Public welcomes workers with intellectual disabilities, Queen's poll finds

KINGSTON, Ont. – People with intellectual disabilities (ID) should be included in the workplace, and supported in their efforts to get there, say a majority of respondents in a Queen's University poll on public attitudes toward employing people with ID.

Sixty-five per cent of respondents say that workers with ID should work alongside workers without ID, while 71 per cent note that a lack of appropriate training programs is likely preventing those with ID from obtaining employment.

The study will appear in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation on the eve of the signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, March 30. The federal government has signaled it is not ready to sign the bill, which will prohibit discrimination on the basis of any form of disability.

"The findings from our poll are very positive in terms of the willingness of the public to see people with ID working," says Rosemary Lysaght (Rehabilitation Therapy). "They indicate that people understand the right of people with ID to contribute and derive the same benefits from work that other people get. In fact many people with ID already perform significant amounts of volunteer work for their communities. We know from interviews we have conducted as part of another study with paid and unpaid works with ID that many would prefer to be paid."

Dr. Lysaght conducted the research along with study lead Philip Burge (Psychiatry) and co-investigator Hélène Ouellette-Kuntz (Psychiatry/Community Health and Epidemiology). They are all members of the South Eastern Ontario Community-University Research Alliance in Intellectual Disabilities (CURA), which funded the research through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant.

Entitled Public views on employment of people with intellectual disabilities, the paper notes that this is the first time a sizable sample has been surveyed on the issue of inclusive employment in Canada.

"We now know that public attitudes are not a barrier to keeping workers with ID out of the workplace. Another study we are conducting shows that, in our region, the majority of workers with ID who do find work hold service-oriented jobs and are regularly in contact with the public. Our poll also told us that people sense that the supports and services to get people with ID into meaningful work are not adequate," says Dr. Lysaght.

The 680 poll respondents were asked their views on the best type of employment for most adults with ID, the impact of ID workers on their co-workers without ID, and the barriers to workplace inclusion faced by workers with ID.

Among the key findings:

• 65 per cent felt that people with ID could best work alongside workers without ID; 43.7 percent felt these workers should work in unskilled jobs and 21.7 percent felt that they should work in skilled jobs.

• Eighty-seven per cent felt that hiring people with ID would not negatively affect the image of a workplace.

• 71.1 per cent felt that a lack of job training programs was a major obstacle to keeping people with ID out of the workplace.

Dr. Lysaght says CURA's future studies will look at how barriers to inclusive employment can be reduced, as well as how employment supports are provided to workers with ID.

Sarah Withrow, 613.533.3280, sarah.withrow@queensu.ca, and Molly Kehoe, 613.533.32877, molly.kehoe@queensu.ca, Queen's News & Media Services.

The full text of the study will appear in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation (pp. 13-21, Vol. 26, no. 1, 2007, IOS Press, ISSN 1052-2263), due out next week. A copy of the final text is available on request.

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