In the first year of my graduate studies, I remembered feeling awed and intrigued at the same time when my lecturer walked into the classroom. He had visual impairment and was being led by a fellow staff to the teacher’s table. Dr Wong Meng Ee started setting up his laptop, plugged in his earpiece and started his lecture. I expected to learn about special needs in the course but this was a whole new experience of learning as I saw first-hand how he overcame barriers. Dr Wong shared with us his life story and how he had to persevere and surmount many challenges to get to be a lecturer. More than 10 years on, I am glad that we have been moving forward progressively in supporting inclusive employment in Singapore.
With more support given to students with special needs in the education field, more of these students have progressed on to institutions of higher learning such as the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and attained better qualifications and skills for themselves. Unfortunately, this does not equate to them getting meaningful and sustainable employment upon graduation. In fact, we have seen many of these ITE graduates who are unable to be meaningfully employed, only to return to take other courses of the same qualification. What are the barriers to meaningful employment for these persons with special needs?
Unravelling Barriers to Inclusive Employment
Barriers to inclusive employment are complex and can hinder the successful integration of persons with special needs into the workplace. I have been working with Danny, a student with autism, for the past 2 years and I remember him coming to me late last year feeling very anxious about his grades. He had just completed his internship module and realised that his Grade Point Average (GPA) may not qualify him for a place in a polytechnic. We discussed ways he could try to improve his GPA in the coming semesters and, more importantly, alternative plans if he was unable to progress to a polytechnic. When I listed employment as an alternative, Danny was adamant that he was not ready for the working world and that it was not a plausible option. He gave the same response when we explored the Work-Study Diploma (WSDip) offered by ITE as it required him to work and study simultaneously. The next few sessions saw us discussing further, getting him to revisit the positive experience he had during his internship and talking through the various forms of support available. I was delighted when he was able to walk through the process and have an attitudinal change towards employment. While he still finds open employment daunting, he was willing to explore the WSDip option and went on to meet with our Education and Career Coach to look into the entry requirements and application process. He also took a further step to help himself transition into new environments by applying for a part-time job. Upon graduating from his Higher Nitec course in April and while waiting for his next course, he is now working part-time at a cinema, gaining valuable experience and lessons as an adult functioning in a working environment. In fact, during our last chat, he said he was starting to feel anxious again as his father is now asking him to buy a house!
While lack of awareness and stereotypes about the abilities of persons with special needs can lead to discrimination and reluctance to hire them, we may not realise that such attitudinal barriers may also come from the persons with disabilities themselves. For this reason, we often encourage students with special needs to start getting work experience at any opportunity presented as these experiences will give them a glimpse of the employment landscape and learn many soft skills which cannot be taught through a textbook. Sometimes though, the inertia may come from their parents. Hence, we also engage them in dialogue to explain and quote success stories for them to draw confidence from and allow their children to gain exposure to the employment sector.
Apart from the attitudinal barriers, other challenges to attaining inclusive workplaces include environmental barriers such as inaccessible workplaces; training barriers such as limited access and skills gaps; economic barriers such as cost of accommodations; and social barriers such as lack of mentors and social isolation. Addressing these barriers requires multifaceted efforts from employers, policymakers, educators, and society collectively.
Bridging Gaps on the Ground
The Enabling Masterplan 2030, launched in August 2022, sees us working towards increasing the employment rate of persons with special needs to 40%. The government has developed many policies to aid in breaking the environmental and economic barriers, such as the Open Door Programme Training Grant and Enabling Employment Credit, as well as recognising effort from employers with the Enabling Mark awards. While the Enabling Academy was launched in May 2022 to address the training barriers, enlisting support from the ground may be another means to bridge the gap in attitude and social acceptance, hence increasing and sustaining inclusive employment. We can start paving the way towards inclusive workplaces by working on disability awareness, open communication and creating a culture of acceptance.
Raising Disability Awareness
Having a better understanding of the diverse needs of persons with special needs is the first step toward creating an inclusive environment. Last month, we held the SENsory roadshow at ITE College Central to provide all students with a deeper understanding of persons with special needs so they can better support their classmates and peers. Through the taster challenges and activities, students experienced for themselves some of the challenges faced by persons with special needs. Instead of merely informing them about the different disability conditions, we wanted them to have the experiential element so that they would be able to empathise and have a better understanding of the hurdles persons with special needs may face every day. One of our students, Ben, has a hearing impairment and was helping at the booth while getting his schoolmates to listen to a hearing loss simulation. When asked if the simulation sounds similar to how it is for him, he said that while the simulation may not capture it a hundred percent, he was very thankful for the awareness raised.
