Greeting John Kage,
My name is Yvonne Wright, and I am considering research that you
may find interesting, considering your level of expertise in working with
individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Employment is a goal and right of everyone in society, and, through my
recent findings, support for those endeavors is essential in the lives of
individuals with IDD (Kramer et al., 2020; Migliore et al., 2018). While
individuals with IDD may aspire to gain employment, job opportunities
consistently remain low compared to individuals without disabilities, such
as individuals without disabilities have better chances of acquiring jobs
within companies within the community, and individuals with IDD are not
readily accepted (Kramer et al., 2020; Migliore et al., 2018). Opportunities
for competitive integrated employment may be obtained for individuals
with IDD with support not from family alone but state agencies, increasing
employment longevity (Wehman et al., 2018). I am interested in studying
support for the families needed for a successful employment trajectory for
individuals with IDD, so I have included two articles for your consideration.
Research Article One
Article one’s research question is how do individuals with IDD and
their families interact with the service system to pursue employment
outcomes? (Kramer et al., 2020)? The sample size for this study is small
and includes 33 individuals. There were only three individuals with IDD
Recruited, and the remaining 30 individuals were relatives of the family
(Kramer et al., 2020).
The variables of interest in this study are individuals and families
interacting with state agencies, the independent variable, and pursuing
employment outcomes, the dependent variable. If individuals with IDD
and their families are offered support from agencies on a local level, for
example, help families learn how to navigate through the system to gain
information on how to utilize available services, which will allow better
opportunities for employment for individuals with IDD (Kramer et al.,
2020). Surveying is the statistical test used to assess these variables. The
surveys included were online, private Facebook gathering, and phone
interviews, all occurring at different times with the same question used for
all platforms. The question asked involved individuals with IDD, the
support offered to their families, and employment options (Kramer et al.,
2020).
Conclusion for Research Article One
Individuals with IDD and their families have many discrepancies
regarding support for employment, such as a lack of understanding of the
support services that are offered, staff that is competent to assist with
skills needed to gain employment, and a lack of knowledge about
government funding (Kramer et al., 2020). Many families have become
frustrated with the ineffectiveness of employment support. Support
services tend to be limited, and strategies for gaining skills for
employment offered in the past are still implemented despite minimal to
no improvement (Kramer et al., 2020). More collaboration is needed
among individuals with IDD, their family members, support staff, and
community employers to help strengthen the employment trajectory for
this population (Kramer et al., 2020).
Research Article Two
Article two research question is what support methods are beneficial for
supporting individuals with IDD in obtaining paid individual employment
(Migliore et al., 2018)? Suggested support methods utilized in helping
individuals with IDD are the independent variable, and obtaining paid
employment opportunities is the dependent variable of interest. In this
research, 16 job seekers specialists were recruited and obtained through
higher-level career professionals sought after in employment support
globally Migliore et al., 2018). The testing method used was open-ended
questions in one-hour semi-structured interviews with the employee
consultant. The employment consultants were very familiar with helping
to provide the proper support that is needed to increase employment
among individuals with IDD (Migliore et al., 2018).
Conclusion for Research Article Two
The interviews during this research made a plethora of information
on employment support for individuals with IDD and their families
available. Several critical components were described during the
interviews, such as gaining and maintaining trust with the individuals with
IDD and their family members (Migliore et al., 2018). For example,
following up with families making sure that support is working for
everyone involved, and if not, change needs to be implemented. Job
matching is another component required for individuals with IDD seeking
employment. Job placement should be favorable to the employer,
employee, and family members to have a healthy and lasting working
relationship. Finally, recognizing that individuals with IDD need support,
not just with gaining employment as previously stated, but during their
entire employment trajectory (Migliore et al., 2018).
Synthesizing Article One and Two
Employment support professionals have similar thoughts regarding
individuals with IDD and their families need advocates within the support
system to help make more employment opportunities available (Kramer et
al., 2020: Migliore et al., 2018). As aforementioned, individuals with IDD
desire employment and opportunities to contribute to society. Still, if
support agencies do not inform parents and Individuals with IDD on
available programs, employment opportunities will diminish. Employment
consultants are essential and needed to help families navigate the
support system; without knowledgeable employee consultants’
employment opportunities for individuals with IDD may be even more
challenging (Kramer et al., 2020: Migliore et al., 2018).
The two articles I have perused have strengthened my resolve
regarding support for families with individuals with IDD and their
employment trajectory. Both pieces expounded on the need to enhance
the staff while making available information for families to help their sons
and daughters gain paid competitive integrated employment (Kramer et
al., 2020; Migliore et al., 2018). The articles have helped me understand
even more that there is support in society to help assist with employment
for individuals with IDD, but there is room for improvement.Thank you for
taking the time to look over my findings, I look forward to hearing from
you.
Sincerely,
Yvonne D. Wright
References
Kramer, J., Bose, J., Shepard, J., & Winsor, J. (2020). Engaging families in
employment: individuals and families' retrospective transition experiences
with employment services.Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities,58(4), 314-327.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1352/1934-9556-58.4.314 (Links
to an external site.)
Migliore, A., Nye-Lengerman, K., Lyons, O., Bose, J., & Butterworth, J.
(2018). A Model of Employment Supports for Job Seekers with Intellectual
Disabilities.Journal of Rehabilitation,84(2), 3-
13.http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly (Links to an external site.)
Wehman, P., Taylor, J., Brooke, V., Avellone, L., Whittenburg, H., Ham, W.,
Brooke, A. M., & Carr, S. (2018). Toward competitive employment for
persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities: What
progress have we made and where do we need to go.Research
and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities,43(3), 131-
144.https://doi.org/10.1177/1540796918777730 (Links to an external
site.)
