Equal Employment for Persons with Disabilities

In the disability rights movement, sheltered workshops and the sub-minimum wage are HUGE topics. I am going to share what I hear from Self-Advocates I’ve spoke to as Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered Vice President. As a person with autism, I have never experienced a segregated setting like a sheltered workshop. This is due to growing up in a state like Vermont that converted all of its sheltered workshops into supported employment. In other states, a lot of persons with disabilities are not so lucky. Across the country, persons with disabilities say that sheltered workshops have taken a lot away from them. On a personal level they have said their lives have been robbed from them. They lost the opportunity to be more included in their community. They lost a chance to broaden their capabilities in a real work environment. They also lost the chance to build other social connections beyond just persons with disabilities and staff.
Max Barrows is the Vice President of Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered and the Chair of the Autism NOW Center Advisory Committee.

Equal Employment for Persons with Disabilities | Autism NOW Center

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