Hiring people with intellectual disabilities: employers are discovering that with a little help, workers with such disabilities can take on a wide array of jobs

HR Magazine, July, 2005 by Linda Wasmer Andrews

Last October, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidelines on the employment of individuals with intellectual disabilities. It was just the latest sign that this long-overlooked group is starting to command the attention of the business community.

Although some specific challenges come with employing people who have intellectual disabilities, many companies are discovering that there can be a number of rewards.

"Everybody recognizes that there's an ethical argument for hiring persons with such disabilities, but what employers really want to know is whether it also makes financial sense," says advocate Jim Runyon. The answer, he says, is a resounding yes.

Runyon is program coordinator for the Central Illinois Business Leadership Network. It is the Peoria chapter of a national, employer-led organization that promotes job opportunities for people with disabilities.

As with all employees, it's important to make a good match between the person and the job, Runyon says. With careful matches and usually minor accommodations in the workplace, he continues, the businesses in his network have reported high attendance and retention as well as no increase in accident rates among employees with intellectual disabilities. Moreover, he says, "they have employees who are excited about coming to work every day."

Some of those employees are bagging groceries, sweeping floors and raking leaves. But in Runyon's network and around the country, others with intellectual disabilities are employed as office assistants, medical technicians, textile machine tenders, furniture refinishers, sales clerks, cashiers, building maintenance workers, messengers and cooks.

"In the last 10 years, we've seen a much wider range of jobs that people with intellectual disabilities go into," says William Kiernan, director of the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. "We've moved away from the concept that people with these disabilities are only suited to dishwashing, cleaning and that sort of thing. At our institute, we have a couple of folks with intellectual disabilities who are doing data collection for us."

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What's in a Name?

As defined by the EEOC, people are considered to have an intellectual disability if they meet all three of the following criteria:

* Their intellectual functioning level (IQ) is below 70-75.

* They have significant limitations in adaptive skills--the basic conceptual, social and practical skills needed for everyday life.

* Their disability began before age 18.

The same criteria have been used for years to define mental retardation, a term some professionals in the field still prefer because it's more specific. The term intellectual disabilities, one could argue, sounds as if it should include learning disorders in people with an average or above-average IQ, but it doesn't because learning disorders don't fall within the EEOC's definition.

Despite the potential for confusion, however, most organizations are moving away from the term mental retardation because many people now find it offensive and outdated. In this article, as at the EEOC, the term intellectual disabilities is used because it is less emotionally charged.

Based on the criteria above, it's estimated that as many as 8 million Americans--approximately 3 percent of the population--have intellectual disabilities. "About 90 percent of these individuals have a mild level of functional impairment," says George Bouthilet, research director at the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities in Washington, D.C. While such individuals typically are a bit slower than average at learning information and acquiring skills, most are capable of holding a variety of jobs in the community.

As a result of improved educational and vocational rehabilitation opportunities, many of today's young adults with intellectual disabilities are hitting the job market better prepared and more eager than ever to work. Yet nine out of 10 adults with intellectual disabilities are unemployed, Bouthilet says, which means they represent a vast but largely untapped labor pool. (For more information, see "The Truth About the Coming Labor Shortage" in the March 2005 issue of HR Magazine.)

The Cincinnati Solution

The underutilized potential of people with intellectual disabilities was recognized early on by nurse Erin Riehle of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Eight years ago, as director of the emergency room, she faced a familiar problem: "We had a number of entry-level, high-turnover positions. We could fill the jobs, but people would only stay in them for three to five months because they didn't see it as challenging work."

The hospital was already providing care to people with intellectual disabilities, and it occurred to Riehle that the solution to her problem might be right in front of her.

Riehle began by training a young woman, Annie Sublett, to work in the emergency department. Sublett has Down syndrome, the most common genetic cause of mild to moderate intellectual disability. She proved to be so capable and focused that she was quickly promoted to the position of sterilization technician in the hospital's large dental clinic, a job she has held ever since. "I take care of all the dental instruments," says Sublett. "It gives me a chance to prove myself and do my work and do it right."