KEYS TO HELP YOUR TEEN GET Parent to Parent of Georgia

KEYS TO HELP YOUR TEEN GET Parent to Parent of Georgia
A FIRST JOB Parent to Parent of Georgia Foundation Training Welcome to our workshop on Keys to Help Your Teen Get a First Job. Thank you for attending this 2 hour foundation training. Give a brief 1 to 2 minute bio. Ask about your audience: Parent, professionals, others? Remind them to sign-in and to also get a set of handouts as well as complete the evaluation form at the end.

WHO ARE WE… Georgia’s Parent Training and Information Center (PTI)
Georgia’s Family 2 Family Center (F2F) The Central Directory for Georgia’s Babies Can’t Wait (Part C) Program State Affiliate of P2PUSA We are Georgia’s Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) – providing information and training to families so that they can be equal partners in the educational decision-making process. We are Georgia’s Family 2 Family Center (F2F) – providing information to families of children with special health care needs. We are the Central Directory for Georgia’s Babies Can’t Wait (Part C) Program - assisting families of children in need of early intervention services with information and resources We are part of P2PUSA - working to ensure that every family with a child with special needs receives the support they need to thrive!

How Can P2P Help YOU? Special Needs Database User Friendly Roadmap to
Services Supporting Parents selectively matched One-on-one telephone assistance Parent-Led Navigator Teams Free training courses Unique on-line opportunities Purpose of this slide: Introduction of the various programs and services offered by Parent to Parent Talking Points and Notes to Trainer: Have any of you ever accessed services through Parent to Parent of Georgia? Would you like to share anything about that experience? Use this slide to briefly introduce the various programs and services offered by Parent to Parent. Participants should get enough information that they are interested and curious to learn more. This is not intended to be an in-depth description of each service, but just a brief overview. In 1989, Parent to Parent developed a database of resources and information. It soon became such a comprehensive and necessary service, that in 1991, Parent to Parent was established as the Statewide Babies Can’t Wait/Early Intervention Central Directory for services to infants and toddlers identified as having developmental delays. This database has over 5,000 resources and you can search it online at or call us and we’ll do a search for you! In 2004, Parent to Parent designed and implemented an online pictorial, consumer friendly "Roadmap to Disability Services." The roadmap provides, at a glance, an introductory overview of the array of disability services and systems in Georgia. Our Roadmap was designed ENTIRELY by families! And it continues to receive recognition in the state, nation, and even around the world! Is anyone here a Supporting Parent for P2P? Our Peer Support Program is the heart and soul of P2P. Information will change, we all know that, but the basic need for emotional support, to talk to someone who understands, will never change. If you want to talk to another parent, we can make a match for you on countless topics: by disability, by surgical procedure, geographically, by issue, just to name a few. And if you are willing to talk to other parents and share your experience, P2P definitely wants to get you involved. And since we all do know that information always seems to be changing, P2P is your source for accurate and up-to-date information. If you need help with education or medical and health issues, we are here for you. And if we don’t know an answer, we’ll search it out for you and find it! It’s super easy, just call , that it! In September 2008, Parent to Parent rolled out its training program. We provide 2 and 4 hour trainings across the state on a variety of topics, like this one! All of our trainings are free of charge to parents and available in many languages. If you haven’t visited our website in a while or ever, you should! In January 2010, we unveiled a new and improved website at You can visit our training and Navigator Community Events calendars, watch archived webinars, nominate and vote for Georgia’s Impact Awards, read parent-written blogs, and learn about current disability events and trends in the state, and much more! You can also follow us on Facebook, and Twitter! All information is kept confidential and there are no fees for service. 3

