Ms Rita Walsh:

One of the things that came to mind when Ms Hennessy was speaking was one of our students doing horticulture. We were collecting tomatoes and I was working with him. He was absolutely meticulous. Every tomato was taken down perfectly. No tomatoes were squished on the floor whereas I was losing a good percentage of mine on the floor but he got every single one. If he was to go for an interview where it said "excellent communication", he would not have got past the first bar because his communication is quite poor. He is meticulous in everything he does. He is meticulous in how tidy he keeps everything. Sometimes I think if we can capture the skill of people, even using video footage and things like that, then when we have the skill the person has, maybe we can look for the fit-out in the community where that skill is needed rather than sometimes trying to find out what kind of qualification this person has and then going looking for the job. We could instead find out what skill he or she has and see where that can take them then. That might be another way of looking at it.

Like Ms Hennessy said, it is very important the right supports are put in so someone is set up for success. If there is success with one person, that has a huge trickle effect across the board. If it is a success for the employer and employee, they are much more courageous about doing it again and about saying to some other employer to have a go at it and take a chance because it had been good for the original employer. Again, when we in Down Syndrome Ireland are working with employers, we find the employees themselves sometimes sell the whole concept. They are the ambassadors for it and the people who draw others in. Some people in hospitality say if there are employers attending those hospitality settings, sometimes seeing those people there actually triggers in them that maybe they will give it a chance too.