The Paradoxical Nature of Disability Services: Illustrations from Supported Employment and Implications for Rehabilitation Counseling

Abstract

Paradoxes are common in disability services and present challenges for rehabilitation counseling. Failure to reveal and address both poles of paradoxes can result in unintended consequences. The concept of paradox is illustrated in supported employment. The following two paradoxes are discussed: (a) organizational productivity versus supported employee self-actualization, and (b) support organization survival and profit versus supported employee independence and interdependence. Implications for rehabilitation counseling are discussed.

Career Development of People with Disabilities: Some New and Not-So-New Challenges

“…Second is commodification: people with disabilities have become commodities in a disability industry (Albrecht, 1992;Szymanski & Trueba, 1994). In some cases, the independence and choice needs of people with disabilities have been pitted against the economic needs of the care-giving industry (Szymanski, Johnston-Rodriguez, Millington, Rodriguez, & Lagergren, 1995). For example, some supported employment agencies lose government subsidies when workers no longer need support.…”

Factors Affecting Low Rate of Employment of Individuals with Special Needs

“…Young and Murphy (2002) revealed that 74 % of disabled people not employed were unhappy; this indicated that there was a significant potential to improve further the outcomes, the majority of these people expressing a desire to be working is even more heartening. However, circumstances associated with disability may make it diffi cult for individuals to move from less to more satisfying jobs (Szymanski et al, 1995).…”