ACA Navigators for Georgia
Do you know about the Affordable Care Act? Do you have insurance for yourself and your family? Do you know others who need insurance? P2PGA can help! We are serving as ACA Navigators for Georgia Trainer notes: Do you know about the Affordable Care Act? Do you have insurance for yourself and your family? Do you know others who need insurance? P2PGA can help! We are serving as ACA Navigators for Georgia. Through the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace, families can now find health insurance coverage you can afford and fits your needs. No matter where in the state you live, you'll be able to use the Health Insurance Marketplace to apply for coverage, compare your options, and enroll. Our Navigators can talk to you about this, about your options, about what coverage benefits really mean, and even assist you in the enrollment! Open Enrollment, which means you can and are encouraged to enroll, begins October 1, 2013 and runs through March 31, 2014 for coverage beginning January 1, 2014! If you are interested, just complete the follow up form and one of our Navigators will be in touch! This particular service described is supported by Funding Opportunity Number CA-NAV from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

All you have to do is call Parent to Parent of Georgia
How to Reach Us… All you have to do is call and Parent to Parent of Georgia will do the rest! Purpose of this slide: To tell participants how to contact Parent to Parent Talking Points and Notes to Trainer: Remember to stress this point, this slide throughout the presentation. If specific individual issues are presented, or if questions arise that you aren’t able to answer, you can (and should) always refer them back to the toll free number as the easiest way to contact us and get their specific questions answered. We provide information and support to callers throughout Georgia. When you call, the person who answers the phone will be a parent of a child with a disability. Regardless of where you live in the state, call the toll free number, and we’ll get you connected with the Parent to Parent staff in your area. We also have staff who speak Spanish who are available to assist Spanish-speaking families. Parent to Parent also has a website where you can get more information: The internet is a great source of information, but sometimes it’s difficult to know where to begin and which information to trust. We’ve provided you with a handout in your packets entitled “Helpful Resources You Need to Know” that can get you started. If you aren’t able to access the internet, Parent to Parent can help you get the same information. Just give us a call!

What We Will Learn Today?
Today’s Learning Objectives What We Will Learn Today? The employer’s perspective Straight talk about employment Disclosure and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Practical tips for families Overview of the Session and Handouts: Explain that the purpose of this workshop is to provide parents and family members with the tools they need to assist their teen with disabilities to get their first paid job. There are general things you will learn during this workshop: You will learn the employer’s perspective. This includes what they look for in a candidate like soft skills and teamwork. You will learn straight talk about employment. This includes the current outlook for persons with disabilities in gaining employment. You will also learn about disclosing a disability to an employer and the protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act. You will learn about some practical tips and tools you can use to help your youth consider, prepare and even think about different types of employment options. Most of all, we hope that you will leave the workshop today with an understanding that as family members and parents, you play a significant role in helping your teen with disabilities gain the skills they need to get a job. The process does not start when the child is in high school or even middle school. Planning early in your child’s life, understanding today’s workplace, along with career planning so that you gain knowledge about resources and services are the keys that can lead to success for parents and families helping their teen get a job. One key tool is always learning the terminology. Today you have a HANDOUT: “Alphabet Soup” for Keys to Help Your Teen Get a First Job” that has acronyms, Abbreviations, and Words to Know”. You will hear some of these terms throughout this workshop. Others you may not hear but they are terms used in the area of employment for persons with disabilities. Please use this handout to become familiar with these terms and help your teen with disabilities learn and understand them as well. 6

Why Is Work Important? Employment Straight Talk… Work provides:
A feeling of worth by contributing to society Meaning to our days A place to learn social skills and responsibility A way to combat isolation, loneliness, and depression A role in the adult world Trainer: Ask the Audience: Do you remember how you felt when you got your first job? Do you remember how it felt to get your very first paycheck? Why do you feel work is important? Is it to provide for your family financially? Is it to buy the things you need and want? Is it also for some of the reasons we see on the slide like having a feeling of worth by contributing to society. Work can provide meaning to our days. It can become a place to learn social skills and responsibility. In addition it is a way to combat isolation, loneliness and depression. It gives us a role in the adult world. For these same reasons paid work and ultimately competitive employment are important for youth with disabilities. Without employment, people with disabilities may struggle to give structure to their days. Sometimes youth have gained valuable skills while in secondary school and especially high school and then once they complete their education, they sit at home and start to lose some of the skills they have gained. In addition they may feel isolated and depressed because they are no longer around other students at school. It is a typical question to ask someone what they do for a living. But an adult with a disability may not have an answer to this question. They may not feel they have a role in the adult world when they are no longer attending school. So, we know that work is important but how do you get the job? To be successful in getting a job, you have to know what employers are looking for. The next few slides talk about the employer’s perspective. It is important for families of youth with disabilities to know what employers are looking for when they want to hire someone. 7

