This Deserves a Moment of Your Time
June 14, 2007
Some days I really do love my job. Actually most days I really love my job. On those days, I’m in one of those invincible moods and everything just rolls off my shoulder, and I find great pleasure in hanging out with the members. Watching how happy they get over things we take for granted - like volunteering at a soup kitchen for example. The members at Sunrise get so much joy from helping someone out, and they appreciate it so much! It annoys me that most of the high school students approach getting their 40 hours of community involvement with resentment towards the fact that they have to get their 40 hours. It seems that most high school students don’t take anything out of their experience of completing the 40 hours - and the whole community involvement hours was designed so that students could learn some empathy, understanding, and self-value.
Our members also take great pride in their jobs - no matter how shitty they are. One member works at Wal-Mart and all she does is clean the bathrooms, but she loves it! Some of the members work for big cooperations like Swish and they don’t even get paid. The company thinks they are doing something good for their developmentally disabled employee by giving them something to do. In my opinion, volunteering should include working for a non-profit organization that can’t actually afford to hire people, or working with people - old, young, even troubled youth. I find it wrong that a cooperation that clearly makes more then enough money is hiring on “volunteers”. It’s ironic that those volunteers all have developmental disablities. I know the member I am talking about loves working for them, and he looks forward to it, but I think he should be getting more back. Don’t you?
The buzz around the office is that we’re going to start a job searching program for our members at Sunrise, because a lot of them don’t have jobs. We want to sit them all down individually and find out what kind of jobs they would like doing (working at a day care for example) and what they aspire to be. Then we are going to help them put together a resume and maybe even accompany them to interviews. I cannot wait to get involved in this project, I know a lot of our members only have Sunrise, and it would be great to find them decent part time jobs!
This is something I have been thinking about all day long. I wanted to share it with everyone and get their views on it. How do you feel about developmentally disabled people being treated in the work force? It seems like they are always given the crappy job - like cleaning toilets or washing dishes. I know that a lot of jobs start off with a crappy job to see if you excel at it (like McDonalds puts the people they hire on lobby, and they clean the lobby, take out garbage etc before moving up to cashier) but with those jobs there is a ladder you can climb. It seems to me that a person who has a developmental disability does not get a chance to climb that ladder. Perhaps it is because their employer feels that they cannot handle the responsibility, but you would be surprised. I advice everyone to get to know people before they judge. Never assume they can or cannot do something, because you can always be surprised.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
< ![CDATA[While I do think that someone who is developmentally disabled should be treated like a normal employee and paid the same, I don't think they should be given positions of responsibility. Even if a minority of them could handle it, as a pure business decision, it's not a good idea, because people won't trust them to do their jobs correctly. I know that's harsh.]]>
June 14th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
< ![CDATA[I didn't mean a supervisor position or one of high authority you know, but just something more then cleaning bathrooms. People with developmental disablities are all different, some are so intelligent when it comes to money that you could put them on a till and they will work faster and more accurate with or without the help of the calculator in a till then the high school students. All the employers need to do is find the strength of their employee with developmental disabilities and let them excel.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 12:16 am
< ![CDATA[I think people should get paid for the job they do... Regardless of disabilities. I don't know if this is "incorrect", but I feel like if someone is incapable of doing a job, they shouldn't be hired based solely on their disability and meeting a quota. If they can do the job, then great. If not, then there's other things out there. Its possible that they only hire disabled and elderly people to be the door greeters because that's all they're qualified to do. But if you're qualified for more, then awesome. Oh... and happy birthday?]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 12:31 am
< ![CDATA[Wife works at large Thrift Store where they employ developmentally disabled people. They don't run check-out but they do take in donations, which means interacting with the customers and a lot of other stuff which I think is cool.
The store also gives money back to the foundation who helps out these people.
Happy Birthday, Avi sent me.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 1:03 am
< ![CDATA[Happy Birthday!!!]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 5:36 am
< ![CDATA[Hey, I clean the toilets and wash the dishes. Am I retarded?
Happy birthday.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 6:06 am
< ![CDATA[We have two training centers in the city where I live to train the developmentally disabled to do different kinds of work like filing, laundry service, restaurant work (like running a cash register), and stocking grocery shelves. Most participants go on to gain employment where they are paid the same wage as all the other workers. It's a good thing!
Speaking of good things, best wishes on your birthday today!]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 8:05 am
< ![CDATA[OK - 1st off Avi sent me so - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
As for your post, let me share a story with you. I have a cousin who is developmentaly disabled. For the longest time (i.e. while his mother - my great-aunt - was alive), he did nothing and in return there was really no meaning in his life. Once my great-aunt passed away, her daughter (my aunt) took over his life. Now, my cousin has his own apartment, a girlfriend and has worked at the same job - a bowling alley - for well over a decade. I am sure that some of the jobs that he has done there were menial, but he does have responsibility and he is truly happy now with a purpose and focus to his life.
I think that it is pretty crappy that these corporations are doing a “favor” to the community by “allowing” these people to volunteer for them. That makes me sick. If the person is well enough and capable enough to volunteer then he or she should be getting paid if it is at a for-profit company.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 8:28 am
< ![CDATA[Happy Birthday Miss Misery!!!
