INTRODUCTION:

The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2010b) suggests that secured access to livelihoods can reduce poverty among them. ‘Livelihoods’ not only refers to the ability to earn but also the opportunity to develop one’s full potential with control over factors that shapes his/her life and contribute to society’s development (Coleridge and Venkatesh, 2010). Vice-versa PwDs deprived from employment and financial benefits, and marginalised from social and cultural lives, are pushed into extreme depression and undergo a sense of worthlessness.

Yeo and Moore (2003) recommend that it may be impossible to achieve the Millennium Development Goals without involving them in the development process. Therefore, specific plans should be developed to enhance the livelihoods of PwDs.

Sustainable livelihoods and PwDs:

Any approach or method or way that addresses the livelihoods of PwDs should be sustainable and the sustainable approach may be based upon the five capitals assets on which people can build up their livelihoods (Carney, 1998), these being: natural capital (land, water, wildlife, biodiversity and the environment, social capital (networks, group, faith and trust, community membership), human capital (skill, knowledge, good health, ability to work), physical capital (shelter, energy, communication and production equipment) and financial capital (savings, credit, remittances or pensions) which provide different livelihood options for people. The sustainable livelihoods are based on the principles of people’s capability and equitable distribution of resources (Chambers and Conway, 1991).

Employment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

Properly preparing the PwIDfor the world of work is like building a highway. Each mile of the way leads the educators/parents closer to the goal. The three milestones are as follows:

Earlypreparation:

Holding a job requires ability to perform certain tasks and it takes certain attitudes: appreciation of, and respect for, a job, willingness to accept responsibility (even if it is for mopping floors or loading trucks), ability to get along with others, capacity to manage the details of day to day life (getting places, being on time, handling money, etc.).

Also, parents of PwID must impart a concept of the dignity of all work, regardless of its nature, as well as a sense of dignity of self. In general positive attitude and work habits are not taught early enough to them. They usually are added as afterthoughts to a curriculum.

Education and training:

Realism must be the key to the education and training of PwID. They are going to have to enter a real world not truly made for them, get a real job that may be alien to their concepts of work, face up to real social and interpersonal situations that may not always be pleasant; handle real personal problems (money, transportation etc.) that for us might be routine but for them are crisis-sized. Early in life, education and training must prepare them for the world of useful work. And it must prepare them for the world of useful living outside of work.

Employment:

In our society, employment has many values in addition to the obvious one of earning a living. Employment builds self-respect, a heightened self-image. Employment fosters a feeling of usefulness, without which life seems futile. Employment leads to personal growth, both social and intellectual.

Livelihood opportunities for PwIDs:

People with intellectual disabilities have existed throughout the world across human history, making up a part of all cultures. They represent a small part of the extremely wide variety of people in the human population at any one time. They are reported to make up one per cent of the population globally, although this may be an underestimate of the true prevalence, even in terms of the criteria of impairment and activity limitations and there is no clear indication of the level of uniformity of the definition or the comprehensiveness of national data (ILO, 2011).

Agriculture Training & Natural Properties:

Agricultural training has been one of the most useful trainings and has shown huge potential in enhancing the livelihood income for the PwIDs. In addition to that it includes all the natural properties within. Moreover, living in greener environments is associated with better mental health and lower all-cause mortality and the greening of living environments seems a promising tool for enhancing (Berg, et al., 2015).). Across the experiments the natural environment simulation engenders generally more positive emotional self‐reports (Hartig et al., 1996).

Promoting training and employment:

The provisions of the UNCRPD contribute to other international standards concerning persons with disabilities, signalling a dramatic shift in international policy terms. In relation to training and employment, for example, states are called on to provide opportunities for PwDs alongside person without disabilities. PwIDs are entitled to benefit from the provisions of the CRPD and ILO Convention concerning the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons), 1983 (No. 159), as well as people with other kinds of disabilities. Yet, they are frequently not well placed to gain from this changed emphasis on inclusion. In many developing countries, they are often excluded from school and deprived of opportunities to acquire relevant vocational skills at all, presenting further disadvantages when it comes to seeking jobs. Yet, experience in many countries shows that, with the right training, support in the workplace as required, and the right opportunities, they can make valued contributions in the workplace and to a country’s economy (ILO, 2001).

Support needs framework:

A significant development occurred with the publication of the ninth edition of the AAIDD manual where the traditional classification system linked to IQ levels (mild, moderate, severe and profound) was replaced by the concept of levels of support required (Luckasson et al., 1992). This development represented a significant shift in the way intellectual disability was conceptualized. The reformulated definition and the accompanying classification of supports acknowledged that the disability resulted from the interaction of the person with his/her environment, rather than being an absolute trait of an individual.This development was also consistent with the emerging strength of the social, as opposed to the medical, model of disability (Mercer, 2003). For instance, in the case of a PwID, community attitudes are generally the greatest barrier to participation, involving low expectations of the person’s capacity to participate and contribute.Rather than addressing a person’s particular cognitive impairment, it may be more effective to make an accommodation to the person’s environment by the provision of support that lessens the impact of the impairment. PwID may need specific supports that include:

· Numeracy

· Comprehension of instructions

· Short-term and long-term memory

· Attention span and concentration

· Motivation

· Problem-solving and decision-making skills

· Making choices

· Time management and organization

· Ability to travel and/or live independently

· Appropriate behaviours and social skills

· Grooming and self-care

Culturalconsiderations:

Cianciolo and Sternberg (2004) state that people in different cultures may develop somewhat different intellectual abilities, depending on what types of intellectual competence are valued in their particular culture.

