(PRLEAP.COM) Less barriers, more jobs.

It is still difficult for people with learning difficulties to access the labour market. The project ‘check and go’, in which a total of seven EU- countries are involved, is aimed at contributing to a reduction of barriers not only in the working life of job seekers but also in companies. The e-ISOTIS organisation is the official representative of the project in Greece. Several years now e-ISOTIS successfully supports People with Disabilities and elderly persons to overcome the existing barriers.

Even if the topic ‘disability and workplace’ is not a taboo anymore, there are still numerous barriers that make it difficult for the disabled to find their way to living and working with self-determination, earning their own income. There are manifold reasons for this: on the one hand companies have a limited knowledge about barriers on the workplace and their effects. On the other, the applicants aren’t able to describe exactly their individual needs.

The project ‘check and go’ was created last autumn in order for the parties involved to avoid talking at cross-purposes. Thanks to it, they are well informed about each other’s needs to ensure that their partnership will succeed. Seven EU countries – Austria, Germany, Italy, Greece, Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia – participate in the project. The objective of the project is precisely to close the communication and information gaps between people with learning difficulties and disabilities and their potential employers.

Tools for companies and applicants

Three tools are to be developed during the project: one of them is the ‘Check and go tool’ which helps the applicants to draw up a profile of their individual demands or a profile of accessibility. In this way it is possible to record the kind of barriers there are for instance for people who have problems with mobility (wheelchair) or orientation (visual impairment). The ‘Training tool’ is a training designed to help people with disabilities improve qualifications and soft skills which are relevant to the job they are applying for. This includes for instance the ability to communicate adequately one’s own needs and demands, to behave in the right way when applying for a job, and to cope with job-related problems. Finally, the ‘Advice tool’ has the objective of preparing companies to deal with job applicants with disabilities. With the help of this tool it is possible for each company to check its quality standards with regard to barrier freedom and therefore abolish existing barriers. Consequently, companies are also able to independently adapt a workplace or an apprenticeship training position to the needs of the job applicants.
The tools will be available by the middle of 2007 as a demo version on the internet as well as a CD Rom. The final versions will be applied during the spring 2008.

‘Peer principle’ for job applicants and companies

The so-called ‘peer principle’ is particularly important in the development of all three products. It means that people with disabilities are involved in the preparation of the materials as experts in their own field. In addition to that, companies and organisations contribute directly on a local, regional or national level to achieve the objectives of the project together with organisations of the seven partner countries. They too act as experts passing on their experiences to the other partner companies and organisations beyond the limits of their languages and frontiers. The aim is such services to be applied and adopted as much as possible by Greek organizations.