Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

projects.aljazeera.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 118 posts

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#61

Post by Suncho »

DanBC wrote: post #58
Suncho wrote: post #54

I found this article disturbing. Why are we forcing developmentally disabled people -- or anyone, for that matter -- to get jobs? Is there a dire shortage of low-skilled labor that I'm not aware of? "Whenever we talked about his employment prospects after the age of 21, we reminded Jamie that he did not want to live a life of watching YouTube, wrestling videos and Beatles Anthology DVDs in the basement." Would there…

We are not forcing people to get jobs. We are allowing them to get jobs if they wish. Work has some stron benefits - social activity; economic activity; independance. These spread into health benefits (exercise, mental health resiliance) and also strongly reduce the risk of abuse. Watching yourube videos all day is not what most people want to do. It would have been a problem for the person doing it, but also a probl…

I did not intend my comment to be stigmatizing. But I do feel that one of the most degrading aspects of our society is the expectation that people have to earn a living by working at some kind of job. Especially in an economy where we're continually striving to save labor, employment is becoming an unrealistic expectation for lots of people, not just those with learning disabilities.

Personally, I do not have a job and I'm looking forward to a future in which more people have the freedom not to work without being shamed by their loved ones or by society.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#63

Post by kristofferR »

ecopoesis wrote: post #52
digitalengineer wrote: post #48

I enjoyed reading this article, strangely enough by Aljazeera. That did made me want to know how a child like this would grow up in the Middle East. I found this: http://media-dis-n-dat.blogspot.nl/2009/03/saudi-mother-trie...

Why is it strange coming from Al Jazeera? Would you think it strange if it came from the BBC or Der Spiegel? Despite what many in the US believe, Al Jazerra isn't the mouthpiece of terrorists or Qatar's propaganda machine, they're mostly just a very good news source.

Yeah, they're actually too good. Americans (in general) don't want real news, they want to be entertained. Al Jazeera America is a fantastic product, but unfortunately not a product in sufficient demand.

When you combine that fact with the racism because of the name, its future doesn't look too bright. :(

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#64

Post by Suncho »

jpatokal wrote: post #59
Suncho wrote: post #54

I found this article disturbing. Why are we forcing developmentally disabled people -- or anyone, for that matter -- to get jobs? Is there a dire shortage of low-skilled labor that I'm not aware of? "Whenever we talked about his employment prospects after the age of 21, we reminded Jamie that he did not want to live a life of watching YouTube, wrestling videos and Beatles Anthology DVDs in the basement." Would there…

Would you be happy sitting in the basement watching YouTube videos all day? Jamie is clearly happier working a job, he earns some money, the employer gets a job done, and somebody with a normal IQ is freed to do something more mentally demanding. Sounds like a quadruple win to me.

I'm sitting in my mom's attic as I type this. I pretty much sit here all day. And yes, I'm happy. Thanks for asking.

If Jamie is happier working a job, then fine. But was he born wanting to get a job? How much came from him and how much came from his parents placing unrealistic expectations on him?

Do you honestly believe that low-skilled workers are being kept from doing more mentally demanding work because they can't find anyone to take over their low-skilled jobs?

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#65

Post by swimfar »

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.

However it is customary to include a photo, date of birth, and marital status on your CV.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#66

Post by mattzito »

ekianjo wrote: post #57
barrkel wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It seems like most countries live perfectly fine without tracking people's races.

How would they know? Without tracking race (self-identified or otherwise) as a reference point for other data, countries could have a terrible problem discriminating against people based on the color of their skin and no one would know.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#67

Post by jpatokal »

Suncho wrote: post #64
jpatokal wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be happy sitting in the basement watching YouTube videos all day? Jamie is clearly happier working a job, he earns some money, the employer gets a job done, and somebody with a normal IQ is freed to do something more mentally demanding. Sounds like a quadruple win to me.

I'm sitting in my mom's attic as I type this. I pretty much sit here all day. And yes, I'm happy. Thanks for asking. If Jamie is happier working a job, then fine. But was he born wanting to get a job? How much came from him and how much came from his parents placing unrealistic expectations on him? Do you honestly believe that low-skilled workers are being kept from doing more mentally demanding work because they can…

We're born wanting to suck on a nipple and afraid of falling and loud noises. More or less everything else is learned. And getting a job as, say, a grocery stacker doesn't seem exactly like an "unrealistic expectation" even for a kid with Downs.

Your strawman argument is irrelevant. Even assuming that the supply of jobs is fixed, which it isn't (lump of labor and all that), here are the choices:

a) overqualified person, here meaning somebody with an IQ of 100, works at a shit job and hates it; and person with Down's sits in basement watching YouTube all day and hates it, while society subsidizes his existence

b) person with Down's does a monotonous job and is happy with it; and neurotypical person is unemployed and can choose how he spends his days while society subsidizes his existence

I'd go for B, especially given that it gives the other person the chance to do something else useful. They may or may not actually do it, mind you, but at least there's a chance, while there really isn't in the other scenario.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#68

Post by jordan0day »

EnderMB wrote: post #32
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 accom…

I'm a bit ashamed that a similar thought never occurred to me (that is, using something like glass for helping people with disabilities, instead of just recording first-person views of roller coaster rides).

I can totally see the usefulness of an always-on helper that can provide helpful cues, to, say, autistic children who have trouble identifying social or emotional context in certain situations.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#69

Post by theexpedience »

gokhan wrote: post #53
maccard wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 frus…

My son (7) is gifted, his school has no program for children with special needs, and he's having enormous problems in school with other children and his teacher. Would you mind sharing some tricks to share with his teacher that might help her handle my son better? We told her to keep him occupied, send him for photocopies, give him some extra tasks in class etc. but she doesn't want to do such things since my son som…

Have you considered taking him out of the public school system? There are low cost high quality community home school options in many places.

Re: For Hire: Dedicated Young Man With Down Syndrome

#70

Post by JPKab »

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…

I am curious if there are any programs which pair developmentally disabled adults with nursing homes? I think it would be a good mix for them to have jobs in which they knowingly play a role in providing companionship and assistance for the nursing home residents.
Post reply on HN