Lamenting The Few Employment Opportunities For Adults With Intellectual Disabilities

By Edna Booker


If you have intellectual disabilities, you most probably face big challenges due to your conditions. These include having difficulties supporting yourself through a sufficiently paying job. Our government spends billions through programs aimed at getting adults with intellectual disabilities into the workforce. However, the United States sees over half such adults currently working or unsuccessfully searching for jobs.

The SSA or Social Security Administration programs benefit intellectually challenged people. These are those impaired in cognitive or communicative functions, those with low levels of IQ and those with serious impairments in social or personal functions. Administration in Social Security programs provide vital lifelines to such people.

Employment opportunity provisions would be a better solution for the disabled in the end. Those afflicted can support themselves with provision of the right job and right assistance. Those about to face advanced intellectual disability may not however, qualify for any SSA assistance or secure gainful jobs. Should an adult have intellectual disabilities and encounter hardships in trying to access SSA benefits, a specialist Portsmouth VA rights on disability Attorney may provide help in pursuing of claims. This kind of an attorney can assist with an initial application. They may facilitate the making of appeals against denial or termination of disability assistance.

Recent studies show that forty-four percent only of people suffering intellectual infirmities appear among the labour force working or seeking employment. A smaller figure of these, thirty-four percent currently have jobs. This figure is much lower compared to seventy-three percent of the able working people in the workforce. Twenty-eight percent working age people who are disabled have never been in gainful employment.

It is natural in expectation that lower numbers of intelligence-disabled people are working than those without disabilities. It is however troubling that little progress in getting those disabled working has seen attainment despite huge sums of money spent. Studies show that the percentage of intellectually challenged people within the workforce has remained unchanged for over four decades.

The term disabled defines a wide number of people with the disabilities involved in the workforce. It often pin points those having an IQ much lower than seventy-five. It identifies those people with limitations in general life abilities such as those unable to handle money. The term also identifies individuals who have developed autism and such mind maladies as Down syndrome.

Given the opportunity, an adult with cerebral challenges could perform certain assignments very well. Studies reveal that a sixty-two percentage of those disabled but working in a competitive environment have worked well for three years. This shows that if more efforts went towards enlisting the disabled into employment, they would cater for their own self-support or reduce dependence on state. It is important that low performance expectations from intellectually challenged individuals is addressed. It denies such individuals progress opportunities and makes it difficult for them to gain new skills. These obstacles require addressing.

Until most adults having intellectual disabilities have access to gainful employment, they will retain dependence to Social Security Administration disability benefits for their financial support. These benefits could be enough to cater for most adults. However, they have limitations based on past income and state maximums.




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