Employment

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the group, . Your question re: employment is very timely, since next Monday Nov. 6th we'll be welcoming Emmett to the list for a weeklong session devoted to employment-related Qs and As. Anyone else who wants to reply now with their thoughts for please do so, and then next week we can revisit this with as well.

[Guest guest]

I am sure will have some additional insights, but one of the things I have done with my son Noah, who is the same age and is slated to leave the educational world in June is to ask a few key questions:

Where in the community is he most comfortable?

What are his skills and interests?

What is potentially sustainable and where do natural supports exist?

What we came up with is a job in our synagogue. He loves going there, it is a ten minute walk from the house, the people love him and most are quite familiar with his personality and quirks, there are not so many people there on a daily basis that his behaviors will be a problem, he can develop a work repetoire that is good for him, whether it is a focus on mainentance work, office work or some combination of both, and he can work whatever hours are best for him, for the most part.

He started his job at our synagogue this past fall, and so far, it is working very well. I do believe he will require a job coach beyond June, so that is something we will be working on. He will start receiving a pay check shortly. We have to make a decision about whether he gets paid as an independent contractor and fills out a 1099 form at the end of the year or he gets paid as a regular employee with a W-2. It is a question I will be asking Emmett, next week.

Noah is also starting a job in one of our local schools working with the head custodian. It will reinforce the cleaning and custodial tasks he is doing at the synagogue.

By the way, Noah is relatively nonverbal and has a number of "interesting" OCD behaviors...

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeldegskb@...

employment

I'm new to this website. My daughter is 20 yrs. old and is scheduled to graduate in the spring. She has worked in several cluster work sites primarily janitorial work. She has had a volunteer job in a daycare after school for 4 years and enjoys the college aged teachers and children; and volunteers in an elementary school but none of these jobs will result in a paid job after high school. We still have another semester that we can have the assistance in training through the high school. What jobs are adults with disabilities working in your community? She is cooperative, a little shy and very willing to try new jobs. Thank you!

[Guest guest]

thanks . Your experience and expertise should help many families. As

you say it is all in the case manager's hands...Mom and Dad..pounding the

pavement. You're a great roll model. Cindi

[Guest guest]

Wow! Cool story. Great lesson for all.

Thank you so much for sharing this, .

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeldegskb@...

Employment

Hi Everyone, First of all I want to thank Laurie, Marie and Ellen for starting this group. Thanks for your initiative and vision for this! As a parent of a young adult daughter with disabilities, I just wanted to respond to a posted message by a lady regarding future employment for her 20 year old daughter still in Transition. I would like to breifly introduce myself. My name is . My husband and I live in Naperville. Our youngest daughter is 24 years old. She is a young woman with Down Syndrome, is hearing impaired (binaural hearing aides ) and has an extensive health/medical history. She works 5 days a week and takes the Pace-Paratransit Bus to and from work daily. For almost the past 7 years she has worked out in her community for paid employment. While in middle school, we started to address some of her vocational goals. In an effort to balance her academic needs ( she was fully included with supports in the regular classes) as well as her vocational/job development goals, worked at various school jobs, media center, the pre-school at the school district, office ,etc. The struggle for us was always to keep a balance so that her other academic goals would also be met. In short, during middle school she learned some valuable skills, as well as develop interests in certain areas and not in others.These experiences were also helpful on a resume. During her transition from 8th grade to high school, she was hired for a summer job ( just a couple of hours a day ) to assist in a summer school class for high risk 5-6 year olds. I had heard about this opportunity for employment of "high risk youth" thru some research and networking and pursued this with . She was paid minimum wage and gain valuable experience. During high school , we continued to focus on balancing academics but also working with the vocational coordinator to seek out further work experience during her junior year in high school. These "work experiences " were during her 8th period study times, so as to stay as fully involved in the high school.This is what worked for her. From junior to senior year , with the assistance of the vocational coordinator, started working at paid employment in the community (Jewel) . Again , this was during the last period of the day while we still had the availiability of job coaches as needed initially. Her additional work hours were not during school hours, but on week-ends. Not only did she gain valuable work experience, but she also started to accumulate the much needed credits in order to be eligible for SSDI based on her own work record which then made her eligible for Medicare. After over 3 years at this job, had unforseen surgery, needed to take a medical leave of absence, returned to work only to find that she was no longer to do this type of work. During 's high school years, worked with DRS(ORS). I requested the ORS counsellor to attend 's IEP meetings in order for her to get to know and her job goals. As always, I kept 's name , goals and vision in the forefront, with many calls, meetings and ongoing contacts with the DRS counsellor. During the 2nd year of transition, we started to have 's job development coordinated both with the school district and a service provider that we chose to work with. This provided more job coaching . The hope /goal was to make a smooth transition from school to adult services. This was done thru DRS/ORS and then eventually when 's case was closed with ORS, thru a grant for supported employment. This all involved my ongoing advocacy for ( as all parents do) . After needing to resign her job at Jewel, we started to "pound the pavement." We updated 's resume, compiled information about Work Opportunity Credits ( when hiring someone with a disability ) to give/share with potential employers. All in all , we encountered more "no " than "yes." More often than not , employers wanted someone who could do all aspects of a job, not just certain components( carved out position ) . Just when we started to feel discouraged , was called for an interview by the general manager of the company that now works for . It was thru networking that he knew that she was home recovering from surgery and would need another employment . We also knew him. continues to be successfully employed , initially receiving job coaching. She still receives support , mainly weekly check-ins, or when needed to teach new skills. The "natural supports" at work have been supportive. As we all know, none of this comes easily and the challenges are ongoing. I have developed a renewed respect for all the individuals in the job development /vocational field . In retrospect , rather than working at various "work experience sites", I would advocate for paid employment right from the get -go , since most of the work experience sites remain just that, without opportunity for future employment.