I really don’t have any personal experience or much background knowledge on the subject, but to me the most logical thing would be to evaluate each developmentally disabled person’s strengths and weaknesses individually–much as you would any job applicant or employee. I don’t think it’s appropriate to lump disabled people into one big category and limit them to one type of job like dishwashing when many of them are capable of more than that. Some of them may not have the abilities to climb further up the ladder, but it’s not right to assume that that’s the case for ALL developmentally disabled people.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 8:43 am
< ![CDATA[Happy birthday!]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 10:05 am
< ![CDATA[a) Happy Birthday!
b) I’m a Career Guidance Counsellor by formation, and I used to work with young adults who never had a job before, disabled people of all kinds, people changing career, etc.
I think most developmentally disabled people get stuck at the bottom of the ladder because they get their job through “special” programs. The stigma is not that your are disabled/old/on welfare, the stigma is that you came from this program that promotes hiring “special” people. In our groups, it didn’t matter if you used to be an accountant or a dishwasher, you’d be treated the same by the potential employer: You’d get to fold clothes, mop floors…
You are right to say that some coprorations view hiring (for free) these people as a great thing they’re doing for them. This is because most of the time, an employer will accept to give a job to my client even if he already has regular staff doing the same job. Now, if the company is actually looking for a dishwasher, they should pay my client the same than a regular dishwasher - provided my client can do the job, of course.
But that rarely happens, because places like I used to work at would rather go see a corporation and pre-negociate the hiring of X number of clients over a year. So it’s simple supply and demand, if you ask for an employer to hire you, and he doesn’t really need you, then you have to be willing to either get less in return for your offer of go somewhere else.
I think the answer we should be looking for as a society is to get these people into the “normal” system, instead of creating a parallel system for them. I think this is what you’re thinking of doing, so my hat’s off to you! Only when “disabled” people will get jobs through regular means will they be treated like regular people.
Sorry for the long post, happy b-day again and have a nice day!]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 11:21 am
< ![CDATA[Happy B-day!
On the developmentally challenged piece (forgive me, is this the PC term for retarded? Am I too old to realize the difference or know the insult that the term I might use might inflict?) I assume you’re talking about how when you go to McDonald’s, there’s someone cleaning the floors or the bathrooms that is retarded.
When I first saw this, I felt awesome. I thought - this is *so cool* - the business is hiring someone who probably wouldn’t get a job on their own, the person seems very happy to be productive, they’re doing a great job, and they’re making money. It brought a smile to my face. About the only negative I thought about were insensitive customers and how they might treat this valued employee.
If your positing that developmentally challenged people (hereafter called DC by me) are “always given the crappy job,” then yeah, I guess they are. All entry-level people, regardless of ability, should start at the bottom. In the IT world, the newbie gets stuck with the backups. It’s a crappy job, but it’s “new” to the newbie, so can be exciting. When they get more experience, they can do more. Perhaps it’s just that the DC folks never achieve the level of experience needed to advance.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 11:25 am
< ![CDATA[Happy Birthday!!! (Avi sent me)
I think this is a wonderful thing you are involved in. I don’t have a problem with disabled people in the workforce but I don’t agree with this company who has disabled “volunteers” that’s just wrong. I think it leans more toward taking advantage of someone.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 11:30 am
< ![CDATA[Happy Birthday, first of all.
Secondly - I think it’s ridiculous that they aren’t getting paid for “work”.
Around here we do have some of the kids (shit, I guess most of them aren’t KIDS anymore) volunteer for non-profit. But alot of them work for the hospital or factores, etc. doing basic labor jobs and they are paid. Granted, they are paid a very small wage - because what they do has no responsibility and is basically tedious work, etc - but they ARE paid.
That to me makes more sense.
PLUS, they get the added benefit of learning more about finances and what not.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 11:53 am
< ![CDATA[Holy opinions everyone! I love opinions, awesome! And thank you all for the birthday wishes! And just so you all know, developmentally disabled is the politically correct term. I hate the “r” word, because society uses it in a demeaning way.
Amanda, I believe that a person should be paid for what work they can do. Most of our members here are fully capable of having more responsibility within their jobs, but they aren’t given it because their supervisors haven’t taken the time to get to know them and their strengths.
Michael, that’s great! And thanks a bunch lol!
DaisyJo, you’re doing a really good thing! And thank you so much lol.
ADW, that just proves my point about people judging and assuming that developmentally disabled individuals can’t have the same sort of life we have. They can! And I agree that its pretty crappy those corporations do such a thing as well.
Girl, Dislocated, that is what we do, and what I wish companies who had developmentally disabled people working for them would do, in order to give them more responsibility and a better experience.
LeSombre, the idea of the job searching program our day program is hoping to set up is to teach them how to make resumes and what to expect from job interviews. We would most likely drive them there, but they won’t receive any pushing about being in a “special” group. And don’t worry about the long comment, I love it!
