Working Conditions with Different Types of Disability

Abstract

The distribution of retardates in various work areas of a large rehabilitation workshop was found to differ significantly from that of psychiatric cases..Retardates tended to be found in jobs where noise levels and demands for speed, exactness and team work were relatively high, and psychiatric cases in jobs where all these factors were lower. It was hypothesized that the difference was due to retardates having a lower arousal level than psychiatric cases, and thus being able to withstand more stress before their performance deteriorated. Work done by rehabilitees with neurological, medical and physical conditions was similar to that done by psychiatric cases, although whether for the same reasons is not known. While need to operate in a team was a significant variable in the work done by different types of rehabilitee, more physical proximity to other people was not.