Employers Are Looking For…
The Employer’s Perspective Employers Are Looking For… A Workforce that demonstrates: A good attitude about working Honesty Punctuality Good communication skills Reliability Appropriate behavior Willingness to learn new things Successful job candidates know what employers need from an employee. Having a good attitude about working, being honest and getting to work on time. Employees need to have good communication skills and be reliable. They are also expected to have appropriate behavior and a willingness to learn new things. How do you help your teen understand the employer’s perspective? One way is to talk to your teen about different jobs they may have an interest in doing. Once teens have chosen their preferred jobs, ask them to think like employers. If they were hiring for this position, what kind of person would they want? You and your teen can make an activity such as coming up with an advertisement for the position. You can also help your teen come up with a short list of questions to ask in the interview. If your child is able to volunteer or do job shadowing, encourage them to ask an employer what they are looking for in an employee. Help your child with a set of questions they might prepare to ask a particular employer for whom they are volunteering or an employee they are shadowing in a job. The answers to these questions will help your teen be better prepared when the interview comes for a paid job. When the teen shows up for an interview what are the skills the employer wants? Is it technical skills like a computer programming degree, a teaching certificate, an electrician’s license or a pilot’s license? The next couple of slides will give parents and family members some tips on what employers are seeking in job applicants that are not related to these technical or hard skills just mentioned. The employers also want job applicants with soft skills. 8

The Employer’s Perspective
Soft Skills are BIG! Interpersonal skills Communication ability Strong work ethic Initiative Teamwork Very different from technical know-how Surveys have shown that one of the top things employers look for when hiring people are their soft skills. Soft skills are interpersonal skills or how you get along with others. They are also communication skills. Another soft skills is one’s work ethic meaning do you come to work on time, show up every day, make sure you get things done and do your job well. Initiative is also listed as a soft skills. This means that you look for things you can do without waiting to be told. For example you might notice that things are missing from a shelf in the office and you put the items back without waiting to be told to do this. Teamwork is another soft skill. As you work in a job you are often asked to do projects with co-workers. In order to make sure you do your share of the work on the project, you have got to be able to get along with your teammates. You have to talk to them and take their feedback without getting upset and you have to also tell them what you think about their input or work on the project in a nice, constructive way. Soft skills are very different from technical know how like fixing computers or copiers which are referred to as hard skills. Another survey done by the Indiana Business Research Center (IBRC) found that while credentials (degrees and certificates) are important, it is the development of soft skills (those that are more social than technical ) that is critical to developing a strong, vibrant workforce. People who work with youth with disabilities have reported that after youth gain paid employment, in some instances they later lost the job because they lacked the soft skills employers wanted. Teens begin to develop a strong work ethic by having chores and responsibilities in the home. They need opportunities to practice these soft skills and become better at them long before their first job interview. For example, if your teen is used to sitting in the same chair in the lunchroom at school everyday, he or she will have to learn to control their behavior when they get to the break room and find someone else in this chair. Another way to build soft skills includes practicing doing a task at an assigned time each week, dressing appropriately for certain occasions, or having the youth help plan the family menu. Often in community-based instruction sites in high school, youth are required to wear the work uniform to school on certain days for whatever job site they are currently placed at to learn vocational skills. For example, a youth may have to wear black pants and a white shirt to high school two days a week for his work site at the local assistive living home for elderly persons. The more parents help teens begin to learn and practice these soft skills at home, the better chance the teen will have getting the first job Let’s talk about one of the most important soft skills - teamwork.

