DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS FOR
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Disabilities vary widely in type, severity, stability, duration and time of onset. These
characteristics influence individual capacities and willingness to become entrepreneurs and to
sustain such a status. Self-employment is appropriate for many in this population because it
can provide more flexibility than paid employment in terms of workload, work schedule and
work location, which can allow for better management of disability and lifestyle. Efforts are
needed to increase awareness about the desirability and feasibility of entrepreneurship by
people experiencing disabilities, both among disabled and non-disabled populations. There is
some evidence that targeted entrepreneurship training and start-up support programmes can
be effective for disabled people, but they are expensive to deliver and the size of the target
group will not always justify separate provision. There is strong potential to adapt existing
training and start-up programmes to the needs of persons with disability. Business advisors
should be ready to recommend self-employment as a career option to the people with
disability, longer support should be available if necessary, adapted formats (such as sign
language and Braille) should be used, and language should be adapted to the realities of the
clients. Partnerships between business support organisations and specialist disabled support
organisations can also help.
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, Specialised Training & Disability Resource Centre
implements several programmes to develop Entrepreneurship Skills of people with
disabilities. The Training Centre started a new course of study in Cookery for Entrepreneurs
with disabilities in February 2020. The trainings are conducted by Ms. Mahila
Wickramasekera . Women with diverse disabilities (multiple disability and learning
disability) will be trained in Cookery to start up their own businesses.
Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:
1 Training session.
2 Conducting the training.
3 Participants.
Manique Gunaratne
Web: www.employers.lk
