According to a 2000 National Organization on Disability/Harris survey, the number of developmentally disabled people employed in the United States was 32 percent, despite the desire to work by 67 percent of all unemployed individuals with developmental disabilities. At the time, The Boeing Co. spent about $200,000 a year to employ six neurodivergent workers in a variety of roles, such as delivering drawings and mail, and data entry, freeing other staff for more complex jobs.

In this image Joy Krahner, who has Down syndrome, poses in her office at Boeing's old headquarters on East Marginal Way in South Seattle. She had been working there for 13 years, with an annual salary, and access to health care and pension benefits.

Caption information source: "Joy Krahner is one of the lucky few. She's disabled - and she has a steady job," by Paul Nyhan, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 27, 2004, page 17-18.