Abstract
BACKGROUND: Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) have always been part of society but the ways in which they have been characterized and perceived has changed over time. Despite decades of advocacy efforts aimed at promoting their social inclusion, a legacy of stigma remains towards these individuals, especially as they seek employment. School-to-work transition programs are one strategy aimed at effecting successful placement and assimilation of youth with ID into the mainstream workforce.
OBJECTIVE: This study explores workplace stigma, as assessed through coworker perceptions over time, toward transition-age youth (i.e., 18–22 years of age) with ID who entered a mainstream workforce through a formalized, school-to-work transition program.
METHODS: This qualitative, descriptive design used thematic analysis to analyze data collected on 15 coworkers of individuals with ID from 14 organizations that had implemented Project SEARCH, a formalized, school-to-work transition program that began at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in the mid-1990 s.
RESULTS: Study findings supported the framework that youth with ID face challenges as they seek employment in fully immersed work settings, including stigma – initial negative perceptions related to their capabilities and behaviors. Findings suggest that participants addressed and overcame negative perceptions where workplace concerns about anticipated performance and behavioral challenges shifted to positive contributions they reported the youth with ID made.
CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the school-to-work transition program played a key role in shifting coworker perceptions of youth with ID from initially stigmatic reactions toward workplace acceptance. Eliciting coworker perceptions is an important part of the dialogue concerning the ways in which youth with ID are stigmatized as they transition from school to the world of employment.
