Introduction to Supported Employment
Values Associated with Supported Employment
Developing shared values related to employing people with disabilities is the basis for
successful supported employment. Why are values so important? Because values and attitudes
largely influence directions taken during referral and intake, career planning, job development,
design of service supports, crisis response, teaching skills, and just about everything else that
happens.
For example, suppose an individual with a severe disability wants a job, and staff
disagree over how “ready” the person is, or whether anyone with such a disability can succeed in
a community job. These opinions generally have more to do with values than with any objective
assessment of the capability of the individual. We know this because there are so many people in
supported employment who are now working despite the opinions of some professionals who, in
their best objective judgment, claimed they could not. The values of supported employment
contradict the values of traditional facility-based programs that focus on readiness training (“train
and place”). Studies have shown that most of the individuals in such programs do not ever get
jobs, earn on average poor wages, and are perceived primarily by their disability, rather than their
strengths. Supported employment focuses on immediate employment and long-term support
(“place and train”).
The value base for supported employment began to be developed in the 1970s through the
work of visionaries such as Marc Gold, Lou Brown, Wolf Wolfensberger, Tom Bellamy, Burton
Blatt and many others. It has been expanded by advocates, self advocates and organizations such
as the Association for Persons in Supported Employment (APSE). This has enabled supported
employment to avoid becoming “just another jobs program.”
The following value statements are central to the practice of supported employment, and
have been endorsed by the Association for Persons in Supported Employment (DiLeo,
MacDonald, & Killam, 1991; revised 1997).
Core Values of Supported Employment
Individuality
People receive assistance as unique individuals with varying interests, preferences,
and aptitudes. They should not be grouped on the basis of label, functioning level, or
convenience of support.
Choice
There are sufficient options related to people’s interests and desires in life in order to
exercise control and autonomy over their life’s direction. The choices made by an
individual are the result of being fully informed through direct personal experience
and/or considering information on potential alternatives.
Respect
Services are always provided in a dignified, age appropriate, and enhancing way.
Participation
People have the opportunity to participate actively in all their chosen pursuits of life.
Competence
Individuals are provided opportunities to develop skills of interest and use in their
lives by discovering and expressing gifts and capacities.
Social Inclusion
People have access to diverse individuals in social contexts in order to build
friendships, working relationships, and networks of individuals who share interests,
settings, or other commonalties.
Community Settings with Minimal Intrusion
Services are designed to support persons in their pursuit of a quality life in natural
settings in ways which minimize artificiality or restrictiveness.
Normalization
The concept of normalization recognizes that people who have disabilities are entitled to
decide upon options of living that everybody else has in the community. In particular, people
should be supported to pursue lifestyles of their choosing that enhance their status.
However, rights do not always become reality. There are numerous obstacles to obtaining
a valued lifestyle.
Many people will think of a person with a disability as different in a negative way. Our
culture values being productive, skilled, attractive, and affluent. For a number of reasons that
have little to do with the people themselves, these attributes are rarely connected to persons with
disabilities.
Still, services and attitudes are changing for the better. Part of the reason is a greater
awareness of the principles of normalization. We are also learning how to better communicate
with and educate the public about the rights of citizens with disabilities. And one of the most
powerful ways to change attitudes is for persons to participate successfully in their communities
– as good neighbors, good workers, and good friends to those around them.
A big part of our job, then, is to understand how perceptions of persons with disabilities
are influenced, and then to support more valued social roles for people. Normalization does not
emphasize how people with disabilities are different because of their disability, it focuses on their
capacities (see below).
Normalization
• stresses what each person can do rather than can’t do
• places an emphasis on the environment and experiences
• supports people to follow their own interests
• assumes that all people can learn and contribute to their community
• supports people to live, work, and recreate in their local communities
Normalization means the right to make choices about:
• a home
• a career
• recreational pursuits like others in the community
• self-expression in following an individual lifestyle
• friends and family relationships
• access to and participation in community places and events
Support Strategies Influence Perceptions of Disability
With the advent of normalization, schools and service providers began to examine not
only the attitudes of people in the community towards people with disabilities, but also how their
services contributed to those attitudes. What many agencies discovered was that people with
disabilities were viewed not as true members of their community, but rather as objects of charity
or pity, or sometimes even as people to be feared. These perceptions are based on an individual
having a difference that is seen as negative, or a stigma. Many of these attitudes could be traced
to services that seem to make people stand out as “different” and add to stigma: programs and
educational services that segregated people; grouping people of like disability together; and
supports, jargon, and other trappings of disability.
In the last ten years or so, agencies began to experiment with less intrusive and artificial
services. As teachers and professionals used less jargon, labels, and unusual treatment programs,
people with disabilities had more success “fitting in.” And when programs began to try to use
more natural ways of teaching in more regular settings, people with disabilities made further
progress in realizing a quality life.
Social Perceptions of Disability and Stigma
Perception of disability is related to how the individual varies from what is
commonly experienced.
The greater the difference and the less it is valued, the less likely a peer
relationship of support.
Differences can be magnified by grouping people of the difference together, by
segregating people, or by introducing artificiality around people.
The greater the perceived competency and commonality, the more likely a peer
relationship of support.
Competency and commonality can be enhanced by minimizing grouping,
segregation, and artificiality; maximizing the use of the same rituals, norms,
traditions, and supports others use; and performing what you prefer to do and
what you do best.
Choosing Support Strategies
Since supports can be intrusive or add to stigma, one needs to be sensitive
when choosing how to support and individual. Determine each support:
• individually
• based on strengths and needs
• minimally intrusive
• natural validity
• personal choice of the individual
• availability
• effectiveness
• cost
Individual Versus Group Employment
People with disabilities are vulnerable to being placed in settings where their time is
wasted. With this in mind, the best way we now know to build a career is for someone to get a
real job with the needed support to make it work.
What do we mean by a real job? A real job doesn’t offer “practice work.” It provides pay
for work that is necessary. Wages should reflect what the person gets done and are the same as
what others make for doing the same type of work. An employee with a real job is respected for
his or her contribution as part of a work team.
Some agencies try to accomplish this by offering “group placements.” Two examples of
these are “work crews” and “enclaves.”
In an enclave, a small group of up to eight individuals with disabilities work for a
business at its community location. In the work crew, a small business consisting of people with
disabilities does cleaning or landscaping work. Although enclaves and crews offer more potential
for better wages, real work and access to different kinds of people than segregated work
programs, they also have disadvantages.
One disadvantage is that the work is seldom tailored to each individual’s career plans.
Another is that a group usually arrives, takes breaks and leaves together. This grouping of people
with disabilities tends to magnify what the group shares in common, the disability, rather than the
individual strengths or personalities of each person. Coworkers typically view the enclave or
crew as its own unit, rather than as their peers. This cuts down on the potential to meet other
people and be seen as an individual. And work crews have the added difficulty of working during
times when businesses are empty so they can be efficiently cleaned. This limits the crew
members meeting new kinds of people.
Crews and enclaves are models that have let people build work experiences in various
settings and have a history of earning wages. But they do not easily fulfill one’s need to explore a
satisfying career.
In a real job, there shouldn’t be an unnatural grouping of people with disabilities working
together just to make support or supervision easier. In the last few years, employees with all
kinds of disabilities have proven to be valuable workers in individualized jobs. This manual will
focus on this type of approach – finding the best job that fits the interests and skills of the job
seeker and the needs of an employer, with whatever support is necessary for the worker to
succeed.
Disadvantages to Group Employment
• The work is seldom tailored to each individual’s career plans.
• Grouping of people with disabilities tends to magnify what the group shares in
common, the disability, rather than individual strengths.
• Coworkers view the enclave or crew as its own unit, rather than as their peers.
• Research has demonstrated poorer outcomes in integration.
• Group models of employment typically are not freely chosen by job seekers with
disabilities among a range of job options, but are generally offered as the only job
option.
Defining Supported Employment
The field of supported employment is evolving so rapidly that much of what was
considered appropriate a short time ago is now obsolete. Values have changed, technology has
improved, and approaches used to plan careers, find jobs, and support people in doing their jobs