Thanks again for the birthday wishes guys! Keep those opinions flowing!]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 11:59 am
< ![CDATA[Oh...theres more. Lmao. *Takes deep breath*…
Whall, the term is only an insult because it is used by society in a demeaning way now. It used to be the proper term, but thats no longer politically correct. I haven’t taken offense because I understand the States and people from different generations have used this word to describe it for years and find no offense to it themselves. I agree with what you say, and I’m happy I was able to bring a smile to your face.
Amy, it is just wrong; its taking advantage of someone. They don’t always know that they could be working for the same company doing the same job but getting PAID to do it. Those company’s don’t hire on other “volunteers” now do they?
Miss Britt, thats alright. I know for a fact that irresponsible teens and such don’t get raises and are given the easier jobs because the company doesn’t trust them enough, but I just wish the company would give a completely trustworthy person with a developmental disability the chance to climb the ladder of success, even a little bit.
Hopefully you all will be happy to hear that two of our members have been accepted into college. One for the police foundations course (he has Down Syndrome) and the other for an independent course.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
< ![CDATA[Happy Birthday!!! I just had a birthday too!! And I think it's absurd to not pay anyone for work, unless you really want to volunteer. If you are working it shouldn't matter what you look like, your sex or if you have any disabilities.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
< ![CDATA[Happy Birthday! You’re so old now!
I think depending on the challenge, there are many people who can and should do a myriad of jobs. Not every person should be relegated to the toilet cleaning or trash pickup or sweeping. However, there are some jobs that developmentally challenged people will simply never be acceptable for because of society’s fears and misconceptions and intolerance.
In the legal field, there are jobs that I would hire a developmentally challenged person ranging from receptionist, file clerk, scanner, runner, all the way up to assistant, but there are other jobs that I may feel outside the realm of possibility for them. Shit, there are “normal” people I work with that I have jobs outside of their realm! It all depends on the person and their ability. IMHO.
As for the pay, employers will pay as little as possible to save a buck.]]>
June 15th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
< ![CDATA[I was sent over here by Avitable. First, Happy Birthday and congrats on making it to adulthood without becoming a complete and utter selfish idiot. I think it's great that you work with the disabled and help provide them with companionship and opportunities. I wish more young people (I say that like I'm not only 6 years older than you...) would do that sort of thing. Builds character and perspective, which a lot of people are sorely lacking.
If the volunteers at that for-profit job would like to get paid, they should bring it up to the HR department, or have someone do that for them. Being “hired” as a volunteer is entirely contingent on your cooperation, and while it’s pretty shady for a for-profit company to only have disabled people as volunteers, they’re not going to change what they’re doing unless someone goes to bat for the folks, and what they’re doing isn’t technically wrong, as shitty as that sounds.
I agree that each person should be hired for a position based on their abilities, but the fact remains that a lot of places aren’t educated on the mental and emotional limitations that accompany a developmentally disabled person, and neither is most of the public. Thus, they’re scared shitless of something going wrong in their company because maybe the DD person will screw something up accidentally and then have something of a breakdown because they feel bad about screwing up. And who wants to yell at them? No one. So since they wouldn’t be able to treat the disabled person the same as everyone else (socially), putting them in the same positions as everyone else in the first place isn’t an attractive idea.
DD people aren’t really ever going to be able to have the same opportunities as people with little to no disability…one thing that could probably be done is to give them tests for their specific skill sets to see what they’re good at, and give them some sort of evaluation to gauge their stability and ability to handle responsibility. That way, there’s proof from reliable sources (doctors and stuff) that the DD people can handle their shit and are “worthy” of taking care of a certain set of jobs. And the more people get evaluated and are accepted into the work force, the more chance others have in the future, because if all goes well, it’ll be shown that they CAN do it. People just need proof.]]>
June 16th, 2007 at 9:11 am
< ![CDATA[I work at a large corporation and we have many employees who are challenged in different ways. Many work distributing mail, copier paper, in the gym and cafeteria or as messengers. It runs the gamut based on what the individual can do. One guy is a whiz at remembering dates and he helps out with the conference room bookings. Corporations are great resources for employing disabled people.
Good work and happy birthday!]]>
June 17th, 2007 at 9:17 am
< ![CDATA[Erica AP, thanks! And yay for June babys! It is absurd, and I agree!
Used*to*be*me, I know! I know all about society’s fears and misconceptions and intolerance, and I agree with the normal people working jobs outside their realm. I work with a girl who really stinks at her job! Employers in the fast food business are especially anal about saving a buck.
Squeaky Wheel, why thank you! I’m stunned I made it into adulthood without becoming a completely selfish idiot. Any person with a disability doesn’t get to have the same opportunities as people with no disabilities - I don’t have the same opportunities a lot of the time because of my physical limitations. But still, I am capable of a wide range of other things, just like I know my friends with DD are capable of doing more then they are “aloud” to do at work.
Maritza, those are all really good jobs, I know several members who would love to do that sort of thing. And thank you for the birthday wishes!]]>
June 28th, 2007 at 10:57 am
< ![CDATA[[...] intimations so they feel bigger and they do things like that. It angers me. It also reminds me of that post I wrote a while ago about developmentally disabled people getting stuck in low paying, crappy jobs. Or they get stuck [...] ]]>