Teamwork Expectations…
The Employer’s Perspective Teamwork Expectations… Working cooperatively Contributing to groups Sense of responsibility Healthy respect for different opinions and customs Ability to participate in group decision making The ability to work as part of a team is one of the most important skills in today’s job market. Employers are looking for workers who can contribute their own ideas, but also want people who can work with others to create and develop projects and plans. Just as the slide says teamwork involves working cooperatively, contributing to groups, having a sense of responsibility, a healthy respect for different opinions and customs and the ability to participate in group decision making. Teamwork is an essential part of workplace success. Like a basketball team working together to set up the perfect shot, every team member has a specific role to play in accomplishing tasks on the job. Although it may seem as if one player scored the basket, that basket was made possible by many people’s planning, coordination, and cooperation to get that player the ball. Employers look for people who not only know how to work well with others, but who understand that not every player on the team can or will be the one who gets the ball. When everyone in the workplace works together to accomplish goals, everyone achieves more. Parents can help their teen learn teamwork in the home doing tasks and projects as well as involving them in school or community service projects so the youth has more opportunities to practice this very important soft skill. The next slide talks about 10 Essential Skills of Teamwork.

The Employer’s Perspective
10 Essential Skills Of Teamwork Reliable Effective communicator 3. Active listener 4. Participates 5. Shares 6. Cooperative 7. Flexible 8. Committed 9. Problem solver 10. Respectful Part of being a good team member is learning how to understand your personal strengths AND where you might need to draw assistance. Let’s look at some of these 10 skills. Note to Trainer: You don’t have to say all 10 of them. Just name 4 or 5 from the slide and then ask the audience to find the handout entitled “10 Essential Skills of Teamwork” that gives you more details about each of the 10 skills listed on the slide. Parents and family members can review this handout with the teen by asking them to rate their level of confidence for each skill. You can also share this handout with others who work with your teen with disabilities like teachers, coaches, service providers, Boy Scout or Girl Scout leaders, etc. You might find that they rate things differently at school than you do at home and in the community. Our children act differently with other people than they do with us. Sometimes others can motivate them to do things we cannot get them to do at home. So, sharing the comments with school staff, service providers and others who interact with your teen with disabilities might shed light on strengths in this area and some things to continue to work on. Maybe you understand your son or daughter when they speak but others have a harder time. Give your teen opportunities to speak with other family members, neighbors and others to practice communicating better. Help your child understand the importance of being flexible when things change. Explain to them how change is a natural part of life and we learn to adjust. Sometimes you might find your teen was ready for change and a chance to work with new people and that change was a positive. The important thing here is not to look at this list and become discouraged. We know everyone has skills and talents. We are all better and stronger in some areas and weaker in others. There are no perfect employees or teammates. Working in a team is effective because of the different skills and talents people bring to complete the project or task. So explain this to your teen son or daughter and help them practice being part of a team to help them prepare for today’s labor market. You might agree to be part of a service project for an agency like Hands on Atlanta with your teen. Another example could be a youth service project for church where teens have to put together baskets for needy families. You can be part of a teen with your son or daughter but it is going to be important that you also give them opportunities to work with others without you being a part of the team to help them adjust to being part of a team on a job. The more parents and family members understand about today’s labor market, the more prepared you are to help your teen prepare to get that first job. So, let’s talk about the current reality of employment for everyone. The next few slides will provide us with some straight talk about employment.

