Welcome to e-include, the e-journal of Inclusion Europe.

Inclusive employment opportunities for workers with intellectual disabilities were under the spotlight during Inclusion Europe’s annual conference in Brussels. Over 150 participants from more than 20 countries attended the two and a half day annual event.

Since 2004, the annual ‚‘Europe in Action‘ conferences have been instrumental in highlighting the most important topics for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. In times of austerity measures threatening the social welfare systems in Europe, access to paid work and employment is more critical than ever. Article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires the governments to ensure equal opportunities for people with disabilities in the mainstream labour market.

Essential topics such as vocational training, transition from education to employment and characteristics of effective and sustainable supported employment services were discussed in detail among persons with intellectual disabilities, their supporters, family members, professionals and representatives of public authorities.

Ciara considers herself lucky to have found a job with a leading intellectual disability charity in the UK. She loves working on human rights and receives from her colleagues all the support she needs. She knows that the majority of persons with intellectual disabilities have not been as fortunate. Krisse works in a flower nursery. He is doing a real work but he is not getting a real pay. Nevertheless, he is happy to be working.

Prejudices against persons with disabilities and lack of understanding for their special needs are one of the principal reasons behind the high unemployment rate of persons with intellectual disabilities. Those who have managed to succeed in the competition and get a proper job in the open labour market are more often than not underpaid.

Shifting employer’s attention from disability to ability is the key to helping people with intellectual disabilities succeed in the job market. Prejudices against their capabilities are among principal reasons why skilled workers with intellectual disabilities are traditionally left out from the labour market. As demonstrated by Erin Riehle from a hospital center in Ohio, the USA, with little individual adaptations, people with intellectual disabilities can to take on complex and important jobs.

Erin Riehle works on a project SEARCH, an initiative providing on-site work training for students with intellectual disabilities during their final year. The project initiated in the US and has been even since transferred to the UK, Great Britain and Canada. It aims to ensure an effective transition from education to work life, an area which is crucial to successful job market integration of disadvantaged workers.

While quality vocational training, on-site job-coaching and life-long development of skills is essential for person’s success in the job market, working with employers and helping them understand the unique talents and special needs of their employees is another vital area to work on. With a majority of people with intellectual disabilities being out of work, most employers do not have experience with workers with special needs. Disabled people’s organisations have a significant role to play in helping employers understand the unique capabilities as well as the special needs of workers with intellectual disabilities and assist them with the provision of reasonable accommodations. The experience of companies in the US and elsewhere proves that with the right support, employing people with intellectual disabilities pays a long-term dividend to the business.

Since many years, thousands of Europeans with disabilities have been employed in sheltered workplaces or similar enterprises specifically designed for this purpose. Article 27 of the United Nations Convention calls for a shift towards employing persons with disabilities in inclusive settings and making the mainstream labour market accessible for all. Mark Goldring, the Mencap’s CEO and one of the keynote speakers of the conference, described what proved to be a major dilemma in many European countries and that is the question of closing sheltered workshops in times of economic crisis and soaring unemployment rate. The transition towards inclusive employment needs to go hand in hand with creation of appropriate alternatives in the labour market to make sure that employees leaving sheltered workplaces are not left jobless or in unwelcoming environment.

All this can only be possible if well-thought inclusive employment policies are in place, linking education, employment and welfare systems in order to enable and encourage adults with intellectual disabilities to work. The benefit trap and deprivation of legal capacity are legislative barriers that systematically prevent thousands of capable workers from getting hired. With the EU and most EU member states having ratified the UN Convention, doing away with restrictive legislation is the necessary first step towards social inclusion and full participation for all.