Getting a job or any means of livelihood in Nigeria and other African countries can be a very daunting task and it doesn’t seem to get any better. So imagine what that means for a young adult with intellectual and developmental disability in our country.
In 2019, Eliakim Global Resources and Claudia's Threshold Foundation decided to change the narrative by taking the bulls by the horn and doing something great that encourages supportive employment services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Nigeria.
Having provided inclusive education services for children with intellectual disabilities for the past twelve years, they were always faced with the “What Next?" question and never had a compelling answer for parents until August 2019 when they decided that if nothing is something about this, the population of adults with IDD will keep increasing and that would create a huge problem for communities.
The reality is that no one will be able to cater for adults with special needs when their parents or guardians pass away and that is every parents fear. So providing inclusive education is great but after secondary school, WHAT NEXT?
The supportive employment program tagged “Inclusive Employment For All" created by Nneamaka F. Mokwe-Ijiko of Eliakim Global Resources commenced in September 2019 with a total of eighteen 18 young adults with down syndrome and on the autism spectrum. The Down Syndrome Foundation founded by Mrs. Mordi enrolled the adults at her centre in the program. They went through four months of soft skills training and entrepreneurial development from seasoned volunteer facilitators to prepare them for business development and work life skills.
After the program, they had a graduation and were presented with certificates and it was quite an emotional and heart warming experience. The next phase of this one year program is the internship placement program.
All the teenagers with intellectual and developmental disabilities are currently going through the transition program and inclusive vocational trainings. The belief is that if they learn basic education in an inclusive school, they can also learn practical skills, get employment and be employed in an inclusive work space.
The few organisations (if there are any) who believe in the Inclusive employment program focus on individuals with physical challenges but no attention is given to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and it’s time we change the narrative. We are all we have and the teenagers and adults we neglect today will become the ones who deal with us tomorrow.
Change the narrative today. People with intellectual/developmental disabilities have a right to employ and be employed.

[Where are you located? quote author=AmakaMokwe post=93092871]Getting a job or any means of livelihood in Nigeria and other African countries can be a very daunting task and it doesn’t seem to get any better. So imagine what that means for a young adult with intellectual and developmental disability in our country.
In 2019, Eliakim Global Resources and Claudia's Threshold Foundation decided to change the narrative by taking the bulls by the horn and doing something great that encourages supportive employment services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Nigeria.
Having provided inclusive education services for children with intellectual disabilities for the past twelve years, they were always faced with the “What Next?" question and never had a compelling answer for parents until August 2019 when they decided that if nothing is something about this, the population of adults with IDD will keep increasing and that would create a huge problem for communities.
The reality is that no one will be able to cater for adults with special needs when their parents or guardians pass away and that is every parents fear. So providing inclusive education is great but after secondary school, WHAT NEXT?
The supportive employment program tagged “Inclusive Employment For All" created by Nneamaka F. Mokwe-Ijiko of Eliakim Global Resources commenced in September 2019 with a total of eighteen 18 young adults with down syndrome and on the autism spectrum. The Down Syndrome Foundation founded by Mrs. Mordi enrolled the adults at her centre in the program. They went through four months of soft skills training and entrepreneurial development from seasoned volunteer facilitators to prepare them for business development and work life skills.
After the program, they had a graduation and were presented with certificates and it was quite an emotional and heart warming experience. The next phase of this one year program is the internship placement program.
All the teenagers with intellectual and developmental disabilities are currently going through the transition program and inclusive vocational trainings. The belief is that if they learn basic education in an inclusive school, they can also learn practical skills, get employment and be employed in an inclusive work space.
The few organisations (if there are any) who believe in the Inclusive employment program focus on individuals with physical challenges but no attention is given to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and it’s time we change the narrative. We are all we have and the teenagers and adults we neglect today will become the ones who deal with us tomorrow.
Change the narrative today. People with intellectual/developmental disabilities have a right to employ and be employed.
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