Objective: While individuals with intellectual disabilities can make valuable contributions in community workplaces, they typically experience low rates of paid employment. The goal of this article is to explore the reasons for the limited involvement of this population in competitive employment, provide a rationale for including individuals with intellectual disabilities as employees, and propose policy, structural and attitudinal changes that would be necessary to include them more meaningfully in the workforce.
Methods: The authors conducted a review of the literature relevant to the key theoretical concepts of disability, employment, organizational management and inclusion.
Results: The analysis reveals a number of theoretical, philosophical, legal and business arguments for and against the inclusion of workers with intellectual disabilities as employees, and suggests system level changes needed to mitigate challenges to recruiting, hiring and retaining these workers.
Conclusions: Changes to the employment situation for workers with intellectual disabilities will require major shifts in government policy, workplace practices and vocational preparation of youth with intellectual disabilities. Continued research is necessary to identify best practices.