and socializing in their workplace have developed.
Supported employment is a simple concept. It refers to a process whereby people
traditionally denied career opportunities due to the perceived severity of their disability are
placed in jobs and provided long-term, ongoing support for as long as needed. Despite its
simplicity in concept, providing effective supported employment can be challenging.
Supported employment has expanded the scope of traditional human services, embracing
the business community, families, local communities, and, most importantly, the job seeker as
the forces that drive the service.
The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986 and 1992 (with revisions in 1994), define
supported employment. Key aspects of this definition are listed below. The definition also
includes “transitional employment for persons who are individuals with severe disabilities due to
mental illness.” While this may be a strict definition, there are as many ways of providing
supported employment as there are people who could benefit from it.
Supported Employment is defined as:
Competitive work in an integrated work setting for individuals with the most
severe disabilities –
• for whom competitive employment has not traditionally occurred
• or for whom competitive employment has been interrupted or intermittent as a
result of a severe disability and
• who, because of the nature and severity of their disability, need intensive
supported employment services and extended services after transition in order
to perform such work
Does Supported Employment Work?
Yes. Supported employment has found jobs for many people previously labeled
unemployable. How does supported employment get jobs for people with
disabilities, including those with the most severe disabilities, where other
programs have historically failed?
• It assumes everyone is ready to work right now.
• It provides for jobs based on individual strengths and interests.
• It provides the needed support to succeed for as long as necessary.
A Closer Look at the Terms Used in Supported Employment
In an effort to further clarify what is meant by some of the terms in the definition, the
Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), from the Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitation Services in the U.S. Department of Education, developed regulations concerning
supported employment. Key definitions are provided below and at right. There has continued to
be controversy and discussion around many of these definitions and policies, and it is anticipated
that they will continue to change over time to reflect new thinking and learning.
Competitive work involves ...
• paid work consistent with the abilities, capabilities, and interests of the
individual of at least minimum wage* and consistent with wages paid to
nondisabled workers with similar job functions.
• full or part-time schedules determined on an individual basis.
Integrated work settings ...
• means a setting typically found in the community in which applicants or eligible
individuals interact with non-disabled individuals, other than non-disabled
individuals who are providing services to those applicants or eligible
individuals, to the same extent that non-disabled individuals in comparable
positions interact with other persons.
Workers with severe disabilities are ...
• workers with a history of intermittent or interrupted employment.
• workers who are unable to gain and maintain employment without support.
• workers who, because of their disability, need ongoing support.
Ongoing support services include ...
• individualized supports such as transportation, job site training, family support,
or any services necessary to maintain job stability.
• twice monthly monitoring at the worksite or elsewhere.
• services throughout the term of employment.
Transition services mean...
• a coordinated set of activities for a student designed within an outcomeoriented process that promotes movement from school to post-school
activities, including postsecondary education, vocational training, integrated
employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult
education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.
• The coordinated set of activities must be based upon the individual student’s
needs, taking into account the student’s preferences and interests, and must
include activities in the areas of instruction, related services, community
experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult
living objectives, and, if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and
functional vocational evaluation.
• Transition services must promote or facilitate the achievement of the postschool outcome identified in the student’s Transitional Individual Education
Plan and his or her Individual Plan for Employment.
Transitional employment means...
• a series of temporary job placements in competitive work in integrated settings
with ongoing support services for individuals with the most significant
disabilities due to mental illness.
• the provision of ongoing support services must include continuing sequential
job placements until job permanency is achieved.
The Process of Supported Employment
The process of providing supported employment services includes some basic steps that
flow from one to another. The best place to begin is to consider who is eligible for supported
employment. The answer is that supported employment, by definition, is for those people who
have historically had difficulty gaining employment due to the severity or nature of their
disability. This means that a program or funding agency should not dismiss a referral simply
because a person is considered “too disabled” to work. In fact, funding for supported
employment is generally limited to those people for whom employment would not be a likely
outcome without ongoing support.
Once a person is accepted into a supported employment program, staff will begin a
process, called career planning, to discover who the person really is, what he or she is good at
and likes to do, and what type of career he or she wishes to have. This is followed by job
development activities to secure a job that matches the career planning goals of the individual.
Once a job has been found, job training and support strategies must be developed and
implemented to help the person succeed. Next, efforts must be made to help the person stabilize
and perform the job as independently as possible, with whatever follow-up is needed. Finally, the
job isn’t the end of the career process, but the beginning. Continual efforts are made to support
the person in career advancement, as well as coordinating all of the needed life supports off-thejob to help make the job be a part of a quality life.
At all times, the individual receiving supports is the central driving force in the
development of options and decisions. In designing supported employment services,
professionals have a responsibility to reflect the principles listed below and on the next pages to
promote services consistent with best practices.
Career Planning
Employment should be an option for any person interested in working,
regardless of disability label or perceived functioning level.
Job seekers (or at their invitation, family, friends, or co-workers) are the best
source to personally convey information of their personal interests, preferences,
skills, aptitudes, and life goals. These considerations are the basis for choices in
employment opportunity, rather than program or agency considerations.
Personal networks and situational experiences are used to the fullest to
provide information to help guide career support and to change the focus away
from limitations which exclude people from possibilities.
An individual’s right to confidentiality is observed.
Job Development
Approaches for developing employer relations and linking individuals with
private and public sector labor needs are respectful and image enhancing.
Jobs developed reflect personal interests, preferences, and abilities as well
as employer needs.
Materials and interactions are professional and businesslike.
People are not portrayed in ways which contribute to stereotypes or other
misperceptions of individuals with disabilities.
At no time is job development or the pursuit of a job based on charity.
Job Acquisition
Decisions on whether to accept a job are made by the individual based on
reliable information on job quality, work culture, and employee/employer benefit.
Jobs are individually arranged to match a person’s interests, preferences,
skills, and aptitudes.
While some work experiences can be productive for building an employment
history and developing skills, these experiences are thought of as initial career
steps and not as career fulfillment.
Compensation should reflect the norms of the employment market for similar
positions and performance.
Job placements are not made on the basis of service convenience or
availability.
Work Support
Existing supports natural to the work environment are maximized for training
and ongoing support.
Artificial training or programs to change behavior considered highly unusual
by the work culture of the job setting are minimized. Teaching techniques which
may convey poor images, stigma, or devalued status are not used.
Best training practices and technology appropriate to the setting and culture
are utilized.
Appropriate evaluations and outcome measures are provided.
Specialized jargon from the disability field is minimized.
At all times, the business culture is respected and integrated into the support
network for the individual to succeed.
Accommodations, technology, or other job modifications are explored and
developed in terms of their potential success, nonintrusiveness, and
generalization to other life domains.
Holistic Life Support
Efforts are made to provide holistic and integrated life support. Individuals
have consistent service and opportunities for community activities which connect
to work, home, social, and recreational needs.
Measures are undertaken to ensure that the individual’s family members and
friends are involved in planning efforts.
Career Advancement
Persons have the opportunity and support to advance to other jobs which
may provide new and/or greater responsibilities, compensation, and challenge.
Advancement is based upon the perspective of personal future goals and is
not contingent on restrictive program guidelines concerning employment
duration.
Feedback on career success is dependent on the individual employee,
employers, and the input of others important to and chosen by the person.
Circle of Supports
Support Circles
Most of us receive ongoing support in our jobs and careers from people outside of our
immediate relationships at work. People with disabilities often have limited access to such
relationships. One way to build up long-term support is by using a circle of support. This is a
group of people who meet regularly to help a person with a disability accomplish personal goals
(Mount, Beeman, Ducharme, 1988).
