selecting the right work experience for youth with disabilities ellen condon project director...

Selecting the Right Work Experience for Youth

with Disabilities

Ellen Condon Project Director

University of MT Rural Institute

Marc Gold and Associates

Southeast TACE, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute.Funded by RSA Grant # H264A080021. © 2010 All Rights Reserved

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What factors determine the “right” work experience?

• Age of student

• Need for individualization to participate

• Purpose of the experience Exposure to work Teaching skills within an interest area Assessing skills and aptitudes Assessing ongoing support needs

Factors


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(How much time do we have?)• Middle School Students (or earlier)

Exposure to ‘work’ Share the perception that everyone can ‘work’ Begin discussions with family and student about ‘work’

• Try various tasks, various environments

• Learn job related skills

• Begin thinking about self management and self direction

Age of Student


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Middle School: Exposure to Work


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High School Students Assist students to clarify what they want to do for work Build skills in areas of interest Learn what features of a work environment work and

don’t work for you Experience an ongoing community job experience

UM Rural Institute, Missoula, MT 5

Age of Students…


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Student Working at an Auto Dealership


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Learning about the personAs we go to know Richard, his family shared information about his interests and skills with kids. This led the team to develop a work exploration in the preschool.


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A work experience gave the team information about Richard’s skills and attributes around children.

Work Experience


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• 18-21 year olds

• Off campus work experiences & paid positions

• Expand skills and tasks in areas of interest

• Experience an ongoing job

Age of Students…


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Drew mowed lawns for his neighbors as a summer job.

Drew’s Story


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A customized position was negotiated at Wal-Mart for Cathy during high school.

Cathy’s Story


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Tim collated fact sheets and assembled packets including placing stickers on the folders, for the Rural Institute Transition Projects.

Tim’s Story


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Need for individualization…


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Bella’s contributions met needs of the employer and the job developer was able to negotiate supports that Ann needed. The experience turned into a paid position.

Bella’s Story


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Need for Individualization


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Need for Individualization - 2


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Henry stapled and hole punched materials for the Transition Projects. His participation and production doubled during his experience.

Henry’s Story


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An Evolution of Work Experiences

Leading to the outcome of employment


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• General work experience

Varied experiences offered to all students

• Matched to student interest

• Customized to the student’s ideal conditions for the purpose of gathering information about tasks, skills or validating a condition

Types of Work Experiences


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General Work Experiences

Anel in Middle School• Food Bank: Stocking

food, portioning food, newsletter mailings

• School Library: Shelving books

• In School newspaper Delivery


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• Follows a written list of tasks

• Files by letter

• Types data into computer

• Folds, stuffs envelopes, labels

• Follows rules

• Attends to time

• Learns routes and layouts

• Measures out food

• Stocks and organizes shelves

Anel’s Skills and Tasks:


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Anel: what did we learn about conditions and support needs?

• Anel does best when he knows what is next, the schedule, and the length of each activity

• He learned to manage his own ‘front loading’ of work information (called in to the food bank)

• Following work rules- wearing gloves• Remembers routes and routines• Driven to complete the task• Being flexible

What Did We Learn?


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Work experience & the IEP• Response when others don’t follow the rules

School library

• Response when people are in your way and make it difficult to do your job Delivering papers through out the school

• Understanding that your work is driven by a specific production amount or time

• Expand his tasks and marketable skills

Anel’s Support Needs & Goals


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Interests in kids, computer, books • CDC: filing, organizing, inventory forms, copy and file

forms

• Reading to children, support person for summer camp

• Kalispell Public Library

Anel’s Matched Experiences


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The plan for high school: Expand task list

• Working with children in the summer program; reading, theater

• Computers

• Cooking/ food preparation

• Editing/ proof reading

• Numbers/math

Identify Additional Skills

Matched Work Experiences


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Ivan participated in in-school work experiences Freshman and Sophomore years

Ivan’s Story


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He delivered mail, stocked the vending machines, picked up recycling, washed dishes, and stocked the Latte cart.

Ivan’s Story (part 2)


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Ivan volunteers at the food bank to gain work experience & for support staff to learn about his support needs and skills.



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Ivan uses written checklists to move from one task to the next on his own.



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Assessing a Student’s Skills

Assessing a student’s skills and aptitudes in a well-matched job site will provide more accurate information about abilities and support needs.


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Information about Jim’s Ideal Conditions for Success.

• Jim does best in an environment where the rules are clear and enforced

• Mostly male

• Working around the same few people daily

• Succinct instruction up front

• A variety of familiar tasks

• Physical tasks


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Performance Changes in Well Matched Positions.


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Job Trial

A job trial matched to Jim’s conditions showed different performance.


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What can the student learn in this setting?

