Overcoming Barriers in Job Coaching for Adults With Intellectual Disability in Supported Employment

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Adult Education Policy, Barriers, and Career and Workforce (Table 38)

Abstract

Individuals with intellectual disability face social inequalities in their lifetime. Getting into the workforce provides its own challenges as they enact their jobs and interact with others in the workplace. To explore these challenges, a qualitative case study approach using field notes and interviews was devised to observe a job coach and individuals with intellectual disabilities in an actual job setting. Findings reveal that barriers to liaison work for a job coach can be meted in two ways: task analyses and communication, as well as continued presence and support within the workplace. Moreover, since these challenges are happening outside the home where there is no familiar support coming from the immediate kin, job coaches are necessary to provide these support.

Author

• Charity Embley, Eastern Oregon Center for Independent Living