What is the HSSIDIP?

The purpose of this content is to provide additional information to the video, "What is the HSSIDIP?"

More information about the Project

The HSSIDIP is an employment-training program that transforms the lives of students who have an intellectual disability or autism, and contributes to a change in culture by changing the image we have of people with disabilities and the place they occupy in society.

HSSIDIP's Rationale

Statistics show that 80% of people with autism or intellectual disabilities are unemployed.
The vast majority of students with autism or an intellectual disability who graduate from high school are unemployed despite the training they have received and the work placements they have completed during their schooling.
Many of these students can enter the world of work and contribute to society through authentic work.
The Project therefore aims to demonstrate that students with an intellectual disability or autism can, with adaptive measures, integrate into the world of work.

A structured employment-training program

The federal public service is creating a partnership with the education community to offer a structured employment-training program. The public service offers students who meet the eligibility criteria two placements in federal organizations, supported by an educational assistant:

1st placement of 24 weeks of work, from 3 to 6 hours per week
2nd placement of 24 weeks of work, 2 to 5 days per week

Students assume responsibilities and perform authentic tasks that contribute fully to the organization's mandate. During the placement, the federal organization employs the student through FSWEP and the School Board employs the educational assistant. The work team manages the student and the placement. The student is paid at the FSWEP rate of $15 an hour.

A program that contributes to culture change

The HSSIDIP contributes to changing our culture of ableism because we see that society's perception of people with an intellectual disability or autism is changing. These individuals can become autonomous in the workplace and contribute to society if they are given the adapted measures they need.

The partnership between the public service and the education community is contributing to this change:

The employer learns to welcome and manage difference within the structures of its organization by integrating students with an intellectual disability or autism and providing accommodation.
The educational world learns to better equip students with an intellectual disability or autism with skills and experience so that they can fully participate in the world of work.

A program that transforms the lives of students with an intellectual disability or autism

Students who participate in the program are able to:

Realize their cognitive and social potential
Gain autonomy by going to work alone
Learn the rigor of a job well done
Discover interests and the type of work they would like to do
Realize that they have a unique place in the world of work
Gain and demonstrate self-confidence
Contribute to society by doing meaningful work
Be paid for their work
Get excited to enter the world of work

A program that allows for the integration of students with an intellectual disability or autism into the world of work

At the end of the placement, students obtain a Passport to the World of Work. This document states:

The tasks that the student was able to perform on their own
The life skills they exhibited
The adaptive measures they used to perform their work
A recommendation from the manager and supervisor that allow the student to apply for similar jobs in the public service or with another employee in the private sector

The manager and supervisor are available to be a reference and to advise the student's future work teams.

Criteria for student participation

Between the ages of 16 and 21
Eligible to work in Canada, has a Social Insurance Number and a personal bank account
Registered in a Canadian high school
Has an intellectual disability and/or autism
Has an Individual Education Plan (IEP)
Will not qualify to enroll in a regular program in a post-secondary institution in spite of a secondary school diploma
Will leave high school at age of 21 because of:

an intellectual disability or autism as indicated in the Individual Education Plan
a transition to the work place as indicated in the Individual Education Plan

Demonstrates the potential to become autonomous in the work place
Accompanied in school by an educational assistant (EA) who will also accompany the student in the workplace