Creating Inclusive Work Environments for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Joanne Lockwood speaks with Dominique Dehaene, National Director of Special Olympics Belgium, about how sport can be a practical gateway to fuller inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Dominique explains what is meant by IDD and why Special Olympics focuses on talent, opportunity, and competition rather than pity or lowered expectations.

They explore how unified sport can build confidence, communication, and social connection, and how those gains can carry into everyday life, including education and employment. The conversation also challenges common assumptions about capability, addresses the fear many people feel about “getting inclusion wrong,” and argues for learning through good intent, accountability, and trying again.

Dominique brings personal perspective as a father of a son with autism, sharing what openness, support networks, and purpose can look like in practice. They also discuss health inequities for people with IDD and how targeted screening and better professional training can remove barriers. The episode closes with a call to create environments where people with IDD are treated as full participants in communities, workplaces, and society.