RS4 Case Study: Jaime’s Journey to Employment Success
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Jaime is a motivated 21-year-old student enrolled in the Automotive Technology program at Springdale Technical College. He has loved cars, other vehicles, and machinery his whole life and is looking forward to the hands-on skills and on-site work experience that the technical college program could offer him.
Upon his enrollment, Jaime was advised by his vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselor, Amy, to connect with the Disability Resource Office (DRO) at Springdale to request accommodations. Jaime brought his IEP and latest psychological evaluation, which indicated his diagnoses of intellectual disability and ADHD, and the supports that helped him in high school. He also brought a letter indicating VR’s approval to fund a job coach for on-the-job training.
A Team-Based Approach
After meeting with Jaime, a case manager at the DRO, Dierdre, reached out to Amy to establish procedures for a job coach on the work site. This included ensuring that the job coach would act as an “accommodation” - supporting Jaime’s learning at the shop and not completing the graded work requirements for Jaime. Amy explained that the job coach would support Jaime by modeling tasks, creating tools or processes to help him manage his responsibilities, and assisting Jaime in advocating to colleagues and supervisors on how best to support him. The two units agreed on the job coach's role and created a short, mutually approved document detailing these procedures for future use. This document, along with his accommodation letter, was sent to the Automotive Technology program staff.
On-The-Job Training
The Workforce Development Counselor for the Automotive Technology program (Doug) meets with Jaime to assess his interests and skills and arrange a site for the program's required on-the-job training component. He chooses an employer with a strong partnership with the technical college and that has shown excellent mentorship to students in the past. He’s not sure, however, if the employer has experience working with students with intellectual disability.
Activating the Support Team
Doug reaches out to the Disability Resource office for advice on how to educate the employer on working with employees with intellectual disability. Dierdre replies, introducing Doug to Amy and suggesting that the VR Counselor would be the best source of information on employment for people with disabilities.
Amy is happy to attend a meeting with Doug and the employer to provide education on hiring, training, and supporting employees with disabilities. Amy receives information from Doug about the requirements of the on-the-job training program and the employer’s specific worksite to tailor her conversation with the employer. At the meeting, Amy explains inclusive onboarding and training strategies, tools, and supports, including the use of an on-site job coach. Her conversation is centered around Jaime, his skills and interests, and the value he would bring to the workplace if given the opportunity and the right level of support.
Employment Success
Throughout his tenure in the Automotive Technology program at Springdale Technical College, Jaime learns to utilize both academic and workplace accommodations and resources. He grows his skills in mechanics and diagnostics and gains valuable mentorship from the employer partner. Jaime’s job coach helps Jaime follow the steps in common mechanical processes and organize his workstation so that all necessary tools are easily found. The on-the-job training is a great success.
Jaime’s story reflects how a network of professionals - in this case, a VR Counselor, DRO Case Manager, and Workforce Development Counselor - could work together to support a student with intellectual disability at a work placement. Each of these professionals brought distinct areas of expertise and could call on one another for support or advice, while remaining focused on their shared goal.
About the Current Study
The Career Network Intervention aims to connect staff at community or technical colleges with vocational rehabilitation (VR) professionals who serve the same geographic area. These participants go through the intervention as a small professional group consisting of a mix of representatives from both the college and VR. These participants first complete a five-week online course focused on paid employment and internships for community and technical college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After the course, the group meets with a facilitator for nine months of technical assistance. Most importantly, the members learn to build a network spanning the college campus and the local community to support paid employment and internships for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities at that school.
Learn More:
More about research study 4: https://idd.vcurrtc.org/research/rs4.cfm
The contents of this case study were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number #90RTEM0013). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this case study do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.