There is an interesting program currently taking place in Columbia, Md. Danielle Oliver is
32, and has cerebral palsy. She has had her share of low-paying jobs - stocking boxes in a
warehouse, making beds at the local Holiday Inn, mopping floors at fast-food restaurants.
Now, Danielle is working full-time in child care, thanks to a special course designed for disabled
workers through Howard Community College in Maryland.
“I wanted to work with kids all my life, and now I’m finally doing it,” she says.
Danielle’s speech is slow and sometimes hard to understand. She walks with a shuffling gait. She
has limited reading and writing abilities, a significant drawback in a field that increasingly
emphasizes professional credentials for its workers.
But most importantly, Danielle has an intense desire to work with young children - and to
succeed.
“People with disabilities want to work. They’re loyal workers. They work best in a routine or a
system,” says Meredith Lowman, a disability specialist who helped create the 90-hour course.
“We developed a class that teaches students how to be a really good aide in the classroom."
Howard College wanted to do something to help reduce unemployment among disabled people
who are willing and able to work. The unemployment rate for the disabled still ranges from 65 to
75 percent. It’s also distressing to note that unemployment has not significantly changed since
the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. There are still misconceptions that
people with a disability can’t work
.
Advocates say many employers remain leery of bringing people with disabilities into the
workplace. Employers are afraid that they will take on more than they can manage when they
hire people who may have special needs.
Howard educators felt that child care, with its nurturing environment and emphasis on structured,
daily routines, offered good prospects for employment and training. But they also knew that
students would need custom-fit training and real work experience to win over prospective
employers.
Instructors used simple but effective methods of training, such as dolls to teach the class’s half
dozen students how to hold an infant and talk to a baby. They practiced story time, making up
stories from picture books if the students could not read the words. The students also learned
how to clean a wound, change a diaper, warm a bottle, and dress a child for the weather. They
also learned effective ways to break up fights between kids, and use distraction and other skills.
Several weeks of observation and practice in a Head Start supervised classroom was also
included in the course.
Danielle turned out to be a model student, rarely missing class despite holding down two part-time
jobs. When she completed the course and was hired for a full-time job in child care, her new
employer stated that she was “very qualified.”
Nearly all of the original students from this initial course had job offers. Three are currently
working full-time in child care. If there is enough interest, Howard College will again offer the
class next semester.
Danielle is at ease with both the kids and their parents. Parents have not raised questions about
Danielle’s disability, but the kids openly talk about it, which is good. Kids are honest, and as the
next generation, learning about differences won’t make things like a disability so scary to discuss
in the future.
“They ask me, ‘Why do I talk like this?’ Sometimes I tell my story to them,” says Danielle.
She has quite a story to tell. Years of physical, occupational and speech therapy as a toddler.
Overcoming odds, both in school and in society. But always with an upbeat, positive attitude
about life and her situation
.
Her next goal is eventually moving out of her parents’ home and into a place of her own.
“I’m not going to give up on that,” she says. “I know it’s going to be a challenge. I know it’s
hard.
I’m ready to take that step.”
No comments:
Post a Comment