Program Helps Disabled Adults Learn on the Job

Source: www.lohud.com

Interns with special needs get experience

Good job training is tough for any young adult. It is especially difficult for prospective employees with special needs.

But Erica Arace, 24, and Garrett Proner, 21, both developmentally disabled, are getting hands-on experience working in a variety of jobs through the Without Walls internship program from Ability Beyond . During December, they are polishing water marks off silverware, stripping beds, vacuuming carpets and assisting with food preparation at Holiday Inn in Mount Kisco.

“I work hard,” says Arace of Port Chester, checking with her job coach Andre Gray before taking a break from vacuuming. “Now that I know how to do things I can hopefully get paid.”

She says she will use the money to help pay her personal expenses.

Proner, of Rye Brook, neatly assembles a fork, knife and spoon and wraps them in a napkin. He then nods to Employment Specialist Madlyn Inserra.

“Concentrating,” he says as he makes sure each utensil is clean and each bundle has the right components.

Each work session begins with a 30-minute job development lesson.

Services Manager Shaileen Brighton-Ortiz says the program is individualized for each member of the program, focusing on making each ready for employment. The program offers job skills and experience in how to function in a work environment.

At Holiday Inn, the interns rotate for 12 weeks among three work areas: housekeeping, kitchen and utility, and banquet and restaurant. Others in the program work at different businesses, including Walgreens in Thornwood.

Holiday Inn, owned by Roedel Companies in New Hampshire, is committed to hosting some Ability Beyond students during the year.

“As a company we are very community-minded. The people they bring are eager and happy to be here,” says Melody Lloyd, the hotel’s general manager. “They do very good work and are well supervised. The coordinators are so present that it is no trouble for us.”

Job training programs and on-site coaching for adults with special needs is not new, but the fact that Ability Beyond branched out to this concept early in 2013 proves the need is increasing. There are 28 clients registered for the program.

Other regional nonprofit organizations also blend job training into their programs to help developmentally disabled clients become more independent. Programs include residential facilities, education services and sheltered workshops. Providers in the Lower Hudson Valley include Jawonio in New City, PARC in Brewster and Arc of Westchester.

Each has its own mix of programs to suit client needs. For instance, Jawonio has a tech center in New Hempstead, PARC offers pre-school programming, Arc of Westchester in Hawthorne founded in 1949 has an art and creative center.

Arc of Westchester also operates eDocNY, which offers opportunities for work for adults with disabilities. EDocNY scans and organizes documents for private businesses and local governments, including Westchester County.

Ability Beyond has worked with thousands of children and young adults with developmental disabilities in Connecticut and northeastern New York. The group has a special emphasis on those with autism spectrum disorder and traumatic brain injury.

About 21 percent of adults with disabilities participate in the labor force, according to the Autism Society, which culled employment numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau.

This training program helped Ability Beyond, founded in 1995 and based in Bethel, Conn., debut its Mount Kisco office in 2013.

For parent Hilary Wolfson of Pound Ridge, a job training program for her daughter Amanda is essential. She has worked at Walgreens and is eager for job training at a clothing store.

“The only way she and others can grow and prosper as an adult is for them to gain life skills in an unsheltered environment,” said Wolfson. “When I am not around someday, I want to know she will have some independence and the confidence to know she is a capable person.”