“I didn’t know Ron had a disability. We had a vacancy, and
out of all job applications, we chose three candidates to
come for an interview. Ron was one of them. His letter was
impressive, very strong letter showing a strong motivation
and using strong arguments why he was made for the job.
Then, during the interview he was very quiet, just answering
my questions with yes or no, and not asking any question
himself. It was an exhausting interview. Afterwards, I was
almost ready to reject him. But then, his job coach called
me, of which I wasn’t aware of he had one. And he asked for
a second chance. The other two candidates were even less
promising, so I gave Ron this second chance.“

“This second time, Ron was much more open, his job coach
was obviously a person he trusted, and the job coach
stimulated him to talk. Ron was indeed stimulated, and I got
a much better impression of his skills. Also, of his ‘demands’.
Ron was quite strong in his wishes, meaning the conditions
under which would like to work for us. He wanted to work
4 days, starting late in the morning because of his gaming
in the night, and he did not want to work on Thursday since
that was his ‘game day’. I was intrigued by Ron, telling me
straightforward gaming was more important than working. I
did not want to make exceptions for him, though in the end,
I did make these exceptions and hired him on a temporary
contract. I wanted to give Ron a chance and hiring him also
meant ‘a higher score on my CSR ranking, which was an
extra incentive.”

“I had a trust in his skills, and I liked him. I just needed to be

sure he could go along with his colleagues. We are a no-
nonsense company. Our employees work closely together

and make fun among each other. I wasn’t sure whether
there would be a match. In the beginning colleagues had to
get used to the presence of Ron, since he has this look of
no interest, in his eyes and in his body language. He hardly
shows emotions. Then, the job coach had a meeting with
his colleagues, to explain what it means to have a disability
like Ron has. That worked out very well. When they have
their Friday drink meetings, Ron joins. He is much quieter
compared to his colleagues, they accept it, that’s part of Ron,
they all respect him.”

“In the beginning, it became clear Ron needed more time to
learn something, it costed more time to explain to him what
was needed in the work; about 5 – 15 minutes. And I was, sort
of afraid Ron would be less fast because he needed so much
explanation time. His team leader had a meeting with the job
coach and the advice was to start slow and then slowly build
up the production speed. This appeared not to be necessary.
It turned out Ron was faster than anybody else in the
company. Ron works in a constant speed, is not distracted,
keeps focussing and works in a very orderly way.”

“Ron likes to work in our company. He knows he is faster
than others, and sees this as ‘a fact’, nothing to be proud
of. As he formulates it ‘it’s my job and I should do what I
can in this job’. He works together with colleagues, though
when they are chatting while working or making fun with
each other while working, he creates a distance. It is not
a problem for him, he just wants to continue working and
this chatting influences his work speed. He told me he
would like to stay for more years. The salary makes him
independent of his parents and he is now able to live in his
own apartment and going on holiday by himself. He really
appreciates that.”

“The job coach is important for Ron. He trusts him person
and he values his support. Whenever there is something,
which is hardly ever, though still, I can call the job coach for
support, which I highly value. It was also the job coach who
informed me I had ‘a right on a subsidy for Ron’. I was not
aware of it, this was a pleasant side effect.”

“Ron makes the least mistakes of all colleagues, he is fast
and loyal, very loyal. Ron now has a permanent contract. He
can stay as long as he wants. I am happy that I gave Ron a
chance, I would do it again. Having Ron as an employee was
a real eye-opener for me. I have learned a lot about my own
prejudice. I am now much more open to anybody and focus
on abilities of persons and not on ‘the expected inabilities’.
We all tend to place people in boxes and have our own
opinion about what somebody can and cannot. That is
something I would never do again, and I recommend to all
my fellow SME owners to do the same.”