The Real Barrier to Inclusive Employment

[Music]

we need you to step into someone else’s

shoes for a minute

someone who’s probably very different

than you

someone who’s not able to get a job and

it’s not because of covid or the economy

but it’s because almost every single

employer out there

thinks you can’t work imagine that

almost every employer thinks you can’t

work

but the truth is you can work and you

want to work

and society it’s all the better when you

do work

you have a disability and your

disability affects how you

learn and sometimes the ability to be in

the world like everyone else

and your disability it has a name like

asperger’s syndrome

autism or down syndrome

as a person with an intellectual and

developmental disability let’s

just call it idd for short your whole

life

from birth to age 21 has been like

climbing mount everest

literally like mount everest hard but

you’ve done it and you’ve worked really

hard

probably a lot harder than your typical

friends you had reading help and math

help

your homework took longer you received

speech therapy and occupational therapy

and then after working so hard you

finally arrive at your high school or

college graduation

you have 100 earned it you’re excited

you’re ready but then when you go

to take that next step forward you can’t

move

there’s no path there’s no world waiting

for you

and as you stand there stuck you watch

all your typical friends

move on to their next adventure their

adult lives where they get to work

be independent live a purposeful life

the name of this place where you’re

stuck

it’s called the cliff and it’s really

easy to ignore the people standing there

noelle and i we couldn’t ignore the

people on the cliff because

our daughters meg and kate they were

there

but we knew they didn’t belong there

both meg and kate have an intellectual

disability they have taught us

firsthand that they’re more than capable

of working that they want to work

and that they should work they’ve opened

our eyes to the reality that most adults

with an intellectual disability face

when they’re done with school in that

reality

is an unemployment rate of over 80

percent

80 percent it’s an awful statistic

so two years ago when meg and kate were

around 21

we opened a coffee cafe called beans and

company

it’s a for-profit business with a

mission to have a fully inclusive staff

and what we mean by that is we hire

adults both with

and without intellectual disabilities

it’s a 50

50 employment model

doing it this way was a very conscious

decision on our end because well

it’s how we’ve raised our daughters and

it’s how we live

with inclusion we wanted to create a

business

where everyone belongs my husband and i

have owned a gourmet ago and catering

company for over 25 years

and working together every day you may

be wondering

yes we’re still married our daughters

megan and molly they grew up in the

family business

working alongside each other and our

staff

our employees treat megan just like

everyone else

to them she’s just meg and our customers

well they’re kinder more patient and

definitely more engaged when meg gets to

wait on them

and then there’s the humor factor and

well you’re just gonna have to trust me

on this one because it’s meg

patience acceptance and humor

three things i think we need a lot more

of

noel and i not only share in the bond of

being mothers of daughters with down

syndrome

the laugh and the pull out your hair

moments because boy we have had our fair

share

but we also share in the fear of what

reality

is for adults with an intellectual

disability

they face a society that perceives them

as not being able to work

employers fear hiring them is too hard

or too expensive or just too much of a

burden

if we’re being optimistic we could say

employers underestimate the strengths

the skills and the talents of someone

with idd

but if we’re being realistic the truth

is

they probably don’t see them at all

but we see them so we started talking

and planning and strategizing and soon

beans and company was born and we were

up and running with our 50 50 inclusive

staff

what we learned in the last two years

since we opened beans

it’s more than we can possibly share in

our minutes with you today

but the most important thing we want you

to know

is that people with idd they absolutely

can work

and they want to work and when they do

work their lives are better

businesses are better and society is all

the better for it

so kim and i we thought we had it all

together when we opened beans

we did our research kim had over 25

years of experience in the food industry

i had well great passion the willingness

to you know

learn to make a latte as kim would say

i’m still kind of learning

and equally important we have the

support of the community

so when nick one of our original

employees with idd

said to us at the end of his first shift

i can’t wait to go home and go to bed

kim and i looked at each other crushed

thinking oh my gosh

we totally failed he hates working here

then nick went on to say i can’t wait to

go home and go to bed so i get to wake

up and come to work at beans tomorrow

a mantra he still has today nick

is perfect in his position at beans he’s

a total front of the house kind of guy

social huge smile people skills

any of us would envy he can run the

register and take orders better than

anyone

so besides having an employee who is

excellent at his job

we have an employee who can’t wait to go

to bed so that he gets to wake up and

come to work

we know people with idd can work and in

the right position

just like anyone else they can be

extraordinary employees

duncan another employee at beans he

naturally

excelled at the role of expediter which

as a newbie in the restaurant world

means the conduit between the front of

the house and the back of the house

he’s meticulous gets every order exactly

right

out quickly checks on customers takes

full

ownership of the cafe our hearts could

explode with pride and it’s not just for

nick and duncan

it’s for every one of our employees at

beans disability or no disability

the change that kim and i didn’t see

coming

was a change among our customers by

having an inclusive workplace

a place where everyone belongs no one

has to check anything at the door

employees customers alike everyone

