国際セミナー「世界の障害者インクルージョン政策の動向」

講演2　関連資料（原文）

JAREDS STORY - Age 54

For my sake I have always enjoyed the process of working. Throughout my entire adult life, I have been limited to having one salaried job of work which lasted for one year. Until Stuart (Aquamacs) with his social firm set up of aquariums and fish was suggested to me, I had not worked for ten years. During this time, I had been in and out of hospitals, care homes and supported housing. I was in a care home when I received a telephone call “ out of the blue”, that was to lead me into Stuarts firm 18 months later.

Since then my life and myself have changed a great deal.

Three years ago I had a community care worker, community nurse, supported housing,art therapist, and several appointments per week to maintain in relation to these. Currently I live fully in the open community with only two connections back to my old life style ? a community care worker and community nurse.

My mother has seen me develop an interest and commitment outside of my home life. She sees me with a job of work which gives me back a feeling of worth and in which I take a pride in doing and doing well. She has seen me broaden, both as a person and in my outlook on life, derived from working with another person－Stuart－and other members of Aquamacs. I am more rounded, more mature, take more thought about other people and other things. She is overjoyed that I seem to her so much better and of course I derive great and deep satisfaction from being enabled to be able to be all this.

For myself, my rewards are fostered by the feelings of usefulness, camaraderie and from having completed works successfully which please customers, those who benefit from our installations and my boss－Stuart－as well. Also I derive satisfaction from the bonhomie associated with working hard with comrades to achieve mutually inspired goals. I have the rewards amounting from doing something worthwhile and helpful to society of which I am a member －this having been denied to me for so long because of my condition over which I had little or no control.

The Social Firms foster and facilitate such conditions in our society for persons who, like me, wish to give back some of what society has given us. By involvement with such firms or businesses, people are given the ability to better themselves－although not maybe make themselves `better` - and help out socially in the process.

As a final note, I do not think those who are incapable should be penalized－incapacity to work has along with it many complexities which make it a far from straightforward condition.