This article examines selected aspects of one agency's conversion from a sheltered workshop facility to one providing community-based services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Established in 1967 by parents as an alternative to institutionalization, this agency had remained entrenched in the sheltered workshop model for 35 years. A qualitative case study research design including semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and archival review was used to explore the families' perspectives and how they navigated the conversion process. Participants included a subgroup with a long history of sheltered work and a subgroup with no history of sheltered work. Conflicting issues emerged as families had different histories, culture, values, philosophies, and expectations of their children and their inclusion in community. While the initial transition was difficult, most families and participants were satisfied with the conversion process as long as they could maintain previous social networks and find acceptable employment in the community.
Assisting individuals with disabilities to become socially included in the workplace is an important rehabilitation goal. This article reports the results of a descriptive study of the workplace cultures where individuals with disabilities are employed, the inclusion of employees within those cultures, the strategies used by employment specialists to promote inclusion, and the barriers encountered in the process. Fifty-three employment specialists who had successfully completed online training on analyzing workplace cultures and planning support strategies selected an individual they provided support to and completed an assessment instrument during the course of their visits to and contacts with the workplace. The distribution of workplace culture strength was bimodal, comprising a larger group with weaker cultures and a smaller group with stronger cultures. Individuals with disabilities were included in a mean of 83% of their workplace cultures. Employment specialists reported about twice as many barriers as strategies, indicating that they viewed most inclusion difficulties as beyond their role and function. The implications of these findings for job placement and support services are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.