A Justice Perspective on Ecologically-Based Employment Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities

Canada’s workforce has historically marginalized individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities for reasons including lack of specialized training, accommodations, education for employers, and general stigma. Evidence supports that early engagement with employment is correlated with lifelong workforce attachment. Early employment interventions for this population traditionally focus on training and changing the individual with disabilities to fit into the employment environment, yet avoid consideration of how employment settings, policies, or contextual factors might adapt to the needs of these employees. In this chapter, we address questions surrounding how we might connect individuals with disabilities to a workforce that is not built with their abilities in mind. In addressing this topic, we introduce multi-level interventions that support meaningful inclusion and integration of young workers with disabilities into the workforce, with our own program provided as a guiding example. The chapter concludes with reflections on how to action practices that will facilitate a more just and inclusive employment context for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities.