Participation in Work of People with Disabilities by Means of Technical Assistance

Abstract The comprehensive realization of social participation for all individuals is a particular challenge in which the working world proves to be an important sphere. Despite normative reference points through socio-political innovations, people with intellectual disabilities and a high need for support are particularly excluded. Even in sheltered workshops, this group of people is excluded from participating in work as the challenges of life and labor in the 21 st century are becoming ever more complex and the demands of production and business stricter. As a result, people with intellectual disabilities and a high need for support often fall off the radar in current inclusion efforts and – despite legal obligations – do not receive adequate support to participate in work. To counteract the negligence and tacit acceptance of the deprivation of a large part of the sheltered workshop employees – in the sense of social affiliation by work participation – design options for promoting work participation require careful consideration. This paper analyses the use and impact of technical assistance to promote work participation for people with intellectual disabilities and high support needs and reports the results of a field study on the use of technical assistance in a sheltered workshop.