Read below for a guest post from Liz Jones.
I am always amazed at my clients. Not only with just the outright insane kinds of struggles they have encountered but mostly the resilience I have seen in those few that really stand out to me.
- These are my students who have parents and family connections and bonds that teach them right from wrong, where they live in an atmosphere of responsibility and respect in the home, and they have opportunities on a regular basis to create connections in the community which allow them to learn how to engage in the world they live in.
- These are those students who know enough about their special needs to easily explain it to an average person, to know how to ask for help and what specifically to ask for, and who are not afraid to say those words, “I just cannot do that or at least I cannot do that the way you want me to.”
- These students have relationships that nurture and challenge, they have environments that allow them to be themselves while also challenging them to find ways to connect, and they have a unique understanding of what their own gifts and abilities are.
- Lastly, they know their quirks, they know their triggers, they know what does NOT work and with a sense of humor and gutsy honestly can make this known to those around them-including those they encounter in the world of work-without fear or shame.
Sophia [not her real name] was a high school senior when I met her. She was attending a non-public private special education school were she was given many accommodations (one being allowed to drink coffee whenever she wanted! I immediately knew we would hit it off!). She was adopted and experienced sexual abuse as a child. She spent most of her school years trying to navigate the complexities of relationships, learning boundaries, and making a lot of mistakes–some causing her suspensions.
She had a transition specialist who understood that Sophia was not yet able to appropriately interact with people in a work environment and knew that she loved horses. So she found a therapeutic riding program where she could volunteer. Now Sophia also had some Autism tendencies and physical stimulation helped her to stay focused and calm. She additionally was very high energy and anxious. Sophia was put to work mucking stalls and grooming horses and she was in her element. She had a special connection with the horses and her caregivers observed that some of her Obsessive Compulsive behaviors lessened after time spent at the stables.
Original Photo Credit
Sophia was diagnosed with Asperger’s and maintained an excellent GPA in school. She had good study habits and wanted to go to college. So, after a few cups of coffee Sophia and I began our work together: taking interest inventories, work preference assessments, and researching every horse-related career we could find. She found her interest to be in Equine Massage. Sophia is now pursuing this as a degree. In Sophia’s case, she was lucky to have such a clever transition specialist who took the time to learn about her before “placing” her in a worksite that could have been a disaster.
I am not a parent of a child with special needs so I always do my best to empower parents and to emphasize that THEIR understanding of their child is essential. And that they need to pull in all parties--all people who interact with their child in different settings to begin to put together those essential elements, those pieces of the puzzle which will help guide their child’s employment and educational pursuits.
Some of these essential employment elements include:
- Interests – What do they say they want to do? What do you see them being most engaged in on a regular basis?
- Natural Giftings – What do you see them do WELL on a regular basis? What do other people who know them best tell you that THEY see?
- Temperaments (likes and dislikes) – This includes everything from working inside/outside, repetitive work to variety, fast pace or slow pace, personality factors (introverted vs. extroverted and everything else in between), etc.
- Environments where they thrive – Where do you see them thriving? What environments seem to bring out their best?
- Focus and Concentration – How long and how to best maintain focus for long periods of time, remembering that work involves being able to be consistent. To have endurance (mental and physical) and the ability to remain on task for at least most of the time. Are there strategies for keeping them focused?
- Motivation – What do they LOVE to do? What keeps them engaged?
- Relationships/Social – How will they interact with co-workers? Supervisors? Job coaches?, etc.
These are just a sampling of places to start. In the future, I can share some simple tools to help with this process. It truly can be a very fun and enlightening journey of investigating the richness of this precious child of yours. It can also be daunting and frustrating (no sugar coating here), but it is worth it.
Note: I want to make note that many of my students are not as “high functioning” as Sophie and there are many other ways to reach these students to help discovery their transition needs and goals.
Elizabeth Jones is a 36 year old Mama of two boys, ages 2 and 6. She works both in and outside the home full-time as a Vocational Evaluator which is a very small profession whose purpose is to assess and support individuals with disabilities who come through the state Vocational Rehabilitation program in Maryland. She has always been drawn to people who seemed out of place, not included, ignored or misunderstood, even as a child. As a young adult, she was privileged to be a missionary with Food for the Hungry to the Philippines and, after college, worked with adults with mental illnesses. Each time, God changed her and moved her and used her. She is profoundly blessed to do what she do and learns as much if not more from her clients than they do from her.
She also has a passion for moms who are trying to balance working, faith, and being a mama. She blogs at christianworkingmama.blogspot.com.