My daughter expects to work. When she was about 5 years old, one of her favorite bath time activities was playing with a set of cups that she would fill up carefully and place on the edge of the tub. “Mo-ka-ma-KE!” she called out. She was imagining she was a barista, a job she had seen performed hundreds of times at the coffee shop.
If my daughter, who has Down syndrome, can imagine herself working in a job that allows her to participate in her community and gain independence, then why can’t employers do the same?
Part of the answer lies in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which established a federal minimum wage, guidelines for overtime pay and child labor restrictions; it also created 14(c) certificates, which permit employers to pay people with disabilities less than minimum wage — and the law puts no limit on how much less.
Nearly 39 percent of Americans with disabilities were employed in October, with at least 70,000 working for 14(c) certificate holders, many of them “sheltered workshops” for adults with physical or intellectual disabilities. With no floor on wages, sheltered workshops have impoverished and isolated generations of people with disabilities.
But beyond fair pay we need to consider how we can more effectively support people with disabilities in the mainstream work force.
Kyle Stumpf is 32, has Down syndrome and communicates with some assistance. He worked in a sheltered workshop in Dubuque, Iowa, for five years. On most days he sorted clothes, but...
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