Transcription of Podcast

My name is Carolyn Phillips and I am with the Georgia Department of Labor.  I actually am the Director of The Tools For Life Assistive Technology Program that is actually a part of the AT ACT Programs that are located around the country.  There is one in every state.  There is one Kevin where you are in Kentucky, and I hope that all of you are interacting with your AT Project.  If you need any information about that I am happy to talk to you about it. 

I am also with the Vocational Rehabilitation Program with the Department of Labor.  My email address is very simple, it is my full name.  It's carolynphillips@mindsring.com.  So feel free to get in touch with me. 

The agenda today is pretty simple.  I want to explore some concepts with you about customized employment and how that relates back to the learning disability community, and to folks with specific learning disabilities.  And maybe explore is this a way to go for folks with learning disabilities?  When we are talking about how do we help those folks get back into the workplace that have learning disabilities?

So we are going to talk about and explore some concepts about work.   We are going to define and explore customized employment, that model, kind of what is going on with that model.  Where did that model come about?  And where is it headed? 

And then also look at assistive technology and explore some of the AT strategies and solutions that have been applied to some specific individuals that we, that I, have worked with.  And then we are going to talk about some success stories and lessons learned along the way. 

Customized employment is a fairly new concept, and so there are a lot of lessons to be learned.  So we will talk about those and I will also share some resources with you.  Some of the guiding principles, and this is more just so you have an idea of where I am coming from, so these are guiding principles that I am just going to throw out there.  And I want you to think about these. 

The first one is is that everyone can work, especially when we are talking about people with learning disabilities.  Time and time again I see folks that have been kind of beaten up by systems or beaten up by themselves or what have you, by not thinking that they can actually achieve their work goals or have that job that they have always wanted to have or what have you. 

And so then they kind of get marginalized if you will.  So what ends up happening is we get into this system where people think, or this kind of path of thinking that people think that they can't work or what have you.  So one of the guiding principles is that everyone can work.  We just need to redefine work in some cases.  And we are going to talk more about what they actually means. 

I think that a lot of times we have this idea that if somebody is not working 40 hours a week, they are not a full-time employee, they are not working 9-5,  Monday thru Friday, then maybe they are not really working or what have you.  And so we are going to talk a little bit about that. 

We also know that work is a core value of our society.  Our health care system is absolutely linked to who works.  If you think about that it is actually how we figure out who actually deserves to get health care.  It is linked to who is working in our society in a lot of ways.  And who gets the best health care, those folks that are working and all of that.  And so we need to pay attention to that.  It is a core value in our society.  And it is important that people do find the work that they want and that we actually can help them do that.  We have to be creative in our ways of approaching that. 

Another guiding principle is that we collectively are brilliant.  And I mean you, all of you in on this call, Carol, Chris, Karen,  Dr. Coombs, Dick, everybody.  That we can figure out innovative paths and create bright futures for everyone that we are working with. 

A lot of times I think that we kind of forget that.  We get cluttered down with all the paperwork, the red tape, all these things.  So one of the guiding principles for this presentation, and also for the work I do, is that we can figure out ways to solve a lot of problems that we have. 

The other thing is that we have to think, act, live, and work, from a place of abundance.  A lot of times I hear these barriers, especially when it comes to purchasing assistive technology or the training that comes along with assistive technology, when we are asking a company  to actually make things accessible, books accessible, or an employer to make a work site more accessible.  We often hear these things like "Oh we don't have the time for that, we don't have the money for that, we don't have the resources."  And we have got to kind of change that dynamic because we have got to be more inclusive in order for everyone to succeed. 

The other thing that is another guiding principle is we have got to focus on abilities.  You heard that when Dr. Grant was talking.  You heard that when Penelope was talking about focusing on abilities.  On using assistive technology to kind of wrap those supports around someone and so you will hear more about that today.   And also some strategies when it comes to customized employment. 

And then the last guiding principle for this is that you actually have the power to make a difference.  It is amazing.  I have done this talk a few times in the last couple of years.  Not this exact topic but somewhere around this topic.  And it is amazing how just planting some of these ideas have actually bloomed, if you will, into job opportunities for people because people started thinking about work a little different and started thinking about the power that they do have to assist folks with disabilities, specifically with learning disabilities. 

