Right fit can equal success for those with intellectual disabilities

Mar. 5—A new study is shedding light on the kinds of tasks that can help individuals with intellectual disabilities find meaningful and rewarding work.

Including more than seven steps for a given task can lead to diminishing returns for people with intellectual disabilities, according to the study in February's edition of Research in Developmental Disabilities.

It demonstrates the importance of specific strengths and weaknesses Specialty Industries CEO Byron Myers sees every day. People with intellectual disabilities might struggle with jobs that have several parts to complete, but their strengths often lie in efficiency and being thorough, he said.

"Two is OK, but five sometimes can be too complex of a number for them to completely understand. But there's also ways around that, he said. "Sometimes we'll stack it up and say, 'Once you have as many cans, when your cans are as tall as these, then you put it in your box and you pass it down.'"

Those with intellectual disabilities can end up stuck in certain types of jobs, which might not be catering to their strong points, Myers said.

"It often seems like they're doing the same kinds of things — cleaning tables, working in kitchens, you know, those kinds of things, picking up trash," he said. "Here at least we can have people doing more professional jobs, packaging, assembling."

Being more purposeful with word choice is one way to help change public perception, he said.

"A person is slightly better or worse at something than someone else but that doesn't make them better or worse people," Myers said. "At this time of year, it's really important for us all just to, you know, sit back and maybe acknowledge those folks that are out in our community."

With March designated as a month to increase awareness of the topic, Specialty Industries has a group traveling to Jefferson City in a few weeks. They will address state politicians about a variety of topics, and it helps to keep them in the eye of policymakers, Myers said.

Alex Simone can be reached at alex.simone@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter at @NPNOWSimone.

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