ABSTRACT
Rose is a 60-year-old woman with intellectual disabilities. She lives with her 79-year-old mother in a small house in Melbourne, Australia. She has been working in a textile division of Newland Industries, a sheltered employment provider, for the last 15 years. She enjoys her work and she has made many friends there, with both her co-workers and support staff members. In the last 2 years however her arthritis has worsened, and she is in lot of pain. She gets tired more easily, and her beloved work is more and more taxing. Rose is determined to keep on working in spite of her health issues. Her elderly mother is worried about Rose and she has had a number of conversations with her about possible retirement. Rose is not happy about the prospect of not working any more, as she cannot imagine what her life would be like without her work.
