Improving the employability of the disabled: A practical approach

The lack of information on the level of disabled individual, on the enterprise level and on the level of society as a whole, is one of the major barriers to the integration of disabled workers into open employment. The article discusses the kind of information necessary for effective counselling of the disabled regarding employment. Some Dutch experiences with integration of disabled workers into a competitive employment system are outlined, and some recommendations are made for future action. A five-phase action programme which aims to create permanent paid jobs for disabled workers and to increase accessibility to the labour market, taking into account the present economic and political situation of mass employment and deregulation, is put forward.The article is based on a paper presented during the IRTAC International Consultation on Counselling Disabled People and their Families, Vienna, 5–8 July, 1987.