Self-Employment & Social Security

Many students and adults with disabilities appear unmotivated by money. How can we expect them to run a business?

Answer: Many students and adults with significant disabilities have not been exposed to family or professional expectations of career success. Bright futures are seldom anticipated by medical personnel who advise parents of infants with disabilities, so prenatal dreams of children growing up to be firefighters, doctors, or plumbers yield to the realities of speech and other therapy schedules. Transition aged students, if they receive any inclusive vocational training, are often exposed to entry level jobs through unpaid work experience. Unpaid work experience can be especially helpful to students, families, and educators in discovering individual talents and passions. However, unpaid work can be somewhat unnatural and demotivating if these are the only opportunities offered. Most youth who have paper routes, flip burgers at MacDonald’s, or babysit, or mow lawns expect to be paid and draw a critical connection between effort and reward. Eliminating pay is counterproductive. Furthermore, earnings in sheltered workshops average much less than a dollar per hour, effectively breaking any logical connection between work and financial reward. Creating opportunities to use personal talents, to explore various work environments, and to learn the connection between effort and pay is essential for all people.

For More Information Contact Griffin-Hammis Associates