A student of TLC does a kitchen task at the school's Sheltered Workshop.

As it is, it is already hard for regular people to look for a job. What more the people with disabilities?

“Gainful employment for individuals with special needs is, sadly, still at its infancy despite the country’s laws. The way we see it in the sector, employment services for our special population, especially for those with developmental and cognitive needs such as autism and intellectual disability, are scarce or hardly profitable. When you study it, vocational and employment laws predominantly cater to populations with physical, visual and hearing difficulties,” explains teacher Maria Yolanda Michelle Bautista, curriculum director of The Learning Center (TLC), Inc..

Another threat to people with special needs is discrimination in the workplace.

“Yes, it continues to be a concern for the sector. For instance, when we were starting our on-the-job training (OJT) program, many of the companies we contacted turned us down. One personnel even said, ‘Normal people with tattoos don’t even get hired here. How much more for people like that?’,” Bautista narrates.

Bautista expresses that it is because of the lack of information among these companies that they discriminate people with special needs. She also admits that there are certain qualities that these companies look for, that unfortunately, their students lack.

“Nevertheless, we acknowledge the fact that more and more companies are becoming very open to hiring individuals with special needs. We are especially proud and thankful to have the continuous support of two major companies — Bellevue Hotel and Planet Sports — for our OJT programs,” she shares.

SPECIAL TRAINING APPROACH FOR SPED

Children with special needs usually train and master tasks through special pre-vocational skills program, ideally to start for 11-year old children. They then start formal vocational training by age 15 to 18 years old.

“Vocational skills training programs have emerged to answer the growing occupational needs of individuals with special needs and allow them to move from school to adulthood and the world of work. Programs such as these focus on the development of needed vocational skills such as appropriate work behaviors, work habits and attitudes, general work skills, specific work skills, production and generation of income,” explains Bautista who holds a BA in Social Science major in Behavioral Studies degree from University of the Philippines Manila. Bautista also finished a Social Entrepreneurship training program for professionals at Ateneo de Manila University’s School of Government.

She says that training individuals with special needs are not necessarily difficult but they do require a specialized approach.

“First, there has to be a basis or established starting point before a student is placed in any vocational skills training program. Trainor should know the child’s interests and preferences, aptitudes in skills, temperaments or worker style preferences, learning preferences and styles, developmental background information, worker characteristics, and other work-related behaviors; vocational or occupational skills in specific or other required jobs skills; and functional or life skills needed to address personal and independent living concerns,” she says.

DIFFERENT TRAINING MODELS

There are also different models of vocational preparation such as adapted vocational education, work-adjustment/readiness program and work activities.

The adapted vocational education modifies the training by breaking down tasks into smaller instructional units to ensure mastery, accommodations and support services are available.

On the other hand, the work-adjustment/readiness program deals on pre-vocational skills such as communication, social skills, rate and production, accuracy and quality. A student is given an orientation to the world of work; program addresses work deficiencies and maladaptive behaviors.

For the work activities, this is specifically made this is for those with difficulty in formal vocational training program; basic work skills such as sorting, assembly/disassembly, product handling, materials handling, use of tools and equipment are addressed.

DIFFERENT FOLKS, DIFFERENT STROKES

According to Bautista the challenge of conducting vocational skills training varies.

They deal with difficult students, and it can also come from family, school, and community related problems.

She also says that challenge also lies on the condition of a child. There are particular conditions that are easier to manage than others.

“Students with autism, for example, learn routine tasks better. Students with intellectual disability, on the other hand need protracted time and more repetitions to learn or master specific tasks. However, this is still dependent on the students’ individual functioning levels — whether they have low, moderate or high functioning levels. Thus, an assessment is important,” she relates.

But more than the difficulty and challenges, she says that all children with special needs of various conditions can undergo a vocational skills training program.

“It is not so much the condition as it is the students’ level of functioning that makes training more challenging. As a whole, students on the lower functioning range, regardless of condition, have more difficulties in learning vocational tasks. In addition, aggressive and self-stimulatory concerns or tendencies may affect their work performance,” she adds.

WORKING FOR THE FUTURE

Despite the obvious discrimination, SpEd schools are not stopping from training their students to somehow become independent individuals.

“While the lack of legislative implementation has pushed the special population’s employment concerns to the realm of the SpEd sector, only a handful of schools in the country offer vocational skills training programs for students with special needs. Schools like TLC are growing by the number however, which is a very good indication of the progress of SpEd in the country,” she says.

Even if only a handful of people with disabilities end working mainstream, there are still small places that they can end up working with.

“Employment in mainstream work settings are not the be all and end all for every special individual. Special students may become very productive in sheltered workshops, such as TLC’s Sheltered Workshop and social enterprises, such as TLC Sheltered Social Enterprise. Most of these settings employ assembly line systems that allow students, despite varying conditions and levels of functioning, to contribute,” she relates.

“Likewise, students can learn necessary skills from vocational skills training programs that they can use later on in family-owned businesses or enterprises,” Bautista ends.