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=Employment struggles of Intellectually and Developmentally disabled people (IDDs)=

Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is a shorthand to refer to a group of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders most notably including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy, and down syndrome. Since IDD includes multiple already varied disorders, the range of ability among individuals is great.

Historically IDD people have faced challenges such as subminimum wages, segregation, and discrimination for their disabilities. These financial, institutional, and societal challenges remain ever present. Currently in the United States, only 25.5% of working age people with a cognitive disability work, either part time or full time. Not only are there low employment percentages among the IDD community, but even within the working subsect there are also issues of poor sustained employment and working primarily low wage jobs.

Financial
Many disabled individuals are reliant on government subsidized welfare to support their necessary therapies and assistive services. Such services, especially in the United States, often have complex wording and glaring gaps in coverage. Navigating these gaps with cognitive or speaking difficulties is rarely addressed or institutionally supported. The complex needs of each individual often require case workers and case managers, further complicating the process.

Considerations of wage are also a critical financial barrier. The working hours and wage for IDD individuals is highly impacted by what type of work environment they are in, whether that be sheltered, supported, or integrated employment. Sheltered employment programs aim to segregate and specifically train disabled workers for the job at hand while supported employment offers specific supports to their disabled workers, but otherwise mixes employees with the general public. Out of all employment types for IDD individuals, sheltered employment had the lowest long term wages.

However, even with this distinction, both have sheltered and supported employment types often fall short of employees ever reaching economic self-sufficiency.

Societal
Deinstitutionalization in the 1960s and multiple legislation works passed in the 90s and early 2000s helped the IDD community gain more support from the community and opportunities for work through social programs and special education services. Most notable of these was the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enacted in 2013 which protects disabled individuals from being discriminated against in employment, government programs, and more. Factors such as customized training programs and integrated employment have significantly improved employment opportunities and outcomes for IDD people.

Furthermore, considerations of gender and race also impact employments rates. For example, people of diverse ethnic background have overall lower participation in both supported and sheltered employments compared to rates in vocational rehabilitation services.

Limited Research
Another significant barrier to fully understanding the barriers to employment IDD individuals face is the lack of long term wage analysis over multiple years as well as a lack of detailed comparative analyses between sheltered and supported employment types.

Mental Health
It has been repeatedly shown that employment of IDD individuals had a positive impact on their self esteem, self-confidence, career progression, and independence levels, especially when the place of employment was integrated. One journal interviewed 19 individuals about their perceptions of themselves as it related to their work and what they values from it. They highlighted the interpersonal connections created, the feeling of having supports, the developed sense of autonomy, and the ability to learn new skills as well as an increase in self worth and self pride.

Social Health
Socialization can become a large barrier for IDD individuals. Throughout the community, there is a need to live with assistance. This limits freedom and each person's social circle may only consist of social workers, parents, siblings, and other caretakers. There is little opportunity for peer-peer relationships outside of costly day services and job opportunities.