Pretty Blue (Eyes)--Stormie's Take

Hi! My name is Stormie and I am 27. I am from Clarksburg and I am working with Job Squad to get a job somewhere. I graduated from High School in 2003 and since then I've been married, widowed, and twice more engaged.

I have learned a lot with Job Squad, right now we are doing things in the community related to my skills and interests, which include things involving computers (I use a Pathfinder and do a lot of social networking on Facebook and dating chatrooms), animals (I volunteer at the Humane Society), and children (I have 2 nephews).

My skills include typing and meeting people online.

I will get a job!

Here are a few videos of things I've done:

Facebooking

College Research



Humane Society

 

Systematic Instruction

For the week of February 7th-11th, we took the opportunity to be trained on Systematic Instruction by Michael Callahan, a consultant in the supported employment field for over 23 years. Systematic Instruction is the brain child of Marc Gold, a pioneer in developing the "try another way" approach for teaching people with disabilities. At the heart of Systematic Instruction is the value that everyone has the ability to learn, although each of us acquires information in a different way. Essentially, our role as trainers is to discover the best ways to convey information to each individual. In order for Systematic Instruction to succeed, we must embrace the idea that everyone can learn, and then expect the learner to succeed.

As part of our training, we taught consultant learners how to construct a bicycle brake. This task was quite complex as a whole, but when broken down into small and simple steps, the learners were able to do a majority on their own. In addition to the bicycle brake, we also went out into the community to learn tasks in local businesses. Four learners did various tasks at Kohl's and Sears, from folding clothes to bar coding new items. This activity not only benefited us as trainers, but also benefited the store employees and the learners. Typically, most employees do not have experience training someone with a disability. The reasoning is two-fold: First, most people with a disability are not given the opportunity to work in local businesses. Second, when a person with a disability is given the opportunity to work, it is very often the job coach who does the training and not the co-worker or manager. In addition to benefiting the employees, it also benefited the learners by giving them the confidence to know that they can do real tasks in the community with little to no assistance. Rarely are people with disabilities encouraged to become independent, and often, through good intentions, can be given more assistance than they actually need. With proper instruction and teaching techniques, people with disabilities can perform many of the same complex tasks that people without disabilities can perform.

A Reminder

In the institution they told me
You have no more coordination than a common laboratory rat
That's what the disability industry sees - Disability
They have to
Its how they make money
So they say
You will never hold a job
You will never read for pleasure
You will have trouble adjusting socially
Well, they got one right
But I am a man
and a father
with a freaking Master's degree and everything
and all they see
is the disability.
Disability is a social construct
It protects people from their fear
that we are the same.
Just one car accident away
In a war of attrition
I will always win.

NO PITY
by Ken Ervin

For more information about Ken Ervin, click here, here, and here.

Resource ownership: A tool for employment success

Jimmy Manno used Resource Ownership, a technique pioneered by Griffin-Hammis Associates, to create his job. A previous blog entry, Jimmy and the forklift, discussed the details of the Resource Ownership relationship with Bob and Robin Sharp, owners of Grafton Farm & Home Supply.

Job Squad has been receiving training and technical assistance for the last 2 years from Griffin-Hammis, Associates (GHA), through a grant provided by the West Virginia Developmental Disabilities Council (WVDDC). We used the knowledge and skills gained through our relationship with GHA and the WVDDC to facilitate Jimmy's job creation.

In order to financially qualify for the Medicaid Waiver, Jimmy needed to spend funds related to a life insurance policy in his name. He used these funds to negotiate paid employment by purchasing a fork lift, which saved the owners thousands of dollars in operating costs.

Jimmy has been hired as an employee for over a year now; he states that he loves working with the owners and his co-workers at the store. Bob commented that it is a good fit for Jimmy, his personality and job skills have been an asset. He takes pride in his accomplishments and he enjoys working with public.

Jimmy's daily routine consist of getting up early going to exercise at the local gym, and then off to work. He enjoys cleaning the floors, rolling the oats and assisting the customers with their purchases. Jimmy gets very excited when talking about his job, and he loves being able to see his friends and neighbors. When asked if he would like to do anything different he responded "no, this is my job."

Jimmy's father is very pleased with Jimmy's overall success! He commented not only on the advantage of resource ownership considering a small business's needs, but also on the huge avantage it has been for his son."Jimmy has had fewer seizures, and appears to be much happier. This experience can be compared to that of a perfect marriage, everyone wins."

Richard Pimentel

A Day With Richard Pimentel:
.

On Thursday, November 18^th, Shannon Dalton and I had the privilege of spending the day with Dr. Richard Pimentel, a nationally renowned expert on Disability Management, Job Recruitment, Job Retention, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Attitude Change. He was a driving force behind the passing of the ADA, as well as a pioneer in the disability job development field. Dr. Pimentel was brought in to share his life story with the community, as well as to educate us on his job development philosophy.

Richard Pimentel always had the gift of public speaking, but he never had anything worth talking about. That all changed after coming home from Vietnam with hearing loss and tinnitus, a constant ringing in the ears. Instead of helping a Vietnam Veteran achieve his goals at home, the government dismissed his dreams of college and public speaking, claiming that his hearing loss and tinnitus would make him go insane. Richard was not about to accept that fate, and instead chose to use his speaking abilities to advance disability rights.

Richard spent the morning with us as we went out into the community with one of our clients. I am happy to report that with Richard’s help, we secured two interviews with well known businesses. According to Dr. Pimentel, the experience gained during an interview is invaluable, even if it doesn’t result in a job. The hardest part is getting your foot in the door, and an interview does just that.

After our visit to the mall, Richard discussed public perception of persons with disabilities, and the lessons that can be learned. Dr. Pimentel shared a story that took place a year after he started doing job development with persons with disabilities. A job seeker entered his office and handed him a tablet on which was written “I cannot speak. I will have to conduct this interview using this notepad.” Richard wrote back that it would be fine, and then called his receptionist to inform that this interview would take longer than usual and to clear the calendar for the next two hours. During that time, they had an intense interview, writing questions and answers back and forth. Richard knew the kind of work he wanted and was coming up with a list of employers to contact. At the end of the interview, Dr. Pimentel wrote that he knew all he needed to know to start contacting employers on his behalf. The job seeker then wrote back “I am sorry but I cannot work with you.” Richard wrote back asking why, and he replied “If you know so much about me, why have you been writing questions to me for the last two hours? I do not have a problem hearing.” He then went on to write that he could not entrust his job search to a counselor who was dumb enough to assume he was deaf and who was not smart enough to try to test or clarify the assumption (Pimentel 101).

“Never judge a book by its cover.” This is something we all have learned from an early age, but it’s much easier said than done, especially when it applies to our perception of persons with disabilities. As Richard’s story above so clearly illustrates, even those of us working in the disability services field can be guilty of judging someone’s ability before we gather all the facts needed to make an accurate evaluation. A professional evaluation depends on the quality of communication. By lowering the quality of communication, we make it impossible to properly evaluate an individual’s abilities.

For more information on Dr. Pimentel and his life, check out the movie “Music Within” starring Ron Livingston and Michael Sheen. For more information on job development, check out the book Working With People With Disabilities by Dr. Richard Pimentel. 

“There are no good jobs for persons with disabilities. But there are persons with disabilities who are good for jobs.” – Richard Pimentel

Pimentel, Richard. Working With People With Disabilities. Milt Wright & Associates, Inc., 2001

This is part 1 of 6 of Dr. Pimentel's talk. Please check out the other parts here.