DD Adults Trained to Clean Bathrooms

Published March 19, 2009 @ 09:08AM PT

The MSNBC article Kids show they have what it takes about two adults (ages are 21 and 19, definitely not "kids"), one with Downs and the other autistic, has an up-beat tone about "valuable work experience." But looking at just the story alone, the situation may be more ambiguous.

The two adults go to a municipal building twice a week and clean the bathrooms, a job formerly done by the building's custodian. According to the article, "The arrangement in Middletown started when the township's full-time custodian on the administrative side of the municipal center left last year." For their efforts, the pair receive $25 a week.

"Our goal is to train kids to be able to do these kind of jobs so as they turn 21, with some community support, they will be able to continue doing meaningful work," said IU special education supervisor Jane Strawley. "I think it's been win-win in Middletown, beneficial to both the employer and employees."

I agree, finding meaningful job placement for people in the community is an excellent goal as long as the big picture is being accounted for and its what the people want (is self-determined).

But some questions: Do the DD students themselves want to clean bathrooms? Do they feel it's "meaningful work" that they would like to continue? Have they been given other options? Also, are they being paid a competitive wage? In other words, are they being paid what a starting custodian would have been paid?

The answer could well be yes, the bathroom cleaning is totally self-determined, and yes, the adults are being paid a competitive wage for their work. But the answer could also be an inadvertent exploitation, no matter how well intentioned.

Without any indication in the article about how the two adults feel (though we are told the people at the municipal building and the special education teacher who set up the deal feel wonderful about the situation), all that can be done by readers is speculate.

(As a side note, there is a stereotype of people with developmental disabilities doing janitorial work--a job I have been fired from for incompetence because of perceptual, motor, and other difficulties. Just because one has a learning or developmental disability does not mean a custodian job is appropriate work.)

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Comments (9)

On that last paragraph... yes. This is something that I wish more people in such things as vocational rehab understood... the typical jobs assigned to people with developmental disabilities may be absolutely horrible matches for some individuals. And what many view as an 'easy' job may not be.

Posted by Cody Boisclair on 03/19/2009 @ 10:37AM PT
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THESE ARE POOR WORKING CONDING AND THEY ARE NOT GIVING THESE CONSUMERS THE RIGHT TO EXERCISE FULL SELF DETERMINATION!!!!!!!!!!!

NICOLE

Posted by NICOLE LEBLANC on 03/19/2009 @ 11:25AM PT
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Yeah - while there's nothing wrong with cleaning bathrooms (I did it when I worked in a coffee shop, and I was pretty good at it and didn't mind it), it is important to make sure autistic and other DD folks do not get pigeonholed as suited only to janitorial work. It sometimes seems like there's this...weird drive to identify the Magic Autistic Formula and apply it to everyone who happens to have a particular diagnosis or neurotype. The same happens with educational stuff (e.g., "All autistics need ABA/Floortime/RDI!"), and also with other types of employment ("All 'high-functioning' autistics make great computer programmers!").

And even when that kind of thing is meant well, and even if the application of it doesn't necessarily seem to directly harm a particular person, the problem is in how the Magic Formulas tend to "stick". When you have a demographic not (yet) usually associated with self-determination, a lot greater care has to be taken as far as making recommendations on educational and employment matters.

Yes, autistic people have things in common. But having similar low-level neural wiring and phenotypic characteristics does not mean we are all going to be good at the same stuff. What's more, when a given Magic Formula seems *not* to work for a particular person, the person might tend to get blamed, or written off, or denied alternate opportunities.

Posted by Anne Corwin on 03/19/2009 @ 11:42AM PT
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I agree with you about the problems with that magic formula being a bad zone.

In addition to what you said.

I think also that if cleaning is going to be synonomous with entry level positions they need to show an increase in people moving away from those jobs to better ones. The statistics show that very few people (percetage wise) move away from entry level positions so calling them that is misleading.