At the dyslexia booth of the roadshow, I overheard a group of students telling their classmate that they finally knew how he felt in class, trying to overcome his difficulties as a person with dyslexia. Such is the impact we want as these experiences will stay with the person and hopefully lead them to embrace the differences. Especially for some disability conditions that may not be visible such as dyslexia or specific language impairment (SLI), having a moment in their shoes may help them be more understood and accepted in the workplace.
Maintaining Open Communication
At times, in our bid to be inclusive, we tend to think for the persons with special needs instead of letting their voices be heard. While our intentions may be good, we may be limiting them. We need to create a safe environment for persons with special needs to share their needs, concerns and preferences without judgement. When we listen actively and respond thoughtfully, they will feel valued and heard as they should, just like everyone else.
Earlier this year, my student, Burhan, was on an internship and it was nearing completion. We received a message from his supervisor that he had a meltdown and was unable to continue with the internship. It came as a surprise as prior to that, we had been receiving very good feedback from the supervisor and even Burhan had informed us that he was enjoying his internship experience. We immediately contacted him and arranged to meet in school the next day. Initially, he said that he was feeling tired as the fasting month just started and he had to wake up early for the pre-fast meal. Upon assuring him that our intent is just to support him and make sure things are good for him, along with the rapport that has been built, he finally shared that he was feeling overwhelmed as there was a group of new interns that had just joined the company. As he has autism, he was overstimulated by the sudden influx of new people in his workspace. In addition, his supervisor became busy with the new interns and he felt insecure that his support system was no longer available. We informed the supervisor and I was very impressed at how they responded to the situation. They arranged a meeting with Burhan, with us sitting in as well, and acknowledged that the group of new interns joining them can be an overwhelming experience. They then asked Burhan how they could support him so that he could successfully complete his internship and assured him that this incident would not affect all the good work he had previously done during his attachment. Eventually, it was agreed that Burhan would be working from home for the last few weeks of the internship and that the supervisor would check in with him online regularly to ensure he felt supported. This episode showed me that when we adopt open communication which acknowledges the experiences and feelings of persons with special needs and allows their voices to be heard and valued, we can have a win-win outcome that benefits all parties.
Creating a Culture of Acceptance
When I first joined ITE about eight years ago, I was tasked to support Allan, a student with autism who was previously from a special school. Moving from a secondary school to an institute of higher learning may pose a challenge to all students in general. However, for Allan, it is a more intense transition as he was also moving from an all-inclusive environment in a special school to a mainstream setting in ITE. Apart from the size of the school campus, one major change is the class size which went from 8 to 40. When I went to observe him in class, I was fascinated by the way his lecturer approached him and the entire class. The lecturer informed the class that they are to see themselves as one family and that they are to accept differences and even look out for one another. By doing so, he encouraged a culture of acceptance within the class and established a form of natural support for Justin. I remember that Allan had a fixation on empty plastic bottles and if he gets his hands on an empty plastic bottle, he would kick it around, oblivious to his surroundings. This has gotten him into trouble a couple of times as the bottle he kicked hit others. So, the lecturer got the agreement of the class that no one was to bring any empty plastic bottles to class and if they were to see Allan around campus with one, they were to take the bottle away from him with his permission. The natural support provided for Allan from his lecturer and classmates aided him in successfully completing his NITEC course, allowing him to progress on to a Higher NITEC course.
Other than establishing natural support for persons with special needs, we can also create a culture of acceptance through mindful accommodations that are tailored to the individual needs of the person and help in allowing them to work comfortably and be more productive. Examples of mindful accommodations include flexible work arrangements where a person with physical disabilities may have flexible start and end working times to facilitate their travel and avoid the crowd during peak hours, and the use of assistive technology like text-to-speech or speech recognition software to aid persons with language impairment or dyslexia. These mindful accommodations can boost the productivity and well-being of persons with special needs significantly, fostering a more inclusive workplace.
In conclusion, the principle of true inclusivity is to consider the person before their special needs and letting their voices be heard and valued. Instead of focusing on what persons with special needs cannot do due to their impairments, let us acknowledge and appreciate their unique talents and abilities. We all have a part to play in enabling inclusive employment and making it meaningful and sustainable. After all, creating an inclusive workplace not only benefits persons with special needs but also enhances workplace diversity, innovation, and overall productivity.
Note: All names of students have been changed to respect their privacy.
Aishah Mohd Said is a Learning Support Specialist at ITE College Central and has almost 20 years of experience working with students with a wide range of disabilities.