A six month training package in Agricultural Training:

A six month training package involving natural properties was developed in view of employment and developing life skills among PwID. The details are as follows:

Inclusioncriteria:

· Ten students with Mild Intellectual Disabilities

· Age range 16 to 21 years

· Studying at Pre Vocational Unit–Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute–Faculty of Disability Management and Special Education, Coimbatore

· Timings for practical: All weekdays; 2 pm onward

Experimentation:

Entire package was divided into two heads: Jobs to be done by Agri Students and Jobs to be done by Students with ID. The experimentation began with preparing the ground for agriculture. Based on the accurate season for the specific crops, seeds were purchased and kept in small poly covers with their names. It was ensured that students should be made aware of the identification of the vegetable, their plant and seeds during their regular functional academic sessions. Before starting an orientation program was conducted for the parents of SwID studying at Pre Vocational Unit. The training program started in collaboration with SRMV Institute of Agricultural and Rural Development, Coimbatore. Agri students started doing their chunk of job involving SwID. Slowly, seeds were sown; seedlings appeared, turned into plant and in due course all the rows and basins were observed with vegetables. In this duration SwID learnt the concept of division of labour, observed the steady rate of growth in plants and vegetables, got involved into proper functional academics i.e. no. of plant, no. of vegetables, weighing, packing etc. developed coordination with each other and enhanced social skills needed to be a productive and respected member of the mainstream society.

Implementation of the training program

S. No	Jobs to be done by Agri Students	Jobs to be done by Students with ID
1	Using JCB machine for ploughing the ground, ensuring water resources and supply	Cleaning the ground, collecting stones, pebbles and unwanted waste paper, poly bags etc. and disposing
2	Sowing seeds	Making holes in the small poly bags and filling with pot mixer
3	Transferring the developed saplings into rows	Counting and keeping them in separate groups
4	Uprooting the weeds	Sprinkling water
5	Putting fertilizers	Plucking the vegetables
6	Putting plant guard	Weighing and packing
7	Putting organic pesticides when needed	Selling
	Jobs to be done by both the groups in coordination with each other
	Preparing pot mixer (red soil, sand and manure)

Shared by PwID:

‘We have ambition to learn and achieve. We want job to feel good. Accept us as people first, don’t see the disability first. We can cope with things, we are doing well, please guide in understanding what is expected from us. Don’t call us names it causes pain. We have skills even if we can’t read and write like others. We want to be financially independent. We need to be understood and not judged and labelled.

Self-stand of PwID:

Extreme control of family over the lives of PwID has a very negative impact on them. This has been reflected in PwID’s low levels of awareness, confidence and self-esteem, which in turn increase their dependency on others. Also, the general notion affirms the PwID’s dependency even in their day to day life. Where is the problem actually? In the employer or the employee? Practical experience says that:

1. Parents need to be oriented about the need for their cooperation.

2. SwID are capable of understanding the work environment and can adjust accordingly.

3. The employers may not understand or be able to fulfil all the expectations of the parent.

4. Parents should realize that their children should also contribute for the nation’s progress. Currently, they are at receiving end, slowly they have to move on and give place to others.

5. Parents should realize that their children are having the ability to do something on their own. They may lack skills in literary activities but when they are given the opportunity to observe practical demonstration they are capable of picking up easily.

Learning and working capacity:

The learning and working characteristics of PwID have implications on the teaching strategies and approaches. Due to their comparatively short attention span, they require more structured programmes with tangible targets, interesting to them and related to their daily life experiences. Learning tasks have to be broken down into components so that each component can be learnt in sequence. Therefore, thorough practice had been provided to consolidate the knowledge, skills and attitudes that they acquire. Besides, they have difficulties in generalizing acquired information and concepts for use in new situations. Following are the steps followed in training (Paramane, 2016).

1. Oral instructions

2. Skill analyzing technique, chain technique

3. Demonstration of skill by teacher

4. Imitation sub skills

5. Praise

6. Support by gestures

7. Evaluation

Supported employment and empowerment

Enclave Model

An enclave is a small group supported employment model. It is designed to create a path to integrate community-based employment. Enclaves provides structured environments in which individuals can work together and develop work skills and habits that include, initiating interaction with co-workers, taking directions from supervisors, managing time and money. These are the services and training provided in regular business or industry (Wisconsin, 2014).

Way forward

All in all, lack of livelihoods in this village can be viewed from the social model perspectives that unemployment of disabled people is associated with education, transport, environment, access, ideology and culture (Roulstone and Barnes, 2005).

What makes for successful inclusive employment?

Despite enormous challenges, including extreme poverty and difficulties faced from attitudinal and policy perspectives in the provision of support to people with disabilities in general, and those with intellectual disabilities in particular, there are some positive trends. What remains is the need for a genuine commitment to ensuring these principles are not only incorporated into national disability policies, but are put into practice and monitored to the best level possible in terms of the socio-economic conditions prevailing.

Uncovering the myth:

The opportunity to engage in real work in the general community has been denied to the vast majority of PwId. As a general perception, it is always thought that PwDs will not be able to perform their job in stipulated time due to their functional limitations. It is however important to remember that those who have disability adapt themselves to the challenges of the situation, which is seen in the surroundings all around. PwDs are the person first; this is an important thing any prospective employer should understand. Moreover, any difficulty (temporary or permanent does not make a person DEFECTIVE. They may have certain limitations, but they are still completely human. All PwDs have the same variety of interests; the same kind of likes and dislikes, the same delight when somebody cares about them as anyone else has. They may not have developed the same ability to analyse a problem that some other people have–it does not make them non-productive member of the society and to uncover the myth is the need of the hour.

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Received on 27.03.2019 Modified on 10.04.2019

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2019; 10(2):591-595.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2019.00096.2