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For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

projects.aljazeera.com

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Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#31

Post by tomp »

aragot wrote: post #16
ekianjo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This kind of categorization perhaps wouldn't fly in the States I see this as a bit of a paradox in the States. There is always some discussion about how everyone should be treated as equal, yet your "race" (whatever that means in the age of genetics!) is recorded by the government, and minorities are tracked by employers even though this is absolutely not related with their skills. If i think too much about it, I'd…

"Race"? In France it is forbidden to ask or record the religion or color of skin. Thus, it is forbidden to make statistics about it. Of course it is not the same about people with a handicap.

Weird, in the UK I recall seeing (non-obligatory) questionnaires about ethnicity, so that they can make sure they are an "equal opportunity employer".

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#32

Post by EnderMB »

mike_h wrote: post #20

Would something like a google glass app, or another semi-automated assistant work for augmenting his capabilities? Sounds like he's totally motivated and capable to do e.g. the janitorial work, but his capability needs to be paired with intensive supervision. Could that supervision be implemented as wearable interactive instruction or cheat-sheets?

When I first saw Google Glass, my first thoughts weren't of how it could be used to improve my life, but how it could be used to improve the lives of those with behavioural problems and/or disabilities.

While a lot of people think Glass will be largely underwhelming I sincerely hope that it becomes an essential tool for helping people feel more comfortable with integrating into society. If a tool like Glass can accomplish this then I think Google can call the project a success.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#33

Post by StefanKarpinski »

gadders wrote: post #29
GuiA wrote: post #3

I worked with mentally handicapped kids a lot as an educator when I was younger (albeit in a different country). This wonderful article captures perfectly how, in the right environment, children with Down Syndrome can blossom, but how hard it can be for them as adults once society & red tape & bureaucracy all come into play. (I also worked with children who had Down Syndrome and had not grown up in the right environm…

There was a satirical article in the Onion that exposed a similar truth. I wish I could find it now but it was along the lines of "Learning Disabled Man is Only Decent Employee in Local Burger Bar". He was the only diligent employee and the rest were teenagers that couldn't give a shit.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/developmentally-disabled-bu...

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#34

Post by ekianjo »

wavefunction wrote: post #21
jwr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also never understood this. Why ask about race if race is supposed not to matter?

They track it to look for unequal hiring practices. Which is an actual and ongoing problem and one the US Federal government is involved with and interested in fighting.

I'd be interested how they classify someone who is mixed between black and white. How about the people who have mixed blood for 3-4 generations and who do not fall in any category anymore ?

The race classification in a country where people move around the whole time should really be depreciated.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#35

Post by ekianjo »

tomp wrote: post #31
aragot wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Race"? In France it is forbidden to ask or record the religion or color of skin. Thus, it is forbidden to make statistics about it. Of course it is not the same about people with a handicap.

Weird, in the UK I recall seeing (non-obligatory) questionnaires about ethnicity, so that they can make sure they are an "equal opportunity employer".

How many categories they have for ethnicity ? I'm asking because the whole concept of Race came from White anthropologists in the 18-19th century who wanted to demonstrate that the white man was above every other race around. So it seems very backward to use the same kind of criteria.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#36

Post by gadders »

StefanKarpinski wrote: post #33
gadders wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a satirical article in the Onion that exposed a similar truth. I wish I could find it now but it was along the lines of "Learning Disabled Man is Only Decent Employee in Local Burger Bar". He was the only diligent employee and the rest were teenagers that couldn't give a shit.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/developmentally-disabled-bu...

Thank you. Your Google skills beat mine ;-)

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#37

Post by ekianjo »

prawn wrote: post #19
jwr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also never understood this. Why ask about race if race is supposed not to matter?

To help get to the point where it truly doesn't matter.

As long as you track it, you make it matter. That's the point. The observer always has an impact on what is measured. That's a very well know principle.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#38

Post by ekianjo »

aragot wrote: post #16
ekianjo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This kind of categorization perhaps wouldn't fly in the States I see this as a bit of a paradox in the States. There is always some discussion about how everyone should be treated as equal, yet your "race" (whatever that means in the age of genetics!) is recorded by the government, and minorities are tracked by employers even though this is absolutely not related with their skills. If i think too much about it, I'd…

"Race"? In France it is forbidden to ask or record the religion or color of skin. Thus, it is forbidden to make statistics about it. Of course it is not the same about people with a handicap.

By the way, in Germany, they don't track your race, but they ask you for your religion when you move there. And it's actually a trap ! If you answer that you have any, suddenly you'll see a religion tax (deducted from your salary every month) going to your religion of choice. In Germany is literally "pays" to be agnostic.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#39

Post by JonnieCache »

ekianjo wrote: post #35
tomp wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weird, in the UK I recall seeing (non-obligatory) questionnaires about ethnicity, so that they can make sure they are an "equal opportunity employer".

How many categories they have for ethnicity ? I'm asking because the whole concept of Race came from White anthropologists in the 18-19th century who wanted to demonstrate that the white man was above every other race around. So it seems very backward to use the same kind of criteria.

The census and the police use a system of "self defined ethnicity", and other official forms use similar categories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_Defined_Ethnicity

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#40

Post by FrozenCow »

mike_h wrote: post #20

Would something like a google glass app, or another semi-automated assistant work for augmenting his capabilities? Sounds like he's totally motivated and capable to do e.g. the janitorial work, but his capability needs to be paired with intensive supervision. Could that supervision be implemented as wearable interactive instruction or cheat-sheets?

Reminds me of Burger-G's Manna (http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm). With Glass a computer can instruct/help in more detail.
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