TransCen hosts Doctoral Student from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ.)
Annie Gomes Redig, a doctoral student at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) in Brazil, recently concluded a two-week visit to TransCen, Inc., learning about customized employment, the subject of her doctoral dissertation. “Companies in Brazil always want to hire university graduates,” says Ms. Redig, “so people with intellectual disabilities don’t have a chance to show their skills.” She is eager to introduce customized employment internships to Brazilian employers.
Ms. Redig is studying under Dr. Rosana Glat, who sponsored a Fulbright Specialist grant in 2010 for TransCen President Dr. Richard Luecking to develop and teach a curriculum on inclusion at UERJ’s Graduate Program in Education. “Annie Redig’s visit to the United States is a great opportunity to contribute to the development of a rising leader in education in a country that is fast becoming a global economic powerhouse,” says Dr. Luecking. “People with disabilities in Brazil stand to gain if presumed employability is embraced and strategies such as customized employment are effectively implemented.”
Brazilian law requires corporations with more than 100 employees to hire a certain percentage of people with disabilities, but Ms. Redig says this does not typically include people with intellectual disabilities. These individuals are more likely to stay in a school setting well into their adult years. While she says parents may resist employment for their adult children if it would mean the loss of their government benefits, she believes part-time internships will be a good way to introduce employers, parents and young people with disabilities to the possibility and desirability of work.
Ms. Redig visited job sites speaking with individual employees with disabilities and their employers and co-workers at the Gap and Niketown near San Francisco, and the Montgomery County Department of Corrections in Maryland. She was especially impressed that a young woman who could not read was still able to identify letters to organize clothing as a part-time employee at the Gap. She was also pleased to see people with complex disabilities successfully included in the workforce with tasks customized or matched to their capabilities.
“Customized employment is a new concept in Brazil,” says Ms. Redig. Young people with intellectual disabilities now learn life skills – cooking, public transportation, etc. - but not work skills. So, Ms. Redig says she expects to be busy developing training for students, teachers and potential employers. She also wants to encourage greater interaction between schools for typical students and the special schools attended by students with intellectual disabilities.
This learning exchange with UERJ in Brazil was made possible through the Judith and William Borten Scholarship.