[Guest guest]

This is a great story .

Emmett

[Guest guest]

HI Cindi,

I will post the 20 reasons by the end of the week - I think it is best to work as a group and have a plan put together as you all are doing.

In a message dated 11/7/2006 4:11:45 AM Pacific Standard Time, cbswanson@... writes:

ames, thank you for all your great advice. You had mentioned you have a list of 20 assets to hiring a person with a dis. Could you share that list. I can talk up the issue with a manager, but I dont have any printed info to leave behind. where do we go for that?Also, I am pleased we have this large group. I think a strateghy is important. So if there are 15 people in Joliet, another 5 in Naperville, etc, is it better if we work as a local group, or individually call on the local leadership? Cindi

[Guest guest]

james, thank you for all your great advice. You had mentioned you have a

list of 20 assets to hiring a person with a dis. Could you share that

list. I can talk up the issue with a manager, but I dont have any

printed info to leave behind. where do we go for that?

Also, I am pleased we have this large group. I think a strateghy is

important. So if there are 15 people in Joliet, another 5 in Naperville,

etc, is it better if we work as a local group, or individually call on the

local leadership? Cindi

[Guest guest]

and Laurie,

Thanks for your comments regarding my rather lengthy story about my daughter 's road to employment. I too would be willing to "pound the pavement", knock on doors, etc. in an effort to get our local communities/businesses on board and knowledgable about the untapped resources they have in hiring our persons with disabilities .

Thanks ,

Kissel

[Guest guest]

HI Annie-

First thing that I would look at for your son - is this advisor right about Education? How does your son feel about switching out of his major? Does he agree that Education is not the right field - jobs in Education are plentiful and growing.

If a switch of majors is the best thing for him and a Library may be desired employment - I would contact the on-campus library and local libraries to see if there are any part-time jobs available to help him build his resume and if no jobs are available - is volunteering an option? Volunteering is often a path to employment in the Library system and an interview for this role is usually less intense.

Now, in terms of social skills and interviewing, the question is, will your son be able to represent his skills in an interview after practice with you & other support people? He does not necessarily have to blow them away in the interview. But, if he & you feel that he will be at a huge disadvantage at an interview, then it is time to request an accommodation from the Library or other employer. This may be receiving a copy of the interview script ahead of time so he can practice, or setting the interview in form of a questionnaire where your son writes the answers, or does more of a "job trial" in place of the interview.

But, with this being his final year, if it is education or a library, it will be key to help him contact places that will build his resume.

Emmett

a message dated 11/9/2006 2:27:36 PM Pacific Standard Time, ag1832@... writes:

Hi, please forward this question to your panelist. Thank you.I would like some advise on how to proceed helping my son who has ASD and who is a Senior at Dominican University prepare for employment. He has no work experience except for tutoring on a volunteer basis. He was pursuing an education degree until an advisor told him this week that he was not doing well in that discipline. He has the opportunity to graduate in May with an English degree with honors. He is feeling like he is at zero in terms of job opportunities. What he does best is write and he is extremely knowledgable in history and English literature. While his academic abilities are very good, his social skills are not.How would I pursue helping him find a job? If he was his pick, it would be at a museum, library or other places where learning is relished and he would be surrounded by people eager to learn everyday.We are trying to work with the university internship program but it has been made quite clear to us that it is not a placement office and he will have to seek the opportunities, get interviews, pass interviews and negotiate a contract on his own.Annie

[Guest guest]

Hi Team,

In one of the e-mails I read a list of companies that was a " friendly "

work place for persons with disabilities.

My DD son has had a job for 2 years with one organization. They are

eliminating his job title, and we are having a hard time finding

another job he could handle with training.

Does anyone remember who was on that list? I think I remember

Walgreens?

