William P. Alford Mei Liao Fengming Cui Editors Finding and Keeping A
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Economy and Social Inclusion Creating a Society for All William P. Alford Mei Liao Fengming Cui Editors An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Volume 3 Finding and Keeping a Job Economy and Social Inclusion Creating a Society for All Series Editor Akihiko Matsui, Tokyo, Japan This series provides a forum for theoretical, empirical, historical, and experimental analysis of issues related to economy and social inclusion and exclusion. Included are the interconnected problems of alienation, deprivation, discrimination, economic inequality, polarization, and prejudices caused by or related to abusive behavior, aging, depopulation, disability, the educational gap, the gender gap, natural disaster, poverty, rare diseases, war, and various other economic and social factors. The common theme of the series is to examine how we can create an inclusive society that accommodates as many people as possible and promotes their welfare. We believe this should be the main goal of economics as a discipline. Society need not passively observe its inequality, social exclusion, and decline. Policy, institutions, and our actions matter. The series aims to enrich academic discourse, influence economic and social policy, and enlighten a global readership. Methodologies adopted in this series are mainly economic theory, game theory, econometrics, statistical analysis, economic experiments, and disability studies. Psychology, sociology, legal studies, and medical sciences, among other disci- plines, are also considered important related fields of study. The interdisciplinary research taken up in the series utilizes these existing methodologies for the common goal of creating a society for all. Furthermore, progress in such interdisciplinary studies will contribute new insights to the development of economic studies. The major geographical targets of the series are Japan and other Asian countries but are not restricted to those areas. At the same time, however, the goal is to amplify the findings therein to universally applicable insights and knowledge. Editorial Board: William P. Alford (Vice Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies, Jerome A. and Joan L. Cohen Professor of East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School) In-Koo Cho (Professor, University of Illinois, USA) Partha Sarathi Dasgupta (Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, UK) Hidehiko Ichimura (Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan) Daiji Kawaguchi (Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan) Osamu Nagase (Visiting Professor, Ritsumeikan Univesity, Japan) Yasuyuki Sawada (Chief Economist, Asian Development Bank, Philippines; Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan) Tomomi Tanaka (Senior Economist, The World Bank) More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13899 William P. Alford • Mei Liao • Fengming Cui Editors An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Volume 3 Finding and Keeping a Job Editors William P. Alford Mei Liao Harvard Law School Shanghai, China Harvard University Cambridge, MA, USA Fengming Cui Harvard Law School Harvard University Cambridge, MA, USA ISSN 2509-4270 ISSN 2509-4289 (electronic) Economy and Social Inclusion ISBN 978-981-15-5004-1 ISBN 978-981-15-5005-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5005-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020. This book is an open access publication. Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adap- tation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publi- cation does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore The publication of this book is sponsored by Papa John’s Shanghai. This book and the preceding volume, An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Vol 2—The Movement, together with the summary volume, An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Vol 1—Overview, commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Special Olympics 1968–2018. The three volumes are Open Access books. To the people and organizations dedicated to promoting the dignity and the social inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities and a better world for all Preface I. This volume is a collection of interviews with the families of 16 employees with intellectual disability (ID) employed at Shanghai Papa John’s restaurants. Shanghai Papa John’s is a company that is very friendly towards people with ID and committed to its social responsibilities. Following the Special Olympics World Summer Games held in Shanghai in 2007, it started hiring employees with ID. Since 2012, Papa John’s and Dairy Queen have been the co-sponsors of Special Olympics East Asia and have organized 43 unified soccer games and bocce games in 23 cities in China. As a result of our good communication with Papa John’s, we chose to interview its employees with ID for the Finding and Keeping a Job volume and have received its full support and assistance. In June 2016 at the beginning of the interview process for this volume, there were a total of 87 employees with disabilities at Shanghai Papa John’s, 80 of whom have intellectual disabilities while the rest have hearing and other disabilities. Initially, we hoped that the company would help recruit oral history families, but it didn’t turn out to be effective. The company then decided to hold a meeting for the parents of all their employees with ID, through which we could introduce the project ourselves and recruit families for the project. Because the parents had different schedules, between June and August 2016, we held four meetings attended by 41 parents in total. Twenty parents signed on to the oral history project at the meetings. Among these 20 parents, 1 withdrew after talking to family members; 1 withdrew after the initial interview; and we had to cancel the interview with a third because the employee had hearing impairment instead of intellectual disability. In the end, a total of 17 families were interviewed, with some entries appearing in either the lead volume or the volume focused specifically on Special Olympics athletes. As a result, this volume contains inter- views with 13 families. ix x Preface As far as the recruitment process is concerned, nearly 47% of the families of employees with ID voluntarily attended the meetings, and around 49% of families that attended the meetings voluntarily signed on to the oral history project. In other words, the 17 families chose to participate voluntarily and naturally rather than having been selected by the project team—support for which we are very grateful. Families have opted out of the oral history project for the following reasons: some parents were single moms and too busy with work to accept interviews; some were advanced in age with poor health and reluctant to talk about a painful past; some cared about privacy; some did not relate to the project; and some refused to participate in the project because they felt that it was using people with disabilities as guinea pigs. II. Oral history aims to present a truthful and comprehensive picture of reality. Both sunshine and storms are a part of reality. Oral history should both motivate and disclose problems, which is the best way to drive social progress. Shanghai Papa John’s stated that the company had taken the first step by hiring people with disabilities and that it had faced challenges while gaining experience. The company is ready to take the next step by sharing with society its experience and challenges. Just as Internet companies do not yet know where big data can be used in the future, Papa John’s isn’t sure about what effects its experience can have. However, once shared, this experience can definitely inspire companies, organi- zations, experts, scholars, and other interested groups. For companies, hiring employees with ID can help build the corporate culture, establish values focusing on people, and strengthen the company’s sense of unity and social responsibility. Also, to show support for people with ID, some customers make special efforts to dine at the restaurants. On the other hand, hiring people with ID can be challenging for companies. First, the company’s management costs will rise. The company needs to regularly update parents on the performance of employees with ID. Especially in the case of new hires, in order to avoid misunderstanding stemming from the employees’ inability to express themselves clearly, the company needs to maintain communi- cation with parents through contact books similar to those used by schools to communicate with parents; and if the employees experience unstable emotions, the company is liable for emergencies and repercussions, as well as risks to customers and other employees.