Ending Disability Segregation

Job Customization and the Babbage Principle: It's Nothing New

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:52:17 PST

Charles Babbage was an inventor who in the mid-1800s first came up with the idea of a programmable computer. His design actually worked when a museum finally assembled it in 1991. He also was...

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A Candid Conversation on Disability Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:56:10 PST

Recently, for a podcast sponsored by Griffin-Hammis Associates, Cary Griffin and I had a discussion about many facets of our service system. We talked about the resistance to change of sheltered work...

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The 80-20 Rule and A Call to Freeze Referrals to Sheltered Work

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:56:16 PST

The Pareto Principle is a well known economic theory that can be applied to a lot of situations. It goes something like this: about 80% of effectiveness is driven by just 20% of our activity. This...

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Discarding An Old Narrative: Shine a Light on Indignity

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:10:54 PDT

Some 30 years ago, some new and innovative approaches were developed to help people with disabilities lead better lives. They involved ideas such as normalization, social inclusion, individualized...

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Engineered Employment: An Inadequate Solution for Adult Joblessness and Student Transition

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:03:14 PDT

Dale, come see our great recycling program! Check out our cleaning crew! We run a bakery that our special ed students all work at! Over the past 30 plus years of providing consultation and...

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What do People with Disabilities Want for Employment Services?

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:14:56 PDT

The statements below are from a white paper produced from a March, 2011 Summit by leaders from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the National Youth Leadership Network, Self-Advocates Becoming...

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Pennies for Pay Must End

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:18:56 PDT

Recently, the Green Bay Press Gazette featured an article that reviewed the ongoing debate over the use of subminimum wages for people with disabilities. The publication found over 10,000 Wisconsin...

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On Simulated Communities for People with Disabilities: From Agency Businesses to Gated Disability Neighborhoods

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:22:57 PDT

Ah, vacation. I am sitting on a porch in a house in the Great Smoky Mountains, altitude about 4,000 feet, in just about near-perfect weather. My family and friends have enjoyed great food, good...

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Employment First: A Promising Hope, but at Risk of Being Watered Down

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Tue, 31 May 2011 08:38:41 PDT

Last month, I had the privilege of speaking at two statewide disability employment conferences, one in New York and one in Minnesota. These events focused on "Employment First." This concept refers...

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A Turkey Farm Lesson about Group Labor and Sub-Minimum Wage

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:53:01 PDT

Not only is sub-minimum wages for workers with disabilities unfair, one of the effects of such wages and using group labor of people with disabilities is the dehumanizing impact it creates on the...

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Thoughts on Employment First: Don't Water it Down!

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:23:31 PDT

Employment First refers to a relatively new movement to change public policy for individuals with disabilities who receive publicly funded day services. Employment First begins as an effort to change...

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Restrict Choice? You Bet!

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:41:51 PST

Numerous recent comments sent to the US Administration on Developmental Disabilities from the "Voice of the Retarded" have centered on maintaining a range of choice as the main argument against the...

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Why I Resigned from The Alliance for Full Participation

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:18:42 PST

We often compromise in the interest of a final goal – in life and politics you must – but in this instance, well, it was just way over the line for me. For many years now, I have been a strong...

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Illinois Nursing Home Residents with Disabilities File Suit

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:36:48 PDT

Five individuals with physical disabilities living in nursing homes have sued Illinois state officials for unnecessary institutionalization as discrimination under the ADA. The lawsuit seeks an order...

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On the Road in Iowa and Kansas

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:20:11 PDT

My apologies to my readers for the gap in posting. Since the release of my book, Raymond's Room, and with the end of the fiscal year, I have been very busy. Right now I am in Kansas, having just...

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The Fallacy of the "Choice Argument": Most People in Sheltered Workshops Want a Job

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:54:08 PDT

Despite numerouse national and state policies promoting integrated employment, 76% of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities are served in facility-based, segregated programs -...

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Employability is a Given, Not Line to Cross

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:53:34 PDT

During a recent training course about supported employment I gave, I found myself in a debate with a manager of an agency over whether people with disabilities should be "presumed employable." I was...

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The Fallacy of Low Productivity: Why People with Disabilities Are Relegated to Segregated Facilities at Low Wages

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:18:02 PDT

In a recent class I was facilitating, I again ran into the argument from someone that people with disabilities need sheltered workshops because they are not productive enough to be in the business...

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35 Year Anniversary of the Lawsuit that Helped Close Willowbrook

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:07:37 PST

This month marks 35 years since the filing of a lawsuit against the infamous Staten Island, NY, institution for people with disabilities, the Willowbrook State School. This action paved the way for...

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Does Inclusion Restrict Choice? Or Does It Offer More?

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 09:43:36 PST

I recently received an interesting letter from a gentleman with a disability who states the he feels "very at home among the handicapped." He wonders why I have such a stress on inclusion. Is that...

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Update to the Subminimum Wage Issue

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 14:21:43 PST

Here is an interesting development concerning the sub-minimum wage issue (see my previous post). Six states enacted measures last year to raise the minimum wage. Two of the six – Ohio and Missouri –...

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Sub-Minimum Wages: A Disability Oxymoron

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 07:53:05 PST

Arizona state legislators recently held a hearing to review the state's new minimum-wage law, which provides $6.75 an hour and does not exempt workers with disabilities from minimum wage. The hearing...

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We Are Failing Students with Disabilities in Transition from School to Work

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:41:35 PST

The future of changing disability segregation is with young people. One of the most serious concerns I have about the continued segregation of people with disabilities is based on the lack of...

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More Evidence of the Ills of the Disability System

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:23:26 PST

One of the things I talk about in Raymond's Room is how some agencies in the disability industrial complex have lost touch with their mission. This recently came to light again in Minnesota. An AP...

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It takes a community...

noreply@blogger.com (Dale DiLeo) — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:36:52 PST

Hi everyone. Wow- writing and releasing Raymond's Room has been an amazing journey. There is already a lot of information on the web site about who I am and what this book is all about - so I won't...

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