Affiliations: Kanagawa University of Human Services, Yokosuka,
Kanagawa, Japan | Disability Welfare Center, Employment Promotion
Training Office, Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan | Social Welfare Corporation FUKUSENNKAI, KURUMI
Community Workshop, Kita-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Mayumi Arikawa, Chiba Prefectural
University of Health Services, 645-1 Nitona, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-0801, Japan.
Tel.: +81 43 305 2137; Fax: +81 43 262 0755; E-mail: mayumi.arikawa@cpuhs.ac.jp
Abstract: The present report uses two cases to provide an overview of
employment support by occupational therapists for people with developmental
disabilities and investigates the roles occupational therapists should play and
the support they should give. Case A was a man in his 30s with Asperger
disorder who used a trial employment program and received on-the-job training,
leading to regular employment. Case B was a man in his 40s with intellectual
disability who used outreach supported employment and achieved financial
stability through sheltered employment. These two cases suggest that
occupational therapists can help people with developmental disabilities acquire
stable employment by accelerating their adaptation to the workplace through the
following steps: assessing the occupational performance of the individual and
the work environment; understanding the characteristics of the job by
experiencing the job first-hand; and adjusting or improving the work
environment to match the capabilities of the individual.
Keywords: Vocational rehabilitation, work capacity assessment, cooperation with local enterprises
