Arab Educational Information Network

The aim of this study is to identify the main barriers to the successful employment of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) from their colleagues’ perspectives. To achieve the goal of the study, the researcher selected a purposive sample consisting of 43 individuals who work daily with individuals with ID. The researcher used a questionnaire of 32 items distributed over 6 dimensions (barriers): social skills, transportation, academic skills, attitudes toward individuals with ID, laws and legislations, and work skills and experiences. The findings of the study revealed that based on their colleagues’ views, the barriers to the successful employment of individuals with ID were high with an overall mean of 3.56 and a standard deviation of 0.87. Results revealed that there were statistically significant differences in the barriers faced by individuals with ID seeking successful employment in the domains of social skills, transportation, academic skills, and law and legislation because of the type of work variable (private, government). Lastly, in the academic skills domain, results revealed statistically significant differences when testing for the colleagues’ type of position variable (colleagues/ supervisor). (Published Abstract)