Pre-Interview Preparation

Business Research

The family and Savannah have indicated an interest in work experiences in the Marketplace in their community. Before contacting them for an informational interview, the VRC researched the Marketplace.

According to the local Chamber of Commerce, one husband/wife team owns the Marketplace. They are new owners. The former owners operated the business for over two decades. The owners sublet portions of the Marketplace to other entities such as the US post office, hair salon, restaurant, and accounting office. The grocery store and laundromat are owned and operated by them. They employ less than 15 people; they are considered a small business.

Disability Research

Given that Savannah lives with an intellectual disability, Debra wants to anticipate any employer concerns about hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities.

In the editorial, Why It Pays to Hire Workers with Developmental Disabilities, John Kregel summarizes the findings from various studies regarding the employment of people with intellectual disabilities. The following is a summary of the findings.

Employers of workers with intellectual disabilities report that these employees may work slower, have a few more errors, and require more coaching. However, those findings are offset by positive observations.

• • Employers overwhelmingly rate the overall work performance of employees with developmental disabilities quite favorably.

  • Employers overwhelmingly indicate that the performance of employees with disabilities meets or exceeds that of their non-disabled counterparts.

  • Workers with disabilities were rated higher than their non-disabled peers on attendance, arriving at work, and returning from breaks on time, accepting authority, and being accepted by the public.

  • Workers with developmental disabilities were consistently observed to improve their performance over time.

  • Employers found that workers with disabilities contributed to camaraderie and cooperation among coworkers.

Researchers found the perspectives of workers with intellectual disabilities to be equally positive. According to the studies:

• • Over 90% indicated they got along well with their supervisors.

  • 80% indicated that their bosses and coworkers treated them as well as or better than other workers on the job.

The vast majority of individuals with developmental disabilities are terrific employees who are doing jobs that need to be done and who are contributing to the overall profitability of their companies in a variety of ways (Kregel, 1999). One employer interviewed put it this way about one employee with an intellectual disability:

"Emily represents the message our company wants to send

to the customers in this area—friendly, courteous, hardworking employees."