If the individual is unable to reach these goals working alone, he or she asks a number of
people to work with him or her to overcome obstacles and to open doors to new opportunities.
These people provide support to the person and take action on his or her behalf.
The members of a circle of support usually include friends, family members, coworkers,
neighbors, and sometimes teachers and service providers. The majority of people are not paid to
be there—they are involved because they care about the focus person and have made a
commitment to work together. Circles in no way exclude paid service providers, but the majority
of members are nonpaid people from the community. The circle thus depends on the local
community for its effectiveness, but may be initiated and facilitated by a paid professional.
For staff in supported employment, circles offer a variety of resources: ideas related to
career planning, job leads, and transportation support, as well as social and emotional support.
Whether you help to develop an individual’s circle or whether you are a participant, a circle of
support can make job success more likely.
Situational Assessment
These assessments of vocational interest, competencies, stamina, speed, and other work
variables come from a variety of job try-outs in real work environments rather than simulated
ones. A try-out can range anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks, depending on
the situation and person. The longer the time spent, the more reliable the information. However,
longer-term experiences generally become less an assessment tool and more of a temporary job.
Short-term experiences can help provide a wealth of reliable information. Vocational
interests, competencies, stamina, speed, and other work-related variables can be explored. Keep
in mind that performance in any setting is complex and that time-limited experiences in a small
number of settings, even if they are real, can still not provide a guaranteed prediction of
performance. But useful information can often indicate directions to pursue.
Be certain there is adequate insurance coverage when using situational assessment in
which the individual is not being paid by the employer. There are two types of coverage a
program should have: worker’s compensation, if the worker with a disability should be injured
during the assessment; and liability, in case the worker damages employer’s property. One
advantage to an employer-paid assessment is that the individual is covered under the employer’s
policies.
Information to Obtain from Situational Assessments
Does the job-seeker:
• indicate preferences for certain kinds of settings, jobs, coworkers, or shifts?
• express work values, motivation, and interests?
• work in such a way that technology could enhance performance?
• socialize well with coworkers?
• require certain training strategies to succeed?
• demonstrate stamina and safety concerning the setting and tasks?
• express expectations for certain wages, responsibilities, and advancement?
• show reactions to environmental stimuli
• demonstrate certain skills or skills needed to be learned?
• personality traits to be considered for certain work settings?
Personal Career Profiles
Making sense of all the information learned during an assessment process can be
challenging. Sometimes there are just vague visions of careers and lifestyles. Other times there
may be more specific goals, but they can be difficult to describe or achieve. Without a coherent
written vision of where someone is heading, it is hard to coordinate whatever supports might be
needed.
A document for career planning begins by writing a personal career profile described by
the job seeker and the people helping him or her plan. This information is then matched to
prospective community settings and individuals in order to create meaningful employment
opportunities.
Callahan (1991) noted key elements concerning the use of a vocational profile:
• uses existing information from the person’s life and not performance solely for evaluation
•
used only as a guide
•
is more important for a match to make sense in relation to a person’s life than to predict
failure or success
•
is not reliant on norm-referenced tests to prove readiness
•
is open-ended and narrative
•
empowers the individual, family, and friends rather than relying on professional judgment
A personal career profile represents what has been discovered about someone and most of
what is important to him or her right now. A profile summarizing this information should be
written in everyday language. It should describe a person and his or her capacities, resources,
dreams, supports, and other factors related to career planning.
Elements of a Personal Career Profile
•
•
•
•
•
Personality traits, age, defining physical features and characteristics
Places, activities, friends, pursuits, hobbies the person enjoys
Social relationships with colleagues, friends, family, coworkers
Personal history, including accomplishments and challenges faced
Past and current living situations with supports and arrangements,
neighborhood, and community (needed and preferred)
• Past and current employment with supports and accommodations needed and
preferred, job title, employer, skills used
• Significant life events, achievements, personal and social growth, new
experiences and roles
• Learning style, competencies, skills
• Manner of communicating needs and choices
• Health, stamina, considerations, mobility, medical needs
Person-Centered Career Planning
A useful way to approach career planning is a process called “person-centered planning.”
This approach has been described in many ways, including personal futures planning (O’Brien,
1987) and circles of support (Mount, 1987).
These strategies focus on a person’s ability rather than deficits. The approach uses what is
learned in various areas of life about someone to build a vision of the future about how that
person will live and work, along with his or her social relationships, hobbies and leisure
activities, settings, and lifestyle.
To provide employment support for someone, we first need to ask about the life dreams
and motivations that contribute to this individual’s personality. As the answers come together,
they will direct the development of a plan so that a vision of life becomes a reality.
Planning meetings should include a balance of professionals and nonprofessionals acting
as a team. Besides the individual, participants can include friends, family, guardians, teachers,
service providers, coworkers, and professional consultants. The key elements are interest in,
connection with, and respect for the person whose employment is being planned. Assist the
person with writing and sending invitations to people who should attend to set a tone of personcenteredness from the start.
Teams are generally required to meet at least annually to update service plans and
develop new ones. When people’s lives and needs change more frequently, the team should meet
more often. Any member of the team may seek out the individual with a disability and his or her
service coordinator to suggest a meeting of the full team or a partial grouping of the team.
Effective Team Processes
Since quality of life means something different to each person, each team
process should be unique. More effective team gatherings support:
• the individual’s wishes as the center of planning
• all team members’ contributions
• creativity in building supports
• developing supports around the person instead of placing the person into fixed
services
Required Written Plans
Person-centered approaches to planning can be used with:
• Individual Educational Plans
• Individual Plan of Employment
• Individual Service, Support, or Habilitation Plans
Careers Based on Interests and Aptitudes
Supported employment is centered on helping people pursue meaningful lives by
exploring their dreams, hopes, interests, and capabilities through vocational pursuits. Once
someone’s general life direction is better understood, then career services can be created to
support those goals. A team works with the person to decide a schedule of activities and supports
that will organize available resources to embark on a chosen career ladder. Some of these actions
will build on strengths, while others negotiate needs. But all services revolve around the person’s
wishes and not some arbitrary fix-it list.
Often, an individual with a disability has a career vision which professionals or others
dismiss as unrealistic. Immediate denial of dreams, however unrealistic, keeps people from
communicating important information. When considering career goals, think of how best to
approach the realization of a life’s dream. For example, if an individual expresses a desire to be a
musician, seek creative ways to vocationally enter a field in which music is involved. Working in
a music store, in a theater, or at a radio station may help the individual be close to his or her
dream.
A career futures statement should be a few well written, brief paragraphs (about a half to
full page at most) which project the “best guess” of where, what, and how the person, with the
input of the people who care about him or her, wants to move forward in the employment world
and in life. Some questions to consider in this type of process include a broad range of life areas
(see list below).
Areas to Explore in Person-Centered Planning
Preferred Life Dreams
What are the hopes, aspirations and even life fantasies of the person and
those involved who care about him or her?
Relationships/Belonging
Who are the key people who will be involved and what will define their
relationship?
Work
What type of career, hours, position, location, and setting does the person
prefer?
Personal Interests/Leisure Pursuits
How will the individual incorporate motivating interests, and hobbies into
meaningful activities and participation?
Personal Growth
What kinds of competencies does the person wish and need to learn to
realize to live the goals and future statements stated?
Health
What areas of healthy living will need support?
Special Considerations
What are the unique aspects of this person that should be considered in
projecting future life?
Non-Negotiables
What are the things that absolutely must occur or must not happen for the
person?
Getting to Know the Job Seeker
Getting to know your customers is a very important first step in starting your job. This means
developing a relationship with each person to learn what makes that person unique. A lot of
coworkers or family members may way to "tell" you about particular customers. Your job is to
form your own opinions about each person based on your relationship with that person.
Getting to know your customers means developing relationships. Some suggestions about how to
get to know each person are illustrated in this section. The information you learn about each
individual will help you advocate for that person and encourage self-directed services.
You will want to start a person-centered planning process. Think about what you would like to
have happen if someone was going to help you get a new job.

