Workshops for those with disabilities can preserve dignity

By Marjorie Waynert, Las Vegas

Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Regarding the letter to the editor “Not all can have regular diploma” (Las Vegas Sun, Aug. 5):

I admire the writer’s candor. Too often, opinions are set forth in print that lack depth in understanding the challenges that surround those living with significant intellectual disabilities. The writer speaks well to the need for us to incorporate reality when it comes to recognizing students’ educational achievements.

The cause of developmental and intellectual disabilities is neurological. In addition, more often than not, people have more than one neurological deficit, each displaying itself on a unique spectrum of symptoms and challenges.

Few work environments allow for an individual’s safety and success given these complexities. Too few employers come forward to welcome this particular type of diversity given the cost of extra manpower to train and maintain success.

True financial independence through full-time employment for many people with disabilities is just not a reality. When it comes to adapting to the intellectual, physical and emotional challenges necessary to manage the pace and demands of the current workforce in the U.S., those with intellectual challenges do not fare well.

It is fanciful to think employers are going to embrace hiring individuals with disabilities if sheltered workshops close, as some Nevada residents encourage. It is also presumptuous to assume all of these disabled individuals would want to attempt work in such a competitive setting, given their obstacles.

Work means different things to different people. For those who are not able to meet the performance standards required to get and keep a competitive job, workshops provide places to remain active and make friends while learning and practicing social skills. Volunteers and staff provide role models in settings that are safe from bullying and manipulation. Eliminating workshops for those unable to compete in the workforce takes away a valuable option for people with disabilities and their families. The equal right to work includes a choice of where and why one works.

It is through opportunity and choice that people with disabilities live with dignity.