DD Adults Trained to Clean Bathrooms

by Dora Raymaker · 2009-03-19 09:08:00 UTC
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a row of doors each with both a male and female toilet symbol on themThe MSNBC article Kids show they have what it takes about two adults (ages are 21 and 19, definitely not "kids"), one with Downs and the other autistic, has an up-beat tone about "valuable work experience." But looking at just the story alone, the situation may be more ambiguous.

The two adults go to a municipal building twice a week and clean the bathrooms, a job formerly done by the building's custodian. According to the article, "The arrangement in Middletown started when the township's full-time custodian on the administrative side of the municipal center left last year." For their efforts, the pair receive $25 a week.

"Our goal is to train kids to be able to do these kind of jobs so as they turn 21, with some community support, they will be able to continue doing meaningful work," said IU special education supervisor Jane Strawley. "I think it's been win-win in Middletown, beneficial to both the employer and employees."

I agree, finding meaningful job placement for people in the community is an excellent goal as long as the big picture is being accounted for and its what the people want (is self-determined).

But some questions: Do the DD students themselves want to clean bathrooms? Do they feel it's "meaningful work" that they would like to continue? Have they been given other options? Also, are they being paid a competitive wage? In other words, are they being paid what a starting custodian would have been paid?

The answer could well be yes, the bathroom cleaning is totally self-determined, and yes, the adults are being paid a competitive wage for their work. But the answer could also be an inadvertent exploitation, no matter how well intentioned.

Without any indication in the article about how the two adults feel (though we are told the people at the municipal building and the special education teacher who set up the deal feel wonderful about the situation), all that can be done by readers is speculate.

(As a side note, there is a stereotype of people with developmental disabilities doing janitorial work--a job I have been fired from for incompetence because of perceptual, motor, and other difficulties. Just because one has a learning or developmental disability does not mean a custodian job is appropriate work.)

Dora Raymaker
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