A study on the tendency of candidates in Kanagawa employment and training
center for mental retardation
Tomoko SUGANO, Akiko YOSHIDA, Takeshi MATSUISHI, Harutada SAKAI
Department of Special Education, Faculty of Education and Human Sciences,
Yokohama National University.
Abstract
Kanagawa employment and training center was
established in 1987 to help individuals with
mental retardation obtain competitive employment.
In this study we carried out an investigation
to determine the kind of person applying
to this center and qualities associated with
successful application from 1988 to1991.
The total number of applicants was 154 of
which 120 candidates were successful.
The result of the survey showed that most
of the applicants were classified as mildly
mentally retarded. The average IQ of the
successful candidates was 58.6. A feature
of this group was that their work capacity,
as estimated by GATB2 (Japanese standard
test of working skill), did not correlate
with their IQ score. When compared with a
sample population with similar level of IQ
their work capacity was significantly higher.
In particular the working capacity of people
with autistic disorder was significantly
higher than those without the disorder.People
with autistic disorder made up 30% of the
total number of successful candidates within
the first two years. Due to problems with
social adaptation encountered by people with
autistic disorder the center was forced to
decrease the number of candidates with autistic
disorder year by year. These problems were
due to too much emphasis been placed on work
capacity during the selection process and
not enough attention to levels of social
adaptation. While the aim of this center,
which is to obtain employment, was achieved,
for people with autistic disorder many problems
relating to social adaptation were encountered
during the training process.
In conclusion the authors emphasize of the
importance of evaluating the extent of their
social adaptation capacity in addition to
their work capacity, in the management of
the employment and occupation training of
people with autistic disorder.
(originally published in Kanagawa Seishinigaku kaishi, Journal of Kanagawa
Psychiatry Association, 46: 67-73, 1997)
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