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.