

• Due to the state of the economy at present there
  are very few jobs available to all, making it
  more difficult for PwD to find employment.
• - More support staff recruited from community
  schemes to help PwD access community supports
  outside of office hours.
• Work experience programmes, incentives to
  employers.
• Guidance teacher, 1 to 1 consultation. Visits to
  new training place
• At the financial part, the network needs to be
  activated. Because of cutbacks in state funding
  (for example cutbacks in travel costs funded by
  the state), network must be prepared and informed
  about their responsibilities and tasks
• Maybe start thinking about a new financial aid
  like reducing tax on wages
• Offering an attendance longer than the financial
  aid is served

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Thank you for your attention!