How The Personalised Technology Can Be Used And Adapted As A Tool

People with disabilities suffer discrimination such as the refuse of companies to hire those peoples. An estimated 386 million of the world’s working-age persons have some kind of disability, according to ILO. In a recent research, they found that two-third of the unemployed and disable persons said that they would like to work but they could not find jobs.

While the struggle to find employment in today’s society is difficult for everyone, the chances are nearly impossible for disabled adults. For example, 1 in 3 high functioning young adults

2.7%, Memory 2.3%, Learning 2.3%, Developmental 0.6%, and Unknown 0.3% (Statistics Canada, 2013). Out of all of these possible disabilities, many of these people have 2 or more of them at the same time (Statistics Canada, 2013). Even though there is not many people living with disabilities in Canada, it is still harder of them to find work. Many people choose not to work because it is a lot more difficult because of their disability (Till, 4.1). Many people with disabilities in the work force also require some assistance, special equipment, elevators, or special working hours. This sometimes prevents people from working full time or even working at all (Till, 4.2). People with Disabilities should not have to stop working, or work less because they are different. Many people with disabilities are turned off from getting a job because they cannot find a place

This article begins with Mary Forr discussing how society has reached the point where people with disabilities are faced with the greatest form of discrimination available and how this type of discrimination grows when other persons within society get rid of individuals who have any genetic differences through abortions. Next Forr discusses the history of discrimination and how person with disabilities have been treated as “less than human.” Forr even gives and excellent example of this when she quotes Aristotle, “Let there be a law that no deformed child shall live.” In this instance Forr explains how the child was seen as a liability on the society in which it lived in and the child’s death was determined to be a greater benefit. Forr continues

This is a quantitative research article that depicts a job skills training program for individuals who suffer with cognitive impairments. This job skills training program is referred to as COMPETE. The purpose of the COMPETE program is to address the United States Department of Education’s goal to “develop, operate and disseminate specially designed model programs of post secondary, vocational, technical, continuing or adult education for individuals with handicapping conditions” (Federal Register, 1988, p. 218).

It concludes with ‘Invest in Disabilities’ in terms of ‘Grow Your Own’. It further highlights the consequences of the historic medical model of disability, whereby many persons with disabilities leave the education system poorly equipped to join the workplace. The core aim of the article is to encourage organisations to identify learners leaving the schooling system, bridge the skills gap, leveraging the learned skills through employment and the benefit on an organisations Skills Development

Persons with intellectual disabilities have also see a significant increase in life expectancy, and are more likely to outlive their caregiver. Workers with long-term disability see a significant decline in employment beginning in the 40-49 age range, while their non-disabled counterparts do not typically see a decline until 10-20 years later (Mitchel, Adkins, & Kemp, 2006). According to Brown and Johnson (2014), the vocational rehabilitation system has served very few of these workers, with poor outcomes. Although this group is a smaller population than those older workers with age acquired disabilities, they appear to be underserved by vocational rehabilitation and deserve

The use of technology in educating children with special needs has widely grown in the past few decades, and has since has changed the way people with disabilities live, work, and learn” (Winzer, 2002, p. 98). Individuals with special needs are unique and all have different areas in which they need assistance. Due to the advancements in assistive technology, computer programs, software, and other technology tools, have helped people to find useful and easier ways to become educated.

This literature review was designed to investigate awareness of the disability employment discourse within the perceptions of people with LDD and their circle of support; what do the people it directly affects know about employment services and opportunities? It focuses on one question: What are parents, carers and young people’s understanding of employment opportunities for those with learning difficulties and disabilities? In order to address this question, academic and policy literature from the last 10 years on disability employment was reviewed. Although a threshold of 10 years was preferred for this research, it was not always possible to maintain that base and some literature is reported from outside that limitation. The literature search focused on studies that were summaries of existing research on the topic, new research that included extensive literature reviews, and government sponsored studies of disability employment programmes such as the Work Choice and Access to Work.

Education may be another reason people living with disabilities find themselves stuck working in job ghettos. If people with disabilities are unable to attain formal education (ie. high school diploma, university degree, ect.), this severely impacts their choices for employment. A 2012 Statistics Canada report on Persons with Disabilities in Canada stated, “persons with disabilities are less likely than those without disabilities to graduate from high school or from university at the bachelor’s level or higher,” (Statistics Canada, 2017). This same study found that percentage of those aged 25 to 64 with a university certificate, diploma or degree at bachelor's level or higher was only 13.9% for those with disabilities, (Statistics Canada, 2017). This proves that there are barriers to education, specifically higher education, for those with disabilities. These barriers as outlined by the Ontario Human Rights Commission include, “physical, technological, systemic, financial, attitudinal, or they can arise from an education provider’s failure to make available a needed accommodation in a timely manner,” (OHRC, n.d.) As a society who puts a great emphasis on high levels of education, possessing a high school diploma may be what keeps those with disabilities, working in precarious employment. This will be a continuous problem faced by those with disabilities, until these barriers are broken down and education can be easily accessed by all.

The use of technology in educating children with special needs has widely grown in the past few decades. Individuals with special needs are unique and all have different areas in which they need assistance. Due to the advancements in assistive technology, computer programs, software, and other technology tools, it has become much easier for people to find useful and easier ways to become educated. Because of this, “technology has changed the way people with disabilities live, work, and learn.” (Winzer,98)

Successful employment remains a critical issue for people with disabilities, although legislative mandates and a gradual change in attitudes across our culture have brought about some improvement. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has clarified the legal rights of both individuals with disabilities and employers; at the same time, however, both groups still face important issues in employment, such as the disclosure of disabilities and the provision of reasonable workplace accommodations. Likewise, successful employment experiences require a match between the skills of individuals with disabilities and the skills needed for jobs.

‘We will campaign with our members to improve the lives of people who live with learning disabilities. We will work with our customers to create personalised services that reflect our values and enable customers to achieve their goals.’ (ENABLE Scotland, 2015)

Persons with disabilities look at employment as a way to make extra money. Even though, there have been some issues for individuals with severe disabilities. However, there has been concentration on developing other opportunities for individuals with severe disabilities to become employed. With the individuals with severe disabilities unemployment rate at about 70%, still, only limited opportunities have become available. The only option for them to become employed is by becoming self- employed with the support of their family or their direct service worker.

The first article I read about human rights with people with disabilities was titled “We Need to Stop Treating People with Disabilities as Less Than Human,” by Shantha Rau Barriga. In this article, Barriga traveled the world to speak with disabled people. She saw a five year old girl dressed in rags and chained to a tree with chains because her family thought she was possessed. Unfortunately, this happens far too often because people with disabilities are seen as “unhuman.” Often times around the world, children with disabilities are put in institutions and sometimes takes straight from the mothers after birth the relieve them of the burden of a child with disabilities.