The discussion on possibilities of participation on the regular labour market for persons with disabilities is promoted by the enactment of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In this context it is of interest to identify what kinds of offers exist on the labour market to enhance vocational participation in the respective countries and if persons with increased support needs are provided access to such offers.
This presentation at hand provides information about access, process and participation in labour market measures specifically for the group of persons with intellectual disabilities in Austria (n=625). Data used in this presentation are based on current results of nation-wide surveys conducted in the framework of the research project "Experiences of participation in the professional biography of people with intellectual disabilities", funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The aim of the research project is to reconstruct objectively identifiable as well as subjectively experienced participation in the life history of people with intellectual disability undergoing this transition process as well as their participation experiences on the labour market under special consideration of institutional preconditions in Austria.
For this reason, personal data such as data regarding the educational and transition process, information on support needs as well as detailed data on the process of professional integration of persons who have received support by service institutions in the reference year 2008 has been collected by means of a nationwide survey of institutions offering employment market support (such as "Clearing", a counselling service offered to school leavers with special needs, "Work integration assistance", aimed at supporting people with disabilities in their integration into the labour market, "Vocational training assistance", etc.).
The results of the study show clearly that persons with intellectual disabilities are provided access primarily to vocational guidance measures and to a small extent to qualifying measures or such measures that are directly linked to vocational integration on the regular labour market.