T-TAP: Training

People who are self employed are not isolated and have many valued relationships with suppliers, customers, and others
Self employment within your home (home self employment) and self employment outside of your home are two different options

Question: What words of wisdom do you have for those who have just started offering self employment?

Get buy-in from key players and support from systems leadership

Transcript

Interviewer: The focus on competitive employment involves a component of integration, getting people out in their communities working with other community members. What's your response to someone who states, "Self employment only serves to segregate and isolate people with disabilities in their homes?"

Nancy: I would say, first of all, any good thing can be done badly. My experience is that self-employment is really the opposite of isolation, because you have very many valued roles. You have a relationship with a supplier. You have a relationship with your customers. You have networking that you do with other businesses. It actually presents the individual in a role of competence and a valued role that is different from opportunities they would have in other settings.

Interviewer: In many of the examples that you shared with us are out in the community. People aren't sitting at home in terms of self employment. I think sometimes when you hear self-employment we might box people in as telemarketers or something within their homes. That's not necessarily true, is it?

Nancy: No. There's in-home self employment and then there's self employment where you are actually a viable part of the economic community within which you live.

Interviewer: Based on your experience, if you were talking to a staff person who's never been involved in self employment and their agency or organization was moving towards offering self employment services, what one-liner, or what one thought or couple of thoughts, would you share with them? [That is] not so much as advice, but as wise words to get them going.

Nancy: I guess it would be no different then any sort of systems change to a community-based focus. That is make sure that you have buy-in from the key folks, the CEO and the Board. If you don't, it's not going to succeed. That is one thing I've seen over and over again. If you're going to start something such as self employment, you need to make that it's going to be supported by the leadership in the system within where you work.

Interviewer: Thank you so much Nancy for letting us visit your program and what you do. It sounds like a very exciting program. I really appreciate the time you took to be here with us today.

Nancy: You're very welcome. I've enjoyed it.

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