Today’s Labor Market Employment Straight Talk…
Straight talk about employment means understanding today’s labor market. Families and parents have to be aware of the employment situation in order to prepare their teen to get a job. As the slide says, in today’s labor market, there is strong competition for entry-level jobs. Traditionally, a young person’s first experience with employment was through “entry-level” jobs that required little or no experience. These jobs were relatively easy to find, depending on where you lived. However, in today’s labor market, there is strong demand for jobs that were once seen as entry-level. In fact, the concept of an entry-level job might be fading. Today most jobs require some level of technical or computer experience, customer relations skills, and organization. In the past a person’s only duty on a job might be to stock shelves at a large retail store. Those days are gone. At that same large retailer in today’s labor market, the employees would be “cross-trained” and expected to man the cash register, conduct computerized inventory, or set up displays. Employers are seeking employees who have the skills to do all the jobs that need to be done, not just specialized tasks. Ask: How many people had a summer job growing up? Traditionally the summer months have been a time when young people were able to find jobs. This may have been the experience of many parents and family members in the audience. However, as we see from the slide, in today’s labor market summer months have become an especially competitive time for getting a job. In fact, studies show that the rates of summer employment for all youth in recent years have been at their lowest point since such statistics began being tracked around World War II. As we have already said interpersonal skills or soft skills are highly valued in today’s workplace. You see the last bullet that talks about worker shortage expected in the future as baby boomers begin to retire. According to a 2011 Georgia Department of Labor survey, there are as many as 5,000 technical jobs in the state, with employers anxious to fill them. Labor Commissioner Mark Butler has commented on the skills gap that exist for many jobs like welding and other hands-on jobs that do not require four-year undergraduate degrees but do require specialized skills that students today are showing very little interest in learning. An aging workforce holds the vast majority of those skills, and when they retire, there is almost no one left to fill the void, Butler has said. (Reported in the Marietta Daily Journal, October 20, 2011.) Also in May 2011, agricultural industry leaders said Georgia has a severe labor shortage among fruit and vegetable growers as migrant workers bypass the state due to tough immigration enforcement laws. Charles Hall, Executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, commented that these farm jobs pay $12.50 an hour average. (Reported in Decatur Metro News on May 27, 2011.) Again, this slide covers employment straight talk for everyone. The next few slides will discuss straight talk about the workplace for youth with disabilities. Strong competition for entry-level jobs Concept of “entry-level” fading Employees expected to be cross-trained Summer months especially competitive Interpersonal skills highly valued Worker shortage expected in the future 12

Employment and Disability
Employment Straight Talk… Employment and Disability People with disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than people without disabilities Studies show that work experience in school, postsecondary education, and families involved with their youth lead to increased employment outcomes as adults “Every youth has some skill that, if nurtured, will provide them the opportunity to make money for the rest of their life.” Larry Kortering What is today’s reality or employment straight talk for people with disabilities? As the slide says people with disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than people without disabilities. What is the employment situation in Georgia? According to the Center for Personal Assistance Services, 71.6% of working-age adults without disabilities in Georgia are employed, compared to 33.1% of working-age adults with disabilities, 13.9% of working-age adults with daily activity limitations such as walking, talking, etc. and 14.4% of working-age adults with self-care limitations such as bathing, dressing, feeding, etc. According to the 2009 American Community Survey, only 33.1% of Georgia’s working-age adults with any type of disability are employed, whereas 71.6% of those indicating no disability were employed. This kind of data often lead many parents of youth with disabilities to question if their son or daughter can become competitively employed. However if we read the quote from Larry Kortering we see that all people have skills that can lead to employment. Larry Kortering, Ph.D. Larry Kortering is a Professor at Appalachian State University who has extensive experience with secondary special education programs, school dropout issues, and transition. Additionally, he has worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor and with the Rehabilitation Services Administration. As we see in the second bullet studies show that work experience in school, postsecondary education and families involved with their youth lead to increased employment outcomes as adults. There are many daily opportunities in a child’s life beginning at an early age for parents to begin to develop skills necessary for paid work. For example, as children enter school parents can begin to help kids wake up to an alarm clock rather than have their parents wake them up. Children can be taught to break down tasks into a time frame using timers so they see how long it takes to perform specific chores. These kinds of opportunities early and on-going in a child’s life better prepares them for their first paid job. If children have siblings , parents can make certain chores a team effort so that the child with a disability learns teamwork. These kinds of opportunities early and on-going in a child’s life better prepares the for getting their first job. So we have discussed the employment straight talk for people with disabilities in general. The next slide will shed some light on today’s workplace for youth with disabilities. 13