Would you want to be included in all parts of the job seeking process?

Would you want to be able to choose the job according to your interests?

Would you want to find out what duties would be expected of you in a job before you
decide if you want it?

Would you want to be able to use abilities you already have?

Would you like to be able to learn new skills on the job?
The people you will be working with want the same things.
Reviewing the File
When you look at a job seeker's file you are likely to find results from standadized tests,
medical records and case notes from a variety of sources. It is a good idea to
familiarize yourself with this information but do not draw any conclusions about the
person's ability to work. Most of the standardized tests will tell you what the person can
not do. What you need to know is what he/she can do. This information generally is not
in the file. The best way to find out a great deal of information in a short amount of time
is by picking up the job seeker at his/her home and going out for lunch. Through a lunch
date you will be able to see how the job seeker lives and how he/she responds to
people in the community. By visiting his/her home, you can find out a wealth of
information that would take years to find out from your office.
Home Site Visit
Facts you might gather by picking up the person at his/her home:

Who does the person live with?

How much control does he/she have over the home environment?

What types of hobbies does he/she have?

Is the family (or residential staff) supportive of work?

Does the person have access to transportation?

Does the person have financial income such as SSI / SSDI benefits?
Lunch Date
Next, by taking the job seeker to lunch you will be able to observe many of the person's
skills.

How well he/she is able to travel in the community.

How he/she reacts to people in the community.

If he/she can read a menu.

If he/she can handle money.

How well he/she can communicate in a social setting.
You can discuss the following over lunch:

Does the job seeker have an idea of what job he/she would like?

Has he/she ever tried this type of work?

Why does he/she want to work?

Does he/she have a good understanding of what work is?
Field Trip
Field trips in the community are used to look at different job opportunities in the area. A
field trip helps you continue to get to know the person by observing his/her interests. A
person's reactions to the field trip will help you determine jobs for which he/she could be
best suited.
Assessments
Formal and informal assessments allow you to get to know more detailed information
about the person. Assessments will help you learn more details about the person's
likes, dislikes, fears and non-negotiables.

A formal assessment requires a written format.

