In January, John Sheehan decided he'd had enough of his job - though job offerings can be scarce for a 36-year-old who has autism.

But with the help of The Arc of Anne Arundel County, part of a national foundation that helps people with developmental disabilities, Sheehan was able to go into business for himself doing odd jobs for homes and offices.

"It's an opportunity for John to do work he likes to do and get paid for it," said his mother, Lorraine Sheehan. John Sheehan had never made more than $50 a week, his mother said, and now he is making about $500 each month and working five days a week.

Partially based on Sheehan's success, The Arc of Anne Arundel and Howard counties are starting Project Income, which aims to place 75 people in jobs they enjoy for reasonable pay or help them go into business for themselves.

The first year of this three-year project is being funded by a $70,000 grant from the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council. Organizers hope to expand the program to the state level.

Project Income aims to help 10 people start businesses. A second group of participants will receive sales and service training, and a third group will be placed in individualized job settings.

Project Income is an effort to "help people with developmental disabilities make a livable wage," said Carol Beatty, executive director of The Arc of Howard County.

According to The Arc, about 3 percent of people in the United States have a developmental disability, and 90 percent of them are unemployed or underemployed.

"This is an area that is ready to explode with possibilities for people," Beatty said of the small-business opportunities.

Kate Rollason, executive director of The Arc of Anne Arundel County, said, "People with developmental disabilities are the poorest of the poor. There is no doubt about that."

In some cases, federal minimum wage rules do not apply. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act allows for employment of some people - including students, those in agriculture and those whose productivity is impaired by a disability - at a lower wage.

"Subminimum wage is a horrible thing. It focuses on what's wrong with a person, rather than what is right," said Cary Griffin, senior partner at Griffin-Hammis Associates, a company that helps people with disabilities find jobs, start small businesses and navigate Social Security regulations.

Griffin-Hammis Associates has helped 200 people nationwide start microenterprises, doing everything from raising birds to making kettle corn, over the past seven years.

"People with disabilities are generally considered unemployable, but there is a need for a lot of services," Griffin said. "They are not seen as capable of running businesses," he said, noting that support systems - such as bookkeepers -are put in place to help them.

Griffin, who works closely with the departments of labor and education as well as the Social Security Administration, contends that in his experience most job placements are successful, but occasionally placements don't work.

"You make bad job matches. But think about how many jobs you had before you found one you liked," he said.

Terri Nyman, development di- rector at The Arc of Anne Arundel County, called the idea of individualizing jobs groundbreaking.

For example, after Sheehan decided it was time for a change, people at The Arc who knew him tried to think of tasks that he likes to do - which include making things neat and orderly. For almost a year, Sheehan has raked leaves and painted, and worked at offices shredding papers and tending to recycling.

"We want to change the way that people with developmental disabilities are looked at in the employment market," said Nyman. "We all want to look to our passion, and that's what John does."

Doreen Rosimos, who also is participating in the project, started the company Income Links after she helped her brother, who has cerebral palsy and schizophrenia, and a group of schizophrenic women start businesses.

"We help very poor people start microenterprises," she said. "We work with people with developmental disabilities and find what truly brings them joy."