Thanks

Really bummed Kay

[Guest guest]

I know Jewel foods and Dominicks are friendly work places. My son with Down Syndrome has been there for 5 years.kay4948 <kelmore@...> wrote: Hi Team,In one of the e-mails I read a list of companies that was a "friendly" work place for persons with disabilities.My DD son has had a job for 2 years with one organization. They are eliminating his job title, and we are having a hard time finding another job he could handle with training. Does anyone remember who was on that list? I

think I remember Walgreens?ThanksReally bummed Kay

[Guest guest]

I am wondering, as I think about the question of employment for our kids whether we often ask the right questions first.

It might be useful to start with the individual who needs a job. Rather than ask what is available and what businesses favor hiring individuals with disabilities, let's start with what does the young man like to do? What are his dreams, hopes and aspirations? What is he good at now? What would he like to learn or be better at doing? I would like to ask Kay to address these questions with her son and then post the answers is her son will allow that. If he is comfortable with that, then I would like to challenge our members to help Kay's son in brainstorming and hopefully hooking him up to potential places of employment that fit in to his plans for his future.

It may prove to be a useful exercise from which we may all learn.

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeldegskb@...

Re: Employment

I know Jewel foods and Dominicks are friendly work places. My son with Down Syndrome has been there for 5 years.kay4948 <kelmoreameritech (DOT) net> wrote:

Hi Team,In one of the e-mails I read a list of companies that was a "friendly" work place for persons with disabilities.My DD son has had a job for 2 years with one organization. They are eliminating his job title, and we are having a hard time finding another job he could handle with training. Does anyone remember who was on that list? I think I remember Walgreens?ThanksReally bummed Kay

[Guest guest]

I have to add that they are very flexible at Jewel with Chris's hours and abilities. They are very good to us and we have never had a problem getting days off or amount of hours, etc. just bags and he loves it. If your child can do more there are other opportunities there as well.Ellen Bronfeld <egskb@...> wrote: Walgreens does have work initiatives for people with disabilities. Jewel, Dominicks and

Target also employ people with disabilities in our community. Ellen Ellen Garber Bronfeldegskbsbcglobal (DOT) net Employment Hi Team,In one of the e-mails I read a list of companies

that was a "friendly" work place for persons with disabilities.My DD son has had a job for 2 years with one organization. They are eliminating his job title, and we are having a hard time finding another job he could handle with training. Does anyone remember who was on that list? I think I remember Walgreens?ThanksReally bummed Kay

[Guest guest]

It's really interesting that you've posted this, in this way, Ellen. In thinking about our future DD employment conference and Laurie's excellent idea for her 's grad party, I was wondering if having a session at the conference where ideas would be thrown out (called out, shouted out)for an individual and a job--a REAL job--would be suggested. Seeing and knowing what other folks with disabilities (my job video idea) do, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of an individual would play a part. So let's practice here--here are some questions for Kay to get us started:

where do you live (urban, suburban, rural)?

what are your son's interests?

what are his strengths?

weaknesses?

does he like people?

does he prefer to be alone?

what is his disability?

has worked with mostly folks with disabilities? or in a more integrated environment?

Having answers to these questions--anybody think of other that would help us get started?--would give us a place to begin.

Marie > > Hi Team,> > In one of the e-mails I read a list of companies that was a "friendly" > work place for persons with disabilities.> > My DD son has had a job for 2 years with one organization. They are > eliminating his job title, and we are having a hard time finding > another job he could handle with training. > > Does anyone remember who was on that list? I think I remember > Walgreens?> > Thanks> > Really bummed Kay>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Gloria. I filled out the surve.

freddybearluv2002 <prentice50@...> wrote:

This comes thru the Will County Disability Advisory Board. Gloria

For Newsletters/Websites:

Tell the State of Illinois what you want and need to become employed,

and to stay employed. A committee of individuals with disabilities,

employers, and disability advocacy organizations have joined together

to help people with disabilities find and keep a job. Staff from

several Illinois state agencies are assisting the committee in their

work.

We need your help to identify the challenges, opportunities,

strengths, and needs that you face when you are looking for a job, or

trying to keep the job you have. Let us hear from you in an online

survey! Click on the link below:

If you are a person with a disability, go to:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/migconsumer

If you are a parent of a transitioning student, go to:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/migparent

If you are a service provider, go to:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/migprovider

We plan to develop a strategic plan to reduce employment barriers

for Illinois residents with disabilities based on your feedback from

the survey.

To obtain a written copy of the survey or alternate format of the

survey, or to learn more about the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant and

the strategic planning process, please call

1-217-524-7170 or e-mail at .Mott@...

Illinois wants to know your opinion. Here's your chance to be heard!

This survey is federally funded through the Medicaid Infrastructure

Grant. The Departments of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Human

Services, and Healthcare and Family Services are working together to

implement this grant.

Finato

www.AngelSpeaks.com

www.wegrowdreams.org