When the Going Gets Tough

There are days when things get tough.  It happens to us all.  We get bogged down with all the demands placed upon us and we aren't always open to hearing what we need to do better.  But it is those that hang with us during this tough times that truly make the difference.  They are the ones that see something inside us that we may not see in ourselves.  Without them encouraging us, and pushing us at times, to do our best, we may not ever learn what our best can be.

A job coach that works for the agency recently experienced some pushback from one of the individuals she supports.  When she arrived at the worksite, the individual was nowhere to be found.  She looked all over for him and found him about ready to sit down to enjoy a drink.  The problem was that he didn't get a break at work because his shift is only a few hours long.  When she approached him about what he was doing, he said, "I"ve finished all my work and I'm taking a break."

When the job coach tried to encourage him to go back to work, and told him that she would help him find a manager to ask what else he could work on, he told her, "You're selfish!"  She told him that what she was trying to do was help him to keep his job. After a few failed attempts of negotiating with him, he told the job coach, "You're fired!"  But the job coach did not give up.  She let him have a little space and eventually he finished working his shift and was able to come back to work the next day.

It just so happened that later that day, the individual's team meeting was taking place and the job coach showed up at the meeting, along with the other members of the individual's team.  After talking everything through, by the end of the meeting, the individual told his job coach, "You're rehired," and the next day they worked together, all was back to normal.

What would have happened if the job coach would have given up on the worker she supported?  He might not have learned that he was capable of doing more.  I have always believed that people will rise to the expectation.  They may not always like the idea of having to do more, but they do it because the expectation is there that they achieve.  These are the moments that test us, but that make us a little better than we were the day before.  They may even make us a little better than we thought we could be.

This is the work that job coaches do everyday.  They encourage, support, and hold the bar a little higher.  They do this job quietly and without a lot of fanfare, but they come to work each day and do this.  Somedays the job coach may only need to encourage an individual to continue doing a good job.  Somedays they may need to discuss with the individual something that they are doing and don't understand why it is problematic.  On the most challenging days, they may need to help keep the individual from losing their job.  They are great problem solvers and most of the time, others in the work place don't even know they are there.  They focus on strengths.  The end goal is always to make the individual as independent as possible at work.

Sometimes I think all of us could use a job coach now and then.

When Black and White Become Grey

Most of us don't have to think about how we relate to others in the workplace.  It is something that we learn throughout our lifetime.  Some of us are definitely better at it than others, but we get along to the best of our ability.

It is the social part of work that is often the most difficult for individuals with developmental disabilities to navigate.  This is where the black and white turn to grey,  The individuals working in an integrated workplace see others joking with each other, discussing things that are happening outside of work, and maybe even sometimes making plans to get together after their work shift is over.  It is normal for them to want to be like everyone else.  This is the ultimate goal of inclusion, isn't it?  But sometimes this is easier said than done.

Because individuals with disabilities sometimes don't see themselves as any different from others, it is difficult to understand why someone they work with may have a different reaction to them than they may have to someone else they work with.  Sometimes this is exacerbated by well-meaning co-workers who think of an individual with a disability as "cute" or "child-like" and don't consider them as the adult that they really are.  Most people are afraid of hurting someone's feelings and may let behavior that would be unwelcomed by any other co-worker continue because they fear the reaction they may recieve, or worse yet, feel that it may be doing or saying something discriminatory.

I recently attended a seminar entitled "Adulthood is Not an IQ, it is an Age."  Sometimes those who work in the field of developmental disabilities can even be consfused or misguided at times.  The bottom line is that when you give an adult individual with a development disability the option of being treated like an adult or like a child, they will most often choose being treated like an adult, because that is what they are and they intrinsically know it.

A young adult man who is working in a restaurant setting has seen others at work talk about meeting up outside of work for a drink or other social activity.  Since he is in his mid-20s, this is something that is age approprate for he and his peers.  The problem came when he tried to ask for the phone number of a femaie co-worker who was not interested in any contact with the young man outside of work.  This situation became very difficult because the young man didn't understand why the female coworker didn't want to exchange numbers, and the female coworker was hesitant about talking with the young man in the same manner that she would with any other young man that she wasn't interested in.  And thus, they found themselves in the grey area of social interaction in the workplace that individuals with developmental disabilities sometimes experience.

