Providing Equal Employment Routes

For a young person with a disability the expectations and opportunities to take the first steps into paid employment are significantly lower than for their non-disabled peers. Consequently, young people with disabilities fall behind in this vital area of life development. Without the awareness, expectation and opportunity of work, young people with disabilities often miss out on normal life transitions, particularly from leaving school into adulthood.

WALK PEER Programme is a ‘Supported Transition’ Programme, aimed at young people who are in ‘special’ education to successfully transition to the world of work by taking steps into further education and training and employment. WALK PEER is designed to support students with Intellectual Disabilities and/or Autism, aged between 16 and 24, to discovery their career and employment ambitions in life, experience work in the real world and develop their own individual transition plans.

While participating on the WALK PEER programme, students are supported to recognise where their interests, skills and talents lie, realise where they might best fit in the labour market and learn the skills associated with successfully finding and keeping a job. Participants grow in self-confidence and have greater expectations of and for themselves and greater prospects for a future career.

While the rate of unemployment for people with disabilities is reported as 56%, the rate is in excess of 85% for people with intellectual disabilities. WALK recognises that there is a very real gap in services for people to avail of employment opportunities. The WALK REAL Programme is designed to support adults who have an intellectual disability and wish to explore the world of work and experience paid employment.

Benefits for participants Include:

• Professional Job Coaching that will advance career development.
• Earning money, to allow for more independence.
• Personal growth, increased confidence and self-esteem. Increasing network of contacts and friends.
• Increasing skills development and decision making.
• Ongoing support and follow up care whilst maintaining relationships and providing necessary training and support for the employer.