Career Pathways for Youth with Special Needs

Tabitha Pacheco Interviews Crystal Emery of Easter Seals-Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain

Tell me a little about yourself and your experience working with individuals with special needs.

My experience working with individuals with special needs began with my first child. I was a participant in early intervention (EI) with him. Once he transitioned out I began my career in EI working with families with children ages birth to three with special needs. I have worked as a developmental specialist in EI since 1998. Additionally, I began working with transition age youth with autism in 2010 as an employment specialist. I currently manage the transition services for Easter Seals-Goodwill (ESGW) in Utah.

Fill me in on the PEER connections program at Easter Seals-Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain.

Peer Connections is a pre-employment transition service. It is designed to help students identify and practice the soft skills required to navigate the social landscape of employment. Students go through an assessment period to identify employment skill needs. After assessment, the student participated in the 9-week program. Students are assigned to a volunteer site. They volunteer one time a week for a three- or four-hour shift alongside other volunteers from the community. Each week the student is expected to come on time and in uniform, and set and work on goals specific to their needs as they volunteer. They participate as part of a team interacting with the public. At the end of each volunteer shift students meet with the ESGW transition coordinator to reflect on how the shift went, receive feedback, and set goals for moving forward.

How do you find sites for these students to obtain job experience?

All Peer Connections sites are chosen based on existing volunteer opportunities in the community. The ESGW transition services philosophy is deeply rooted in the use of natural environments. Sites are also chosen based on opportunities for soft skill practice. We currently have sites in several museums in Salt Lake, Utah, and Washington Counties. This environment is conducive to practicing social communication with a variety of people.

How do the employers respond to this experience?

Employers are excited to have our students on site. It gives the employer a consistent volunteer group to enhance the experience of guests visiting the museum. Also, they appreciate the benefit to their staff in learning to accommodate and work alongside people with disabilities. It adds diversity and brings in new personalities to their work environment. It is a mutually beneficial collaboration.

And how do the individuals respond to have work experience at actual job sites?

The most consistent response we see emerge in our outcome data is an increase in confidence in the individual’s ability to get a job. Students feel proud of their work with the community. We have had several students get mistaken for staff and they have expressed how good that felt. Students enjoy being part of a team.

How are the individuals set up on their work sites to enjoy an inclusive experience?

In addition to volunteering in natural community environments, we pair our students up with peer partners. Peers may be volunteers from the community or they may be staff in the organization we are volunteering in. Our students perform the same tasks as any other volunteers rather than manufacturing tasks for them to perform.

What more can schools and educators do to help individuals with special needs transition into the workforce?

1. Build soft skills for employment in inclusive classes — things like formal and informal communication, accountability, flexibility, receiving feedback, completing tasks they don’t like.

2. Adapt and fade accommodations along the way in preparation for transition out of school. Senior year at the latest, teach the students to request and utilize accommodations that will be available to them in the workforce only.

3. Maintain high expectations for performance.

What can employers do to make their settings more inclusive?

Have alternative application and interview processes available to accommodate people with disabilities and improve accessibility. Also, actively recruit from CRP’s or VR who provide job development services for people with disabilities.

Crystal Emery is a child development professional with 19 years of experience working with young children and adolescents. She is certified as an early intervention specialist, a PLAY Project Consultant, an RBI Trainer, a Coach for Early Childhood Professionals, an Employment Specialist, and a Customized Employment professional. She is currently enrolled in the Master’s of Special Education with emphasis in transition through Utah State University. She worked in Early Intervention for 15 years and has spent the last 7 years working with young children and adolescents with autism with Easterseals-Goodwill (ESGW) Northern Rocky Mountain. She is currently the program manager for ESGW’s transition programs. She has been active in the community for several years as a trainer and coach in the fields of early childhood and adolescent transition services for children and youth with autism. She has extensive training in human development and enjoys presenting to organizations throughout the state.

Interviewer Tabitha Pacheco is the State Director for Hope Street Group’s Utah Teacher Fellows program, currently recruiting a new cohort of educators through April 7, 2019 (visit apply.hopestreetgroup.org/prog/UT for details and to begin an application). In pursuit of her Masters Degree in Education with an emphasis in Transition, Tabitha interned at Utah Easter Seals-Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain in their PEER Connections Program. Her goal was to learn how Community Rehabilitation Programs, such as ESGW, are working with students to help them develop job skills and how they place students in jobs in the community. Tabitha believes that increased collaboration between education and workforce will lead to improved employment outcomes for students.