An informal assessment requires community-based work assessments.
The information collected through assessments is useful to determine a good job match
for the person. This technique will also help to ensure that the person is getting the
opportunity to do all the things he/she wants and desires ot do in all areas of his/her life
work, living, and leisure.
Getting to Know the Job Seeker – Review
The following techniques are proven strategies in geting to know each person.
1. Make a home site visit
2. Take the person to lunch
3. Take field trips in the community with the person to observe different jobs being
done.
Conduct formal and informal assessments of what you learn from these outings.
Given your efforts in ensuring the person has had every opportunity to express his/her
interests, this process of supported employment will result in a successful and satisfied
employee. However, if the person is not happy in the two other areas of his/her life
(living and leisure), he/she probably will not be happy and successful at work. When
you get to know the person for all he/she can be and wants to be, then you are on your
way to helping that person achieve success. Make every effort to help people realize
their dreams.
The Role of the Employment Specialist
Early supported employment efforts focused on the job coach providing instruction and
training to the employee on how to do the job. This unique feature of on-the-job training using
precise behavioral approaches enabled many individuals to learn complex job skills. However,
the support of the employee was controlled nearly entirely by human service agencies. This led to
a number of difficulties, especially with dependency on the job coach and poor integration of the
supported employee.
At the same time, the need for hiring groups of people has been called into question. As a
result, more and more employers are hiring individuals with disabilities to fill specific labor
needs, basing their hiring decisions on what a person can accomplish with appropriate
accommodations and supports. This has resulted in a strong relationship between business and
vocational services.
Vocational services are moving away from providing artificial environments and heavily
staff-controlled supervision of employees with severe disabilities. The perspectives of human
service staff are evolving in several different ways. The role of job coach as caretaker has been
supplanted by that of facilitator.
As service providers become more familiar with businesses and work environments, they
are recognizing two things: the capacity of the natural setting to support workers with disabilities
and the inability of services to take over many support functions.
For instance, some behavior management techniques successful in building skills and
modifying behaviors in human service settings present social problems when used in a work
setting. Behavior programs, data sheets, reinforcement schedules, and token systems seem
artificial and clinical to coworkers. These kinds of tools can be useful, but we also have to
consider that most natural work settings have informal approaches to skill building, behavior
change, and accommodation that work well and fit more smoothly into the existing culture.
Characteristics of Effective Supported Employment Staff
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Positive attitude
Sense of humor
Effective communication
Commitment to social integration
Creativity
Knowledge of job seekers and available services
Flexibility
Collaboration skills
Energy
Problem-solving skills
Knowledge of business community
Willingness to consult with employer on human resource concerns
The Employment Specialist as a Consultant
The realization that there are naturally-existing supports at workplaces available to
workers with disabilities has led to a new emphasis in vocational services on building mutually
beneficial partnerships with businesses. As successful employment experiences have taken hold
in company after company, these successes have led to a willingness to try new approaches and
question old assumptions. Some key concepts by Hagner and DiLeo (1993) are listed below.
Thus, the role of the job coach or employment specialist is evolving from that of
providing direct assistance, training, and caretaking to one of facilitating support from within the
natural environment and helping to fill the gaps as needed. Job descriptions vary depending on
agency, location, and to some extent, the skills of the person hired. Most employment specialists,
however, do have direct service roles related to the following:
• guidance in career planning
• job development and marketing
• facilitation of social and work support
• job analysis
• job support
• job accommodations
• employer consultation
• troubleshooting
• transportation
Choose-Get-Keep
Supported employment has become the service of choice for the vocational rehabilitation
of individuals with severe and persistent psychiatric disabilities. The Choose-Get-Keep approach
(Anthony, et al., 1990) emphasizes person-centered goals, a person/environment match,
assessment, planning and intervention and the development of skills and personal supports for
success in community settings. These parallel job matching, placement and training/follow-along
in traditional supported employment. This approach focuses on the individual’s progress rather
than staff’s activities.
Choosing includes employment goal setting, job development and decision making.
These activities occur prior to or overlapping job placement. Family members and significant
others are included in decision-making after the individual has clarified his or her own goal.
Getting activities include placement planning, direct placement and placement support.
During this phase, disability disclosure and education about disclosing become important issues.
Keeping activities include skill development, service coordination and employer coordination.
Self-Determination
Self-determination is a growing movement within the disability rights field. It has been
defined as people empowering themselves to make their own free decisions and direct the course
of their life. This concept is particularly important for vocational assessment and career planning.
There are a lot of ways for employment consultants to support self-determination for
people with disabilities. For some people, it means supporting them to make decisions. For
others, it means helping them gain control of resources. Some people with disabilities prefer
active participation, while others will want assistance from professionals with researching all of
their options before they become involved in making their choices.
How empowered a person will be in the process of planning his or her career depends on
different things:
• how active the person wants to be
• how interdependent the person wishes to be
• what resources the person can get and control
• how well the person can define and direct the
supports needed
There are many roles for different people to play when planning a career. With so many
people who might be involved, what is the best “empowering” role for the job seeker with a
disability?
This question must be answered individually. Each person, family, and personal network
is very different, and each person will want to direct their career planning process in different
ways. The box below provides key guidelines for success
Principles for Successful Self Determination
Monadnock Self Determination Project, New Hampshire (1996)
Freedom: The ability for individuals with freely chosen family and/or friends to plan a
life with necessary support rather than purchase a program.
Authority: The ability for a person with a disability, with a social support network or
circle if needed, to control a certain sum of dollars in order to purchase these
supports.
Support: The arranging of resources and personnel, both formal and formal, that will
assist an individual with a disability to live a full life in the community.
Responsibility: The acceptance of a valued role in a person’s community as well as
accountability for spending public dollars in ways that are life-enhancing.
Ways to Facilitate Self-Determination
• Develop life experiences related to interests and skills in a variety of community
settings for the person to directly experience.
• Represent the person in negotiations with others to realize his or her expressed
wishes.
• Help the person to implement decisions about supports, services, and financial
resources.
• Help arrange expressed preferences by the person for particular job coaches,
residential staff, or others.
• Help to arrange expressed preferences by a supported employee for particular
job tasks, coworker supports, or other job accommodations.
• Teach how to plan for goal accomplishment, how to take action on their plan,
and how to evaluate their progress and adjust their plan if necessary.
Job Development and Support
Once you have developed a marketing plan, it is time to coordinate your plan with
targeted, individualized job development based on the career planning of each individual. The
steps the career planning team can take to do this are summarized below.
STEP 1: Brainstorm types of work sites which contain elements corresponding
to the personal career profile developed.
STEP 2: Generate ideas about job duties within each type of work site that the
individual would like to do.
STEP 3: List specific job requirements in relation to hours, benefits, pay, and
transportation that might impact job success.
STEP 4: List specific employers for each work site category.
STEP 5: Develop a personal network plan for specific employers listed by
exploring social connections to persons affiliated with the employers. Utilize the
planning team and other connections, including neighbors, staff, friends, family,
and family networks.
STEP 6: Assign team members to pursue contacts, set up appointments, and
pursue other strategies for approaching the employers listed.
STEP 7: Prepare materials in relation to the types of employer workplaces
targeted, such as resumes, references, letters of introductions, and articles of
interest.
STEP 8: Set timelines and goals and determine strategies to coordinate
employer activities and negotiation of job placement.
‘
Job Development through Networking
Finding jobs through networking with other people has several advantages over other
techniques (see below). In fact, recent research has shown that it takes two-and-a-half more
contacts to reach a “yes” hiring decision when approaching unknown employers, or using a “cold
call” approach.
It is much more effective to start by developing a list of individuals with some connection
to the job seeker. Each of these individuals also has social connections, and a marketing chain
can be linked together. The job developer then meets an employer through mutual connections.
To make the most of this, expand job development so it becomes a part of everyone’s job.
Since networking is crucial, utilize the existing agency and school networks to the fullest.
This includes direct service staff, administration, support personnel, board members, teachers,
and volunteers. Communicate the results of career planning sessions to everyone on staff. Career
planning should result in descriptions of desired jobs, types of jobs, locations, and settings.
Request that everyone look for job opportunities in the community while out shopping, banking,
or engaging in recreation activities.
Advantages to Networking in Job Development
• People listen more attentively when they know and respect the source.
• Existing relationships help to personalize business contacts, providing
common ground for conversation.
• Supported employees get the advantage of being initially able to join a work
culture through the sponsorship of the connection that got them there.
