For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

Why not get him an office? Either at the workplace for mentally disabled, or somewhere else. He might also be able to combine Mechanical Turk with physical work at the same place...

Researching what someone with Down syndrome did 50 or 100 years ago might also be useful. Quite a few manual labour jobs have disappeared through automation. Looking at those jobs disappearing might also inspire.

Looking at places where hand made/artsianal products or services command a premium might also help.

Or why not set up a small business tailor made to him and the things he can do? Balancing between his autonomy as a person and maximising his economic output will always be a challenge, but I could see it being worth the effort. Mostly, it could offer him a long term perspective, while at a third party he would always be in a more vulnerable position.

This scenario of "his own business" is not without a precedent. I don't have any online references, but I remember a colleague telling me about a local business like that, a woodworking shop. It was owned by a very small trust set up by the parents. The person with the mental disability loved anything to do with wood. He was hired, together with a trusted and skilled local worker a generation younger than the parents. This man slowly built a significant partial ownership stake that tied him to the business. The firm was well known and respected in and around the village where it worked.

I'm currently working as a tutor in a center for gifted (high intelligence) children. Along with this intelligence, in many cases comes some mental difficulties. As an instructor in this environment, it is actually very difficult to deal with some children who are unable to interpret what I am saying to them. Not only does the child get frustrated when I don't understand what they're trying to tell me, but I get frustrated sometimes when I can't handle the situation, and the other students pick up on my frustration. The net result is that everyone loses out.

These students are commonly known as special needs students, and I think this very accurately represents them. Some of the children require just a few minutes extra attention, others require regular confirmation, and others require practically no extra care other than being aware of some issue. I have never personally had to deal with a student with Down's Syndrome, however I know of some family friends with children who have Down's Syndrome. If you have seen and talked to these parents, in very many cases these parents have to dedicate their lives to caring for these children. The same is true for many cases in students; If I as a teacher have two students that require constant attention (for whatever reason) that means the rest of the students don't get the attention they deserve, and the two students I am dealing with don't get the help they deserve either.

I don't know what the best solution is here, but I can't see having a large number of (excuse the wording, I can't think of a better word) difficult students such as those with aspergers/autism, Down's Syndrome etc. being a good one.

The only point I can make on it is that in most cases, the transition to high school involves classes being split, and separation from friends. If students such as Henri can be sent to the same school as their friends, but possibly separated from others (which is what happens currently; students with severe mental difficulties are sent to separate schools) they can receive the individual attention and care that they deserve, but still be in the same environment as their friends and companions.

I tried to be very careful with my wording here, and I apologise if I insulted anyone, it was not my intention.

It is to me too.

There are ways to make everyone a winner than the asshat though.

Karma was served here. The individual in question got a referral from me to another position, got a call and a job with a golden handshake and I got a £500 referral fee from the agent, which was spent on a nice new oscilloscope (an essential part of my exit strategy).

He won because he got a job at a better company and cash.

I won because I got a rep with the agent, £500 in cash and two steps closer to the door.

Asshat lost because we still haven't found someone for his position and they're two steps closer to finding a replacement for me as well :)

And if you make sure you don't track it, you don't know whether you have a problem or not.

Yeah, those are for statistical use only.

The employer can't discriminate in either direction based on that information (which is why it gets a special section of the application for that can get torn out).

But they do need to record the charecatristics of people who are applying, and people who are getting hired, so they can spot rascist managers, etc.