The road to employment success: Often under construction or filled with potholes

Abstract: It has been over thirty years since the Supported Employment Initiative (known as Open Employment in Australia) emerged amid a growing concern with the high levels of unemployment, disenfranchisement and segregation experienced by far too many citizens with significant disabilities. Concurrent with this initiative was a growing body of empirical studies demonstrating the vocational capabilities of people who were previously considered incapable of being productive and/or engaging in meaningful vocational and community activities. These demonstrations of vocational competence served, in part, to demystify disability and illustrate that the paucity of vocational success historically experienced by many people with significant disabilities could not solely be attributed to their level of disability, and that productivity does not vary directly with the severity of one's disability.