• Hiring through informal connections is an accepted and expected practice in
many businesses.
Approaches for Making Contacts
Job development requires flexibility and creativity and will be different according to each
job developer’s personal style. Three common methods of contacting employers are discussed
below.
Social Contact
Business people often rely on casual contacts for meeting other business people and
securing important appointments. In order to use informal social contacts, job developers must
make a commitment to go where business people go.
Written Contact
In the absence of a referral (and in most cases even when a referral is available), a letter
of introduction can introduce the job developer to the employer and pave the way for a telephone
call to get the appointment.
Some suggestions for written contact are:
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Do not use photocopies or form letters
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Type neatly
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Type addresses – do not use labels
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Sign every letter personally
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Use postage stamps – do not use bulk or metered mail
The purpose of the letter of introduction is simply to provide a referral that will improve
the chances for getting an appointment. The purpose is not to ask for a job and not to describe the
service – it is to obtain access to the employer.
Telephone Contact
Using the telephone to follow up on a letter of introduction or a referral is an efficient and
accepted business practice. Remember the purpose of the call is to get the appointment. Do not
try to sell the employer over the telephone.
Be prepared to answer any questions that the employer may ask. Even if you prefer not to
do so on the telephone, you may have to answer in-depth questions. Follow positive calls with a
letter confirming the appointment.
Guidelines for Initial Job Development Contacts
• Know your purpose and stick to it.
• Be careful of labels – carefully describe the person represented.
• Try to generate interest.
• Do not try to sell the service before listening to the employer.
• Identify your role in meeting the essential needs of employers.
• Do not use jargon.
• Be brief.
• Double-check everything – grammar, spelling, addresses, and names.
Job Bank
Once employer information is collected, it should be organized into a job bank, with a file
on every employer. The goal is to know as much as you can about each employer both personally
and professionally. This will allow you to build a working relationship with them and monitor
their developing employment needs.
Develop a complete list of area businesses by exploring Chamber of Commerce
memberships, business directories, Yellow Pages or other listings. Organize these businesses into
categories such as growth industries, established companies, companies with labor concerns, and
start-up businesses. Once they are categorized, you will be able to use the list to prioritize
companies for contact based on potential job matches and opportunity for quality placements
from the career planning sessions you have completed.
As you learn about each employer, write a profile describing key points. Include a resume
of the contact person, company goals and concerns, present and future employment needs, and a
history of all communication with the employer.
The job bank must be kept up-to-date, because outdated information can be worse than no
information at all. It should also be treated as confidential, since some of it may not be intended
for the general public. Share it with the necessary people in your program, but monitor who has
access to it out of respect for each employer.
Contents for Entries in Job Banks
• Information on your contact person at the business (education, family,
previous employment, special interests)
• Details about the company (management goals and concerns, present and
future employment needs, openness to hiring people with disabilities)
• Communications: how the employer heard about you; what sort of contact has
been made with the employer, when and by whom; and what the next step in
the communication process should be
Face-to-Face Interaction
The first minutes of a job development meeting generally establish the atmosphere
surrounding the individuals doing business. This requires interacting with the employer with
sincerity, confidence, comfort, knowledge and competence. Don’t try to sell your services
immediately. Instead, the developer should take a little time to explore mutual interests and
common ground. The topic of conversation will naturally evolve to the employer and his or her
needs.
As you discuss your resources, develop one idea at a time. Use the known to help explain
the unknown through examples of other employers, jobs, and successes. As your time is likely to
be brief, manage it well; be concise, polite, confident, honest, and sincere.
Keep the presentation simple and to the point. Avoid using confusing human service or
education jargon and regulations. Anticipate questions that employers might have. Frequently,
when people don’t understand something, they won’t ask questions because they don’t want to
appear unknowledgeable.
If an employer’s point of view is different from your own, you can present additional
information to help the employer see your point. However, being over-enthusiastic about your
services may be perceived as being too pushy and too talkative. Overselling is likely to reduce
your image of trustworthiness in the long run.
Points to Remember in Direct Job Development Conversation
• Be relaxed. Discuss news events, local happenings, or sports. Express your
interest in office mementos. Once rapport is established, shift the conversation
to the employer’s company and its needs.
• Use natural body language to convey your confidence and excitement about
the benefits of hiring the individual you are representing. Avoid stiff, unusual,
or exaggerated movements.
• Spend time making direct eye contact with the employer. If you are making a
presentation to more than one person, make eye contact with each person.
• Humanize your presentation with real stories and anecdotes about people.
Humor should never be demeaning or at someone’s expense. Avoid
rehearsed jokes.
• Have a clear picture of what the employer’s needs are and reflect this in
conversation. Make your hiring message relevant to the employer with
language and references from the particular business.
• Acknowledge an employer’s concerns before responding to them.
Disclosure of Disability to Employers
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the government
agency that oversees the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the
disclosure of disability prior to a job offer can only be decided by the job seeker with a disability.
Thus, while general marketing materials can encourage employers to hire people with
disabilities, job development materials used when representing a person should not disclose the
presence of disability unless the individual has authorized it through informed consent for each
employer.
Even when a person with a visible disability arrives at an interview, the decision to
disclose the nature of his or her disability is a personal one. The employer may only question the
person about his or her ability to perform specific job functions.
The reason this is a part of the law is the discrimination job seekers with disabilities have
faced when applying for jobs. Unfortunately, some employers still stereotype and retain
misinformation related to people’s disability labels which might prevent a job offer from being
made.
The implications of disclosure for job development are important. When an agency
highlights its disability services in its name or brochure, and that material is used when
representing an individual, the disclosure of that individual’s disability occurs automatically,
with or without permission. According to the EEOC, this can put the job applicant in likely
jeopardy of discrimination.
Despite this, some job developers feel it is dishonest or unfair to not tell the employer
about the disability of the person they are representing. But with good career planning, vocational
assessment, and job matching, the most important factor is whether or not the person can perform
the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, rather than his or
her disability label.
Once a job offer is made, the person still has the choice to disclose his or her disability.
An important consideration is that the employer must know about the disability to be under any
obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation. Still, some people choose to keep their
disability private. This decision should be respected.
Job seekers with disabilities should always be advised about the implications of their
decision whether or not to disclose.
EEOC and Disclosure of Disability
An employer may not make any pre-employment inquiries regarding
disability, but may ask questions about the ability to perform specific job
functions. This prohibition is necessary to assure that qualified candidates are
not screened out because of their disability before their actual ability to do a job
is evaluated.
If an individual has a known disability that might interfere with or prevent
performance of job functions, he or she may be asked to describe or
demonstrate how these functions will be performed, with or without an
accommodation. An exception, however, is if an applicant asks for reasonable
accommodation for the hiring process.
Employment Incentives
There are a number of financial incentives available to employers for hiring employees
with disabilities. While these should not be the primary benefit cited by a job developer, they can
be discussed as a means of additional support for accommodation once interest in hiring has been
established.
Job Accommodation Network
Free consulting service on available aids, devices, adjustments, and
placement information (1-800-JAN-7234).
IRS Tax Credit
A tax credit (IRS Code Section 44) entitling small businesses to apply for a 50
percent tax credit for expenditures establishing barrier-free access costing from
$250.00 to $10,250.00. The maximum credit is $5,125.00. This credit not only
covers the removal of physical barriers but also “auxiliary aids and services.”
Tax Credit on Architectural and Transportation Barriers
Tax deduction on expenditures up to $15,000 to make a workplace or public
transportation vehicles physically accessible for employees and customers.
Work Opportunities Tax Credit (WOTC)
Tax credit of up to 25 percent of qualified wages for members of target
groups, including workers with disabilities, employed at least 120 but fewer than
400 hours, and 40 percent of the first $6000 in wages paid for those employed
400 or more hours. (Must be reauthorized by US Congress annually; replaced
Targeted Jobs Tax Credit in 1996.)
Association for Retarded Citizens of the USA
Reimbursement of 50 percent of entry wage for first 160 hours of on-the-job
training and 25 percent of entry wage for second 160 hours. Worker must be
considered mentally retarded with an IQ below 70, at least 16 years old, and
unemployed over seven days. The position must be permanent and full-time,
with pay above minimum wage. (1-800-433-5255)
Vocational Rehabilitation On-The-Job Training Program
Shared payment of an employee’s wages for a limited time on a negotiated
schedule. Worker must be a VR client. Position must be permanent, full-time,
with pay at or above minimum wage. May not claim WOTC and On-the-JobTraining (OJT) for the same wages.
Job Acquisition
When a job offer has been made and an individual is to start employment, there are a
number of things to be done to ensure a smooth transition. First, meet with the job seeker and
