Paid Co-worker Support for Individuals with Severe and Multiple Disabilities

Abstract

Individuals with severe disabilities have historically been excluded from community-based employment. As a result, sheltered placements are often a function of our inability as professionals to develop services that support workers when faced with conditions that preclude full participation due to physical and/or social barriers. The purpose of this paper is to describe a model in which barriers were modified and supports developed to enable persons with the multiple and severe disabilities to gain competitive employment. In this model, a type of Paid Co-worker Support, a job was obtained for two individuals with severe and multiple disabilities, which involved having; (a) a skilled and experienced job coach who set up the environment to facilitate the fullest participation possible and train the workers to complete all job tasks, and (b) the same job coach train a paid co-worker to provide on-going support to maintain each worker's production, accuracy, and employer satisfaction ratings. Results of this demonstration indicated that with the support of a paid co-worker, persons with severe and multiple disabilities successfully maintained employment. Implications for future development of similar models for persons with severe and multiple disabilities are discussed.