I'm someone typically taking on the least favorable jobs. (I'll never be a computer programer.) I would love to explain all of the medical/stereotype/anti-incentive problems associated with the US vocational rehabilitation system for disabled people.

I would have a lot less trouble taking pride in what I do if it wasn't seen by others as what I *have* to do or something that isn't worthy of someone being proud of.

Even if it is the best type of work someone is suited for rather the best they can do (which is rarely the case) if most people who do it are likely to either quit doing it or drift/move to many other unfavorable jobs which is isn't beneficial to anyone, they should instead be respected and treated well for doing a good job at something that needs doing.

Posted by Ed none on 03/19/2009 @ 01:04PM PT
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I find it troubling that the reporter apparently did not even think about interviewing the students, whose personal views and experiences should have been a significant part of the story. Even more disturbing, it's possible that the local officials might have actively discouraged the reporter from doing so. All we can do is speculate, as you say; but that should not have been the case.

Posted by Meg Evans on 03/19/2009 @ 01:01PM PT
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I work in a relatively large academic department (probably 200 employees) that is spread out over a large (about a half square mile) campus.

A few years ago our department hired "Jim", who supplements the achingly slow campus mail system by picking up and delivering all of the mail internal to our department, and serves as the interface to the campus mail system for stuff coming in from/going out to outside.

His initial placement was through a jobs placement service that helps place disabled individuals in jobs. I assume he is on the spectrum, both from things I've observed as well as catching the administrator that he reports to (a wonderful woman who serves as the "mom" of the department) doing some reading up on her own regarding autism. Although I offered to try to answer (or find answers to) any questions she had regarding autism, I didn't specifically inquire regarding "Jim's" disability, as I didn' t think it an appropriate thing for me to do.

Jim has been a real asset to our department, he works for the same salary as others with similar positions in the campus mail system do (I checked), and he is well known and beloved by many at the university (the Dean knows him, but doesn't know me- :( ).

Employment is good, and satisfying employment is even better, whether you're on the spectrum or not.

Joe

Posted by Joe Sark on 03/19/2009 @ 02:00PM PT
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I missed this one on the news. This isn't too far from me, and I was at that school, though with the preschool kids, a few years ago for one of my classes. Hopefully, this is a job the students want to do, and maybe even chosen by them. I would at least hope the students have the ability to refuse a job if they don't like it.
I don't know how this is going, but where I used to work, one of the things I did like, was how they were going with the vocational program. Students would start in one job, then, after learning the skills for that position, would move another, learn to do that, and move through different jobs. If one thing didn't work out, there were plenty of other jobs that could be tried out. More variety in skills hopefully leads to more options for choices when they finish school.

Posted by Jen Rosenblum on 03/19/2009 @ 02:34PM PT
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In response to the ideal situations, the ideals aren't what drives this area of the market and it really is the market that most influences how these decisions are made.

Best case scenerio not only doesn't become what companies and therefore federal and state rehabilitatation services strive toward. It's a totally different goal being strived for that will use the idael situations to disuade and discourage the majority who will never reach ideal situations.

Posted by Ed none on 03/19/2009 @ 02:45PM PT
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I realize that there are a lot of folks who are feeling that programming/IT jobs are being used as a "magic formula" for us. So in promoting the Autelligent Laboratories project, I'd like to stress our hope that by inviting public participation in our business plan and other structural information about the company, we can foster more communication about how similar models can be applied to other industries. We hope that with more models, self-determination in the workplace will become easier.

There is a brief article about the AutLabs project on Change.org here: http://autism.change.org/blog/view/autelligent_laboratories_interview_with_isaac_dealey

And we invite everyone to participate in our business on our wiki here: http://autlabs.wikispaces.com

Posted by Isaac Dealey on 03/25/2009 @ 06:45AM PT
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Dora is committed to improving quality of life for individuals on the autistic spectrum--including herself! She is Co-director of the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education and a member of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Board of Directors.