communicate with the individual and key members of his or her support and planning team about
the specifics of the job. Be sure the job seeker can make an informed decision about accepting or
rejecting the job, and that the support team is also fully informed.
Once the person has made a decision, make sure the response has been communicated to
the employer in an appropriate way, preferably by the job seeker himself or herself. Be sure to
finalize any negotiations, such as wages, benefits, or a needed accommodation, so that the
employer, job seeker, and planning team are all in agreement.
Next, work on any arrangements to prepare for the first day of work. This includes a
contacting necessary agencies (social security, vocational rehabilitation, etc.), arranging
transportation, setting up any work-required medical examinations and testing, and purchasing or
acquiring needed equipment, clothing, or uniforms.
Finally, be sure to complete whatever other paperwork is needed, such as amending the
person’s Transition IEP or individual support plan.
Helping Supported Employees Learn New Skills
There is always a need for a supported employee to be able to accomplish new things
when starting a new job or task. As we have seen, some new situations are better solved by the
employment consultant simply arranging assistance from a coworker. Others can be approached
by using accommodations or modifications.
But some things will require the supported employee to demonstrate new skills. It is
important for the employment consultant to provide consultation and assistance and view
teaching as a partnership between the employee and employer.
Knowledge of training technologies can be a very powerful tool. Helping people to learn
new, efficient ways of doing things is highly valued by most employers. The training advice the
employment consultant provides will work not only with people with disabilities, but with
anyone who needs to learn a new task. In addition, there are times when, due to the time or
energy needed, direct training of the supported employee by the employment consultant, either on
the job site or outside it, will need to occur.
Learning new skills on the job should never be left to chance. Most people learn best
when taught precisely. An employment consultant should define with both employer and
employee what new skills and behaviors are to be learned and the process and standards by
which performance will be evaluated.
Learning job skills also requires receiving information that matches one’s learning style,
being in the right settings, having achievable goals, and having opportunities to learn and
practice. Employees with disabilities may need extra assistance or some technology support,
sufficient learning opportunities, enough time to learn, and the right amount of practice not to
forget. Some guidelines to consider are below.
Effective Training Practices
• Be consistent when you teach new skills.
When teaching a new skill, consistency enables learners to know what to
expect so they can pay attention to the task.
• Provide frequent and varied practice.
People learn best when they practice something until it is mastered. But
boredom can occur if there are too many opportunities for practice. To avoid
this, vary practice strategies.
• Keep a record of the learning.
Record the activity and date; the amount of supervision, help, and time
needed; accuracy; accomplishments; and difficulties. This will help with
planning for the next time.
• Foster learning through the natural environment.
Look for learning opportunities within the natural setting where the skill is to be
used.
• Determine the most effective learning style for the person.
Each person learns best in certain ways. When teaching a new skill, use the
style that the person prefers.
Training with Natural Validity
Before beginning any training plan, always first observe how other workers are learning
and performing their jobs. Often employers have existing training systems and personnel who
provide instruction. This might include formal training, but in many cases is more likely to be an
informal process in which a coworker or supervisor gives instruction and assistance.
It is important for the employment consultant not to interfere with training that would
otherwise naturally occur. Instead, supplement the training and suggest enhancements in
whatever ways are needed for the supported employee to succeed in learning. While there may be
situations requiring direct teaching, most of the time coworkers and others can teach work rules
and skills. One advantage to this approach is that the training comes from those who best know
the task to be learned.
In fact, many businesses prefer to conduct their own training (with assistance and
consultation) rather than use an outside trainer. Supported employees also may have opinions
about whom they wish to have as a trainer. Many agencies have reported instances where
supported employees have deliberately worked less well in the presence of an agency
employment consultant, or have asked the individual to leave.
There can also be the reverse problem. When an employment consultant takes over
training and support on the job, that person may have a hard time leaving the job site. This
difficulty in fading is generally due to the interdependent relationship that develops between an
employment consultant and the supported employee, effectively screening out the potential for
more natural mentor and coworker relationships.
When effective supports are available at a worksite, sometimes the best thing an
employment consultant can do is to not get in the way. Other times support systems within the
worksite will not develop spontaneously but will need to be partly facilitated. And still other
times there is simply no natural training available and the employment consultant must provide
the training. In this case, when choosing how to train, always consider the least intrusive, most
acceptable mode of training to the work culture that will still be the most effective for the
individual. In other words, the training should have natural validity, and not stigmatize the
supported employee.
Potential Coworker Roles in Job Training
• Give orientation to the job
• Provide advice and reassurance
• Provide direct instruction
• Translate job changes
• Point out natural cues
• Provide a link to others for support
• Help negotiate physical environment
• Give time management advice
• Check for accuracy and quality
• Modify job tasks
Planning Instruction through Task Analysis
A task analysis organizes an activity into chunks of behavior using teachable steps and
strategies for instruction. This allows the learner to develop multi-step, complex skills that would
otherwise be difficult to acquire. For example, learning to operate a dishwasher consists of many
different operations that generally should proceed in a certain order. By breaking these steps into
small learning units, an individual can concentrate on one step at a time (such as measuring
detergent).
Each individual will set her or his own content to determine teachable steps. The first step
in developing a task analysis is to decide on a method of performing the activity. There are
usually many ways to do any task. Always consider the most natural way of doing a task for the
learner, as well as the most accepted method in the setting it is to be performed.
Once a method is selected, develop a list of the teachable steps in the order they normally
occur. Once this is accomplished, decide on instructional strategies such as setting, materials,
order of teaching the steps, reinforcement, length of learning sessions, and natural cues.
Considerations When Developing a Task Analysis
• Person’s learning style
• Person’s ability to perform multistep operations
• Best order of steps
• Most natural way of doing the task
• Most accepted method of doing the task in the work setting
Common Errors in Task Analysis
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Are there any missing steps?
Is there an incomplete closure of the task?
Is there an inadequate beginning of the task?
Is the flow of steps inefficient ?
Are there any competing steps?
Is there a lack of materials or needed preparation?
Is there poor task design leading to inefficient motion?
Is a step too complex for the particular learner?
Are there too many unnecessary steps?
Is there an over-reliance on the trainer?
Analyzing Baseline Data
Before beginning actual instruction, it might be useful to obtain a baseline of performance
on the task by the worker. This information can be very useful because it will tell the worker, the
trainer, and the employer how the person is progressing from the start. The purpose of this type
of assessment is to only find out what the worker can do on his or her own; job training will then
later provide the cues, corrections, and reinforcement needed to actually fully learn the task.
A task analytic baseline should be as similar as possible to typical performance
conditions. The trainer generally refrains from providing reinforcement for correct steps, and
instead provide more generic statements of encouragement, such as “try your best” or “keep
going.” Reinforcement is best limited to congratulating the effort provided, rather than on
specific performance. The box below describes what outcomes a trainer should determine as the
result of the baseline.
Outcomes of Baseline Assessments
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What setting is most conducive to training?
Does the setting need to be modified?
Which trainer is the most effective and naturally valid instructor?
What natural supports exist for training?
What natural cue should initiate the task?
What cue (if any) should be used to initiate each step of the task?
How much time will the learner have to initiate each step of the task?
Does the task analysis need to be modified?
Are there any difficult steps that will require adaptations?
How will the trainer reinforce successful performance of a step?
How will the trainer reinforce the completion of the task?
How will the trainer respond to an error?
How will the trainer record performance?
What natural supports exist for ongoing support of performance?
Systematic Instruction and Prompting
Systematic instruction refers to an approach in training that precisely defines for each
individual each step of what is to be learned, what supports will be most effective for the person
to perform it, and how the learner can be best reinforced to be successful. Instruction is not just
getting the worker to do what he or she is supposed to do. Instead, it is for the worker to learn to
respond appropriately to the naturally occurring stimuli in the work environment.
A variety of teaching supports is available to help a new employee, such as the use of
prompts (see below). Prompts are brief instructional signals given before an action to help the
person when learning something new.
The learner should receive only the least assistance needed to succeed. Use consistent,
descriptive vocal prompts. Reduce extra words in directions and use an unexcited tone of voice
for a vocal prompt. When you reinforce a behavior, use a naturally expressive voice. This helps
to distinguish a prompt from other verbal behavior.
Give a vocal or a visual prompt before giving a tactile or guidance prompt. This will
provide an opportunity for the person to initiate the desired behavior himself or herself. (People
may become dependent more easily on physical guidance.)
The advantage of using prompts in teaching is that they help to initiate new, desirable
behavior. A possible disadvantage is that some people become too dependent on artificial
prompts. This disadvantage can be solved by fading the prompts as soon as possible. Fading