Employment and Youth Employment Straight Talk…
What is the current employment straight talk for youth with disabilities? You can see from these bullet points there are some reasons why teens often find it difficult to find competitive employment or keep the job they have. Often youth with disabilities are placed into jobs or work experiences that don’t match their strengths and interests. This placement may be done through a school work experience program or through an employment services provider. Many times the result of this poor job match is a disappointing employment experience or even the loss of the job altogether. They don’t know how to find a job. They don’t know how to keep a job. So talk to them about what they might be interested in. Be aware that their disabilities might steer them in one direction away from certain types of jobs. However, the jobs they are being steered away from may be exactly the job they want. For example, your teen could be encouraged to do lawn care or landscaping when they really want a job in a hotel. Likewise, someone who is blind may be encouraged to be a vendor when the person has an interest in being a disc jockey. This is why informational interviews, job fairs, volunteering and job shadowing provide youth with many opportunities to learn their interests in in order to make good job matches. Families should be encouraged to identify what their youth is interested in and help them advocate to find appropriate job settings based on their knowledge or their son or daughter. Sometimes specific disabilities might bring difficulties with certain types of jobs. For example, a person with autism might not enjoy working a cash register because of the unpredictable nature of dealing with the general public. Adult employment service providers like Vocational Rehabilitation may have waiting lists so that a youth is not able to get a job immediately after high school Even with services there may be several months or longer before the young adult finds employment. Families need to know they can their child find and cultivate job opportunities. You may have a friend who owns a business or a church that can provide work experience. There may be some community service projects through agencies like Hands on Atlanta, Meals on Wheels, or Habitat for Humanity that can provide volunteer or intern work experience opportunities. Hospitals and libraries may have volunteer experiences available. This may also be true for parks and recreation centers looking for young adults to help with summer camps or other activities. Youth unable to find or keep jobs Jobs don’t meet strengths or interests Youth stay at home waiting for “services” to find them a job 14

Employment and Youth with Disabilities
Employment Straight Talk… Employment and Youth with Disabilities Youth not willing to disclose a disability Youth not asking for the help they need to do the job successfully Youth not being knowledgeable about their disability Youth denying they even have a disability Many teens with disabilities are not willing to disclose their disability. They are not asking for the help they need to do the job successfully. We find in today’s labor market that youth are not knowledgeable about their disability and some even deny they have a disability. Most disability employment programs are based on the notion that the employee will openly disclose that they have a disability. When youth are not knowledgeable about their disability or deny even having a disability, then they may have a difficult time being successful in a job. If parents or teens need help in understanding a disability, please contact Parent to Parent of Georgia for assistance to get the resources and information you need. Families should talk openly to their youth about his or her disability. Starting when the child is young and involving them in their IEP process and meeting so they learn self-determination and self-advocacy skills can be great ways parents and students learn to talk about the disability. When students learn early what their disabilities are and how to talk about them, they are better able to advocate for themselves when looking for a job. It may not be necessary in every case to disclose a disability. However, knowing how to talk about a disability is still a good skill to have. The next few slides will discuss the issue of disclosing or not disclosing a disability and the law that protects those who chooses to disclose their disability. 15

To Disclose, or Not to Disclose?
Disclosure and the ADA To Disclose, or Not to Disclose? Disclosure is a personal choice No law says people have to disclose their disability Families should help youth practice answering interview questions Disclosure is a personal choice and no law says people have to disclose their disability. Job interviews are stressful enough and they become even more stressful for a teen with a disability wondering whether or not to disclose that they have a disability. How do families work with a teen with a disability to help them to decide whether or not to disclose their disability? As the slide says, families should help youth practice answering interview questions, It is important for teens with disabilities to know before they go to their first job interview what questions an employer is allowed to ask and what questions they are not allowed by law to ask. “Where were you born?”; “What is your native language?”; “Do you smoke or use alcohol”; “Are you married?” ; “Do you plan to get pregnant?” “Are you in the National Guard?” and “Do you have a disability or chronic illness?” Keep in mind that if the job would require some specific physical task, such as bending to install cables in walls, the employer can ask if you could perform those tasks with reasonable accommodation. In this kind of situation you may have to disclose your disability in order to get the reasonable accommodation to perform the task of installing cables in walls. So, where can a parent or family member begin with a teen with a disability when it comes to disclosing or not disclosing? It really begins with self-awareness as we will see in the next slide. 16

