[Winona Online Democracy] Here's a new topic, which I think is appropriate in this season of public displays of goodwill and caring. My job at Winona Sr HS is to help teens with disabilities increase their knowledge and skills related to work, hopefully through firsthand experiential learning on-the-job (along with classroom-based learning as well). My question for members of the business community is this: how well do you think Winona is doing with including individuals with disabilities in the community's workforce? The question is asked of me from time to time, and from my perspective, the answer would have to be that "we could be doing much better than we are!" Here are a couple of related points, for the purpose of discussion: 1) I think that WORC does a wonderful job of employing a variety of workers with and without disabilities. I think that it's unfortunate that such a large portion of their employees work in a segregated (AKA "sheltered") setting, in-house at their production facility. After working closely with the situation for several years, I've come to believe that the situation is largely a result of the difficulty in this community opening doors with most private employers. I think that WORC's success is ironically counter-productive--I've had employers say in so many words that they don't feel any responsibility for sticking their necks out or taking a risk with an individual with a disability, because that's WORC's job. Concerns expressed frequently often relate to the comfort level of customers or co-workers with obviously handicapped individuals. 2) We have some great relationships with employers who have cooperated with our school program, to the mutual benefit of student and business. This is especially true of employers who need teen workers over the lunch hour, as in fast food and other restaurants. Unfortunately, other types of employers are frequently unwilling to flex on scheduling considerations that would be needed in order for a student to be hired during the school day (such as scheduling them consistently Monday through Friday, or letting them work less than a fulltime shift). And if the student doesn't work during the school day, we can't provide support services. Most students with mild emotional disturbance or any type of learning disability do not qualify for any other kind of formal vocational support. Statistics tell us that they fare much more poorly in the workforce than their non-handicapped peers. That costs the whole village, over the long term. Many thanks to any of those businesses out there who DO take the risk to hire people with disabilities, or who provide some extra guidance or offer second chances when there are problems. You know who you are. I wouldn't want to start listing you all, because I'd forget somebody. I just wish there were a few more out there. Scott Lowery 461 Sunnyview Drive, Rollingstone MN 55969 home phone: (507)689-4532 school phone: (507)453-3888 home email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] school email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] "You can fool too many of the people too much of the time." James Thurber ---------------- This message was posted to the Winona Online Democracy Project. Please visit http://onlinedemocracy.winona.org to subscribe or unsubscribe. Please sign all messages posted to this list with your actual name. Posting of commercial solicitations is not allowed on this list. Report problems to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
