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]