In my experience, it is best to tread lightly in the grey area and keep things as black and white as possible.  For instance, the job coach might suggest that an individual ask the manager if there is a policy in place regarding asking co-workers for personal information while at work.  If there is no policy, the job coach might suggest that if the individual wants to ask for a coworkers phone number that they only do so one time.  If the coworker doesn't want to share it, than that should be the end of the matter.  Putting concrete, black and white, parameters on things can sometimes make these situations a little easier. 

The hardest situations for job coaches to deal with are when an individual observes another coworker doing something that is clearly against policy, but they do not get in trouble for it.  It is very hard to explain this, but these are the times when it is best to just let a supervisor clarify the situation.  There have been numerous times that I have heard from managers, "It would be nice if some of my other employees had a job coach sometimes."

One of the biggest challenges in community employment is that we have no control over the other people that are a part of the workplace environment.  When looking for a job, the job development staff do their best to find a fit in a supportive environment.  Don't we all want to find a work environment where are strenghts are valued and we can rely on our coworkers to help us when we need it?  

Job coaches help to foster supports in the work place. They educate.  They suggest ways to better communicate with the individuals that we support.  They help these individuals through trying situations.  Although they do all these things, the bottom line is that sometimes there is grey involved in the world of work and our job is to help the individuals's we support decipher how to best deal with it.  After all, learning how to deal with the grey areas of life is part of being an adult.

Why I'm Here

If someone would have told me 10 years ago that today I would be the Employment Services Manager for an agency that helps individuals with disabilities find work in the community, I don't know that I would have believed them.  Having said that, I can't think of a better place to be!  It is a culmination of a lot of my previous experiences all rolled up into a job that I never even knew existed when I was growing up, or even in college.

I went to college thinking I would be a journalist, but ended up with a BS in Education and headed to grad school to become a speech pathologist.  After a few semesters, my focus changed when I got married and started having children.  I was working at a library part-time during some of my undergraduate studies and ended up getting hired there full time.  I stayed in the library field for a few years and then  went to work for my church because it was in need of  a bookkeper.  That turned into an office manager position and started my many years of non-profit experience.  Mix in with that working at a non-profit radio station, working as an event projects manager, and working in marketing at a financial institution and it makes sense that I ended up here, right?  Not really, but my current job does utilize a lot of my former experience.

It is a mix of special education, non-profit management, sales, and marketing.  I started out as a job developer.  My job was to assist individuals with disabilities in finding employment in the community.  I knew back then that is was the right thing to do and that it would be a very rewarding job, but I didn't understand the big picture at that point.

Now, with a few years behind me, I am passionate about the idea of "Employment First."  This means that employment should be the first option for any adult with a disability who wants to work.  Why?   Because employment is a part of adult life.  It is an expectation that adults will grow up and find a way to support themselves through work.  It is not always an expectation of those working with adults with disabilities though.  Some people believe that adults with disabilities should just apply for disability benefits and then find a day program that will fill their day and allow them to be around others who are like them.

The reason I believe in "Employment First" is that I do believe that in order to increase a person's quality of life, they need an integrated work environment where they can earn an income.  An individual who is reliant on social security only, will always live in poverty.  Also, being around others who don't have a disability, increases a person's network of support.  It allows them access to relationships and resources that are greater than those you will typically find in a day service setting alone.

Working also means that the individual will not be as reliant on benefits from the government.  They are tax payers who will be adding to the economy of the community and the country.  It allows individuals to have greater independence and greater self-esteem when the work that they do is appreciated.

There are lots of other reasons why I am here, reasons for why I get up each day and do the work that I do. It is always an adventure.  I hope to use this blog to educate others on how including individuals with disabilities is good for everyone.  I hope you will continue reading.