requires frequent monitoring of the individual’s ability to perform with fewer, less intense, or
more natural cues or supports.
Types of Prompts
• Vocal prompts:
• Visual prompts:
• Tactile prompts:
verbal instructions or hints.
pictures, gestures, or demonstrations.
touching or guiding through a skill.
Natural Cues
Whenever possible, prompts should be a natural part of the work setting. Environments
often have all sorts of possible signals built into them. For example, a scheduled work break can
signal something new to be done. Equipment, schedules, clocks, or people provide a variety of
signals.
For some difficult work tasks, built-in job prompts can be permanent. For example, a
dishwasher buzzer or a light in a mechanical counter can reliably support an employee in
completing a work task. These fixtures may need to be developed for some tasks in order for an
individual to function more independently. Some examples of natural environmental cues are
provided below.
Some Examples of Natural Cues
• Clock rings or tells a certain time
• Other coworkers leave an area
• Machinery stops
• Work piles up
• Checklist is posted
• Color tab labeled on a box
• Supplies run low
• Coworker provides instruction
Reinforcing Learning
Consequences following a behavior are called reinforcers when the frequency of that
behavior is maintained or increased. Reinforcers are essential for learning because they help
establish a positive approach while providing feedback to the individual about effective
behaviors.
Using reinforcement can be very effective to establish or maintain a new behavior. But
remember that inserting artificial or unusual types of reinforcement can do damage to a person’s
reputation and status.
In addition, if an employment consultant becomes too rigid with reinforcement, he or she
shifts control of the situation away from the employer and employee. Reinforcers should be
available and natural to the work setting. If the reinforcers used are not normally available, the
supported employee will rely on those artificial rewards to function at work. Reinforcers should
not single people out as different.
There are generally many natural reinforcers, including the self-satisfaction of mastering a
new skill; increased wages; or the social praise of coworkers, a supervisor, family, or others the
person cares about. Some guidelines for reinforcement are provided below.
Guidelines for Using Natural Reinforcement
• Authentic and appropriate to the context and person
• Age-appropriate and real
• Fit the setting and situation, as well as the person
• Best provided by those in the natural setting who normally provide them to
others
• Immediate and consistent for new learning
• Available in appropriate amounts
• Individualized
Reinforcement Strategies
There are a number of considerations when using reinforcers during skill training. Time
delays cause the strength of the reinforcer to decrease, and allow for intervening behaviors to
occur between the target behavior and the reinforcer. For a reinforcing relationship to work, there
should be some level of predictability of the occurrence of the consequence in relation to the
presence or absence of behavior.
Generally, the greater the quantity, the greater the strength of the reinforcing
relationship—to a point. Once quantity reaches a certain level (which is different for different
people), the reinforcer will lose its reinforcing properties. This is called satiation. This illustrates
how reinforcers, like behaviors, are not static and can change over time. There are a number of
strategies to avoid the satiation of reinforcers: a) use different reinforcers for different tasks, b)
alternate reinforcers during training, c) gradually decrease the quantity used, d) be sure that the
reinforcer is not something the person has easy access to throughout the day, and e) change the
pool of reinforcers.
The determination of whether something is actually a reinforcer depends completely on
its effect on behavior. Often mistakes are made in assuming an event will reinforce a particular
person because it usually acts as a reinforcer for others. But it is only the individual’s reactions to
situations, expectations, and events that can help one predict the future effect of potential
reinforcers.
The quickest learning curve is when the individual gets feedback and reinforcement for
every learning opportunity. Skills learned on continuous reinforcement, however, can extinguish
quickly. Natural reinforcers tend to be more variable and less predictable. This type of
intermittent reinforcement is highly resistant to extinction. Also, a reinforcer should be easily
delivered and should not interrupt what the person is doing.
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Continuous:
reinforcement after every target behavior
• Fixed Interval: reinforcement at the end of a set time
• Fixed Ratio:
reinforcement at the end of a set number of targeted behaviors
• Variable Interval:
reinforcement at varying times that average a
predetermined amount during the target behavior
• Variable Ratio: reinforcement at varying numbers that average a predetermined
amount of target behaviors
Principles of Reinforcement
Conditioned Reinforcer: Something that has become effective as a reinforcer by being
consistently paired with another reinforcer.
Contingency: The relationship between a behavior and the reinforcer that will follow
based on the behavior occurring.
Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior (DRI): Reinforcing behavior that is
incompatible with non-preferred behavior, making the non-preferred behavior difficult or
impossible to perform.
Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO): Reinforcing general behavior that
does not include non-preferred behavior.
Premack Principle: The opportunity to engage in a preferred (high frequency) behavior
can serve as a reinforcer for a less preferred (lower frequency) behavior.
Shaping: Systematically reinforcing closer approximations to the desired behavior.
Chaining: Reinforcing a series of related behaviors that can be linked together.
Gradient of Reinforcement: The reinforcing properties of a reinforcer effect behavior that
precedes the target behavior, although in a lesser way.
Data Collection
Keeping track of the progress of learning is important for many reasons. It allows the
trainer and worker to monitor their progress, which can be reinforcing as well as a motivator for
success. It also helps pinpoint difficulties, whether it is a difficult step in a task analysis, a
troubling piece of equipment, or a task that is hard to complete.
There are a number of strategies to collect data. One way is to use interval recording. An
observation period is divided into equal intervals and an observer records the occurrence or
nonoccurrence of the target behavior. This is best used when the skill is not easily counted, such
as being "on-task." In momentary interval recording, the individual would be observed at the end
of each interval. Whole interval recording requires the behavior to persist for the entire length of
an observation interval to be counted.
Another approach is to keep count of the frequency of performance, or how many times
did something occur. One could also keep track of duration, or how long does it take to complete
a task. Still another approach is to keep track of needed assistance, either by counting prompts,
interruptions, or some other measure.
Different data collection tools work best for different situations. Whatever approach is
chosen, however, make sure the collection of data is not stigmatizing or considered unusual to
the work setting. Collecting data should be as unobtrusive as possible.
Once data has been collected, summarize and chart performance over time. Graphic
representations of progress tend be more informative and summarize nicely problem areas and
success.
Fading
Fading is an important part of supported employment because it helps a person to work
with fewer artificial supports. One way to fade is by using a slightly smaller, less guided cue each
time the person performs the task.
Another way is to build support for each area where someone might need assistance. The
best way to reduce trainer dependency is to be sure the setting provides all needed cues. Fade
from prompts that are not a part of the natural environment and direct the learner to the setting’s
natural cues.
Another facet of fading is to help the learner generalize newly learned skills so he or she
can use them in a variety of situations and settings. Once a skill is mastered in one setting, new
skills can be introduced so the learner can continually experience success. Generalization also
can be done with different materials, times, or situations.
Fading the level of reinforcers will encourage a more natural, uninterrupted performance
of the task. The schedule for reinforcers should move from intensive and continuous to a more
natural and sporadic level. As the person becomes more proficient, the quantity of reinforcers
should be reduced, while the number of steps needed to reach reinforcement should increase.
Fading is an active process and does not mean arbitrarily reducing the employment
consultant’s presence. It includes active monitoring of performance and support needs. Whenever
possible, look for support and learning experiences that can become self-sustaining, rather than
dependent on outside assistance. As natural supports are built up over time, the employment
consultant’s presence becomes less and less necessary.
Elements of the Fading Process
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Use smaller, less guided prompts.
Where assistance is needed, develop supports from the natural environment.
Help generalize newly learned skills.
Reduce reinforcers to a natural frequency and level for the work environment.
Helping Workers Fit in with Work Cultures
Inappropriate social behaviors can occur for many reasons. For a new employee with little
observational skills or perhaps with little motivation to pick up cues to decipher cultural norms,
social errors will likely occur. In these situations, provided there is a desire to remain on the job,
some support steps must be taken, or the individual will face the risk of job failure and social
ostracism.
Some behavior technology that has been used in the human services field to change
challenging behavior consists of many techniques defined in research literature. These include
selective use of reinforcement, redirection techniques, response-cost, over-correction, time out,
and other highly technical approaches.
While many of these are effective tools, there are other considerations in natural settings
which must be considered. For example, co-workers would view some programmatic approaches
as restrictive, artificial or unusual. Time-out rooms, artificial token economies or over-correction
procedures are not commonly employed in work settings. In some cases, the use of these
“solutions” is probably more damaging to reputation than the behavior itself.
Another consideration when environmental modifications are not as easily done is to help
the individual realize the implications of his or her own behavior. This might involve:
• discussing the behavior and how others likely will respond to it,
• researching the environment and its demands,
• modeling effective behavior,
• providing counseling.
We all turn to those we trust when we feel out of sorts with our environment. At work,
you may confide in a coworker, supervisor, or family or friends at home. These individuals have
the advantage of having a more detached perspective, while at the same time they have your
basic interests at heart. With this in mind, help connect the individual to someone who can be in
just that role. This doesn’t happen as a solution to a problem, but rather requires an investment in
time and effort right from the start.