So we will go to our next slide.  Some of the questions that I would like you to consider as we are going through this is how much time, money, resources, are spent on vocational evaluations, job searches in the traditional sense, day programs, sheltered workshops, all of those things?  I know in Georgia we spend a lot of money and a lot of our time and a lot of our resources doing evaluations, looking at situations that may not really be going towards the end goal of work.  So that is one of the things that we are trying to help folks start thinking more about is how can we help folks be more directed when it comes to the evaluation process especially when it come to people with learning disabilities. 

Some of the folks I have worked with, and I am sure that you have had this experience too, whenever they are going thru their evaluations and they keep hearing what they can't do, not able to, where their points of weakness are, if you will.  They get frustrated.  There was a person I was talking with just this morning with a learning disability that I am working with who said you know I feel like I have been evaluated to death.  That you all know so much more about me, and you know what I can't do.  And I definitely want to hear what I can do. 

So often what we are doing now is spending some time focusing on how to make these evaluations positive and also focus on what people can do.  And so that's good, and I know there are a lot of people are doing that. 

The other thing or question to consider or just throw out there is looking at our laws verses our policies.  Sometimes folks get kind of trapped into a policy instead of a law.  And what I mean by that is that if you look at some of the laws that are out there that are, you know the rehab act and some of the other, The Americans With Disabilities Act, and other acts that are out there, a lot of times folks get kind of caught up in the law, which a lot of the laws would support what we are trying to do when it comes to helping folks become more independent and to reach their employment goals.  But then on a local level in our states  a lot of times policies end up becoming the barriers.  So people do get lost in translation, if you will, sometimes.  And I can be more specific about that if you would like. 

The other thing is if you are working with individuals I would encourage you to actually think about how did the individuals that you are working with  get to the point where they are struggling with employment issues?  Or they are struggling with self-esteem issues?  Or they are struggling with family dynamics, or what have you?  And also is this the best we can do?  I believe we can do so much better when it comes to helping folks achieve their employment dreams and their desires. 

And we also need to figure out what is our collective vision for the future?  So there are just some questions that I just want you to kind of think about as we are moving through this presentation, and hopefully down the road we can in more detail about a lot of that. 

Some of the statistics that I want you to munch on, if you will, actually if we were face to face I would actually do this activity by giving 14% of you a 100 Grand Bar or a candy bar.  So I am sorry that we are not face to face so you could have chocolate.  But anyway that would represent the 14% of people with disabilities who are fully employed.   And then 16% of you would actually get a Snicker Bar.  And you would be representing the people with disabilities that are under-employed. 

I want to stop here for just a second and make a point about a lot of the folks with learning disabilities are actually in that under-employment, in that area.  And that is part of the problem that we are facing with a lot of the folks with learning disabilities specifically. 

I find that a lot of people with learning disabilities have degrees, they graduated from high-school, they have their GED, what have you.  They have gone to technical schools, maybe they have gone to (inaudible) College.  But they are under-employed.  They are not working the same amount of hours and not earning the same amount per hour that their peers are that don't have learning disabilities, or that are able bodied, if you will. 

And the truth is that there is a lot of research out there that shows that under-employment is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than unemployment because of what it does to a person's self-esteem.  So I just want you to think about that as we are moving through this. 

The other statistic is that 70% of folks with disabilities are unemployed or out of the workforce entirely.  In this case if we were  together you would actually get a  little Kiss, a Hershey's Kiss.  I didn't come up with these statistics.  They actually came from the Freedom Initiative that President Bush put out in 2001.  And so these are numbers that we do need to think about. 

The other piece here is that the majority of people with disabilities do not have a computer in their home.  The reason that is significant is that if you think about what a lot of our companies are going towards, which is online applications.  Monster.com has, I mean is, totally internet based.  So a lot of folks unless you are connected to the internet you are being left out of really great opportunities when it comes to employment.  And also just the community in general.