they can just be themselves and these

conversations and connections that

wouldn’t have otherwise happened

they just do

this can happen to your company too by

fostering a real and inclusive

culture that people want to be a part of

starts by hiring just

one person with idd and this

will ignite a positive chain reaction

with your clients

your customers and your community minson

hoax

an advertising agency hired a young

woman with idd as an office assistant

they treated this young woman just like

they treated all of their employees

they had business cards made for her she

had her own office space

and they included her in their press

release of new hires

after seeing the press release one of

the clients of the ad agency sent this

young woman a box of their company’s

swag along with a welcome note

unsolicited

goodwill from a client

these are just examples of what happens

when you give someone with idd an

opportunity just like you would anyone

else when you make a conscious decision

to do what’s right for a group of people

that have been overlooked by society for

far too long

but inclusive employment doesn’t just

belong at a coffee shop or a cafe

or a grocery store it belongs everywhere

there are so many jobs people with idd

can do

so many opportunities they should have

we just need to think differently we

need to think

creatively

take dr jennifer pennoyer a

dermatologist in the hartford

connecticut area with a large volume

practice

her medical assistants were becoming

overwhelmed with increased

responsibilities telling her they barely

had time

to get patients to their rooms over the

years dr pinoyer had talked to her

friends and her patients

about some of their children with idd

who were struggling to find work when

they were done with school

dr pennoyer she thought creatively

she created a position in her practice

where an employee would

greet transport and provide instruction

to a patient

after some networking danny a young man

with idd

was hired on his first day of work

though he did express

concern that he wouldn’t be able to

reach the flag on the door signaling a

patient was ready

dr pinoyer thought for a moment grabbed

a ruler

handed it to danny so he could push the

flag up

a perceived barrier was easily solved

and now the clipboard that danny carries

when he’s transporting patients

has a ruler conveniently tucked

underneath the top clip

earlier this year danny celebrated his

five-year work anniversary with a dr

pennoyer

and she says hiring him has fostered a

sense of community

among her employees a dynamic that did

not exist before

colgan a scientist at pfizer for over 30

years

he thought creatively too he recognized

some of the duties as

signed to the lab staff require

exquisite attention to detail

but often can be drudgery for typical

scientists

steve thought what if some of these

tasks what some might call repetitive or

boring

could be taken on by a group of people

who thrive doing that type of work

steve knew a community of people who

could do the jobs the other scientists

disliked

he also knew this group of people often

aren’t even considered for jobs

this group of people people with

intellectual disabilities

they’re part of steve’s everyday life

steve has a son with autism and a

brother with an intellectual disability

so steve presented his idea of an

inclusive employment program to a

management team at pfizer

who ultimately supported the pilot

program and wanted to see it succeed

steve and his colleagues got together

they defined a set of lab-based tasks

that would be ideal for someone with idd

and they worked with the non-profit best

buddies to help them identify and hire

candidates and provide

job support soon the program was up and

running

hiring someone with idd it can require

some support

but the benefits can far outweigh any

obstacles

steve reported seeing these employees

take ownership of their work

pride at their role at pfizer other

scientists reported having time for more

creative tasks

morale among everyone was better and the

program had helped fulfill pfizer’s

commitment to diversity and inclusion

within their company

what if every business just thought a

little bit more creatively

like dr jennifer pennoyer or steve

colgan of pfizer

don’t get us wrong some companies are

doing it

ryan he’s a buster at davio’s northern

italian steakhouse in boston

elena she works at amazon in their

packaging department she’s got a busy

month ahead

sarah she works for 20th century fox as

an admin assistant

and lilly works for hyatt hotels in

their housekeeping department

tim he works for bank of america doing

tech support jose works for nike as a

retail associate

and mike he works for the boston red sox

doing the building maintenance

each of these employees i’ve just

mentioned has idd

so as you can see creative employment

opportunities

for people with intellectual

disabilities transcend

business business size industry location

and skills

remember that cliff you were standing on

at the beginning of this talk

now just picture looking up and seeing

one person after another

stepping into a job and into an

independent life

people with intellectual disabilities

can work

and want to work just like everyone else

they want the independence the pride the

sense of belonging and the social

engagement that comes with having a job

the bottom line when someone with idd is

put in a position that’s right for them

they benefit the business benefits and

society

benefits the individual’s life becomes

more enriched as they become

confident independent and valued

the business benefits by having more

engaged employees

by cultivating a loyal customer base

and by building a stronger connection to

their community

society gains by having all people

contribute to the best of their ability

quite simply hiring someone with an

intellectual disability

makes the world work better

the reason the unemployment rate is over

80 percent for people with intellectual

disabilities it’s because of

us society has been the barrier to their

employment

it’s time for each and every one of us

to think differently

think creatively and solve this

unemployment problem for this community

in the end we all benefit the person

business society we’re doing it

others are doing it why aren’t you

thank you

[Applause]