• Skills

• Tasks

• Job related skills

• Machinery, equipment

• Academic skills

• Communication skills

What can we learn about the student in this setting?

• Environment works?

• Supervision?

• Tasks work/don’t work

• Support needs?

• Effective support strategies

• Quality of performance

• Learning style

Work Site Analysis


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What Information Are We Gathering From Work

Experiences?

Skills

Task list

Connections

Successful support strategies

Job Evaluation


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Tim collated the 7 different Social Security Fact sheets and created 30 folders in 20 minutes. Upon completion of this task there were 3 of one of the fact sheets left over while the rest were all gone. Tim flipped through each of the 30 packets looking for any packet that did not have 1 copy of each of the fact sheets. After checking all 30 he walked to his supervisor’s office and told her he was done and that he had a few extra fact sheets.

Observational Notes - Tim


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• Motivation indicated

• Supports offered/used

• General Performance: Pace, correctness, consistency, stamina

• Specific Tasks: what is it, does general performance vary with tasks

• Connections

• Concerns

Features of Task Observation:


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Frank explains to the job coach and Chuck that he wants to thin out stuffed animals and throw away older stuffed animals from the youth section of the store. Frank looks directly at Chuck and Chuck maintains eye contact with Frank. Both the job coach and Chuck say “O.K.”. The job coach leads the way to the youth section with a white trash bag. The job coach then holds the trash bags and Chuck picks out a stuffed animal, holds it up to the job coach who nods or says “Yup” then Chuck puts it in the white trash bag. When task is completed, the job coach gives Chuck the trash bag then tells Chuck they are throwing trash bag away. The job coach leads the way to the garbage can outside and opens the lid and Chuck throws the bag in the garbage.

Observational Notes - Chuck


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Chuck worked at the Commod thrift store for 2 quarters with 1:1 support from the job coach. Chuck followed supervisor directions and job coach directions. Chuck needed to be directed throughout the various tasks during this work experience.

Chuck’s Performance


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• Performance of job tasks

• Supports needed, offered

• Environmental factors

• Critical job factors

• Learning style

• Recommendations for the next experience

Work Assessment Summary


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• He needs a 1:1 all the time v.s.

• He needs a predictable schedule and a coworker nearby to remind him to check his list if he looks lost.

• Do to her lack of safety skills with strangers she needs to be in supervised setting v.s.

• We want her to work with familiar people in a nonpublic setting.

Clarifying Support Needs


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Focus on how someone can participate

not why they can’t

Discovery helps reframe what may be perceived as barriers to

employment and community membership into “Ideal Conditions for success” and “Support needs”


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Focus on how someone can participate not why they can’t

Let’s reframe what we perceive as barriers to employment and

community membership into “ideal conditions for success and

support needs”


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Comments & Questions


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Contact Information

Ellen CondonUniversity of MT Rural InstituteMarc Gold and Associates

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/transition

mailto:[email protected]

http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/transition




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THANK YOU!


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Southeast TACE (Region IV)Toll-free: (866) 518-7750 [voice/tty]

Fax: (404) 541-9002

Web: TACEsoutheast.org

My TACE Portal: TACEsoutheast.org/myportal

Email: [email protected]


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Education CreditsCRCC Credit - (2.0)Approved by Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification

(CRCC) • By Friday, December 17, 2010, participants must score 80% or

better on a online Post Test and submit an online CRCC Request Form via the MyTACE Portal.

CEU Credit - (pending 0.2)Approved by the University College at Syracuse University• By Friday, December 17, 2010, participants must submit an

online CEU Request Form via the MyTACE Portal.

My TACE Portal: TACEsoutheast.org/myportal**For CRCC credit, you must reside in the 8 U.S. Southeast states served by the TACE Region IV [AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN]. If beyond TACE Region IV, you may apply for CEU credit.

http://tacesoutheast.org/myportal


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TACE Talks Transition (TTT)

Monthly concise information on best practices to transition counselors available for their own pace learning; – sign-up and start your subscription via the Transition Email-List

http://tacesoutheast.org/network/transition/email_list.php#navtoc


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Upcoming Webinar on Transition

Using Discovery vs Evaluation to Learn from Work Experiences

Thursday January 20, 2011

Norciva Shumpert

Marc Gold & Associates


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Disclaimer

This presentation was developed by the Southeast TACE Center: Region IV ©2010 with funds from the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) under the priority of Technical Assistance and Continuing Education Projects (TACE) – Grant #H264A080021. However, the contents of this presentation do not necessarily represent the policy of the RSA and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government [34 CFR 75.620 (b)].


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Copyright Information

This work is the property of the Marc Gold & Associates

Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the authors. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors.

selecting the right work experience for youth with disabilities ellen condon project director...

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