It All Begins with Self-Awareness
Disclosure and the ADA It All Begins with Self-Awareness Know what their disability is Practice telling others about it Know how their disability affects them in school and on the job Ask the attendees if they have ever openly discussed their child’s disability with him or her. If some answer yes, then ask them to share how they did it and if it was a comfortable conversation. For a teen with a disability to be able to disclose or not disclose that he or she has a disability, the teen first has to be aware of their disability. As the slide says many youth do not know what their disability is or haven’t practiced telling others about it. It is crucial that youth know how their disability affects them in school and on the job. A disability does not define who a person is, but it can have a great impact on a person’s ability to learn, work, or interact socially. Many youth with disabilities fear the stigma of being labeled as having a disability. Some young people may deny they have a disability or might not be ready to openly discuss their disability with others. Families need to recognize that self-awareness of one’s disability is the vital first step towards success in education, work and independent living. Parents can help their teen understand what a disability is and how it impacts them in different areas of their lives. Once youth know what their disability is, they should be encouraged to practice discussing their disability with others. This is not to say that youth need to have this discussion with everyone they meet. But in certain situations, such as IEP meetings or when discussing job accommodations, this skill is crucial. In some cases, youth may struggle in school or work without being aware of the cause. When empowered with knowledge about their disability, youth can begin to advocate for the things they need. So what does the law tell us about disclosing a disability to an employer? Let’s look at the next slide to find the answer to this question. 17

What the ADA Says… Disclosure and the ADA
May disclose a disability during the interview process May disclose if accommodations are needed to perform essential job duties If you do not disclose the disability, you cannot use ADA protection or legally expect any accommodations. We have already talked about how teens might not want to tell an employer they have a disability. We know parents and family members have these same concerns. This is a very big deal. Congress understood that and made sure it was addressed in the federal law known as the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA. As you see on the slide the ADA states that a person may disclose a disability during the interview process or may disclose if accommodations are needed to perform essential job duties. Note that if you do not disclose the disability, you cannot use ADA protections or legally expect any accommodations. Let’s look at the handout “Facts About the Americans with Disabilities Act”. Let’s look at the handout to determine who is an individual with a disability for the purposes of the ADA. Please note that this definition is NOT the same as a child with a disability under IDEA for special education and school purposes. Trainer should review the bullets on the handout. Let’s pay close attention to the issue of disclosure where it says an employer generally does not have to provide a reasonable accommodation unless an individual with a disability has asked for one. Once the individual with a disability has asked for an accommodation the employer is required to provide it. The only exception is “undue hardship” on the operation of the employer’s business. Let’s turn to page 2 of the handout where Title 1 of the ADA states that an employer may not ask a job applicant about the existence, nature, or severity of a disability. Also note that in the last bullet on this page an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation would be considered medical information subject to the ADA’s confidentiality requirements. So again we can see that disclosing a disability is a big deal! Parents and family members should explain to teens how the ADA protects them from being discriminated against if they are qualified for a job and also how the law protects them if they disclose their disability to an employer. It also is comforting to know that once you disclose a disability every one working with you is not going to know about your disability. The law says that this information has to be kept confidential and even the teen’s request for a reasonable accommodation is confidential as well. The handout also gives us the definition of reasonable accommodations which are adjustments or modifications provided by an employer to enable people with disabilities to enjoy equal employment opportunities. The handout has an example of an employer providing a sign language interpreter to a deaf applicant during a job interview. Our next two slides discuss more about accommodations and how parents can find resources for getting employment specific accommodations to help their teen be successful in a job. 18

Job Accommodations Disclosure and the ADA
Allow person to perform essential functions” of a job Essential functions are duties a person must be able to perform Accommodations are usually inexpensive and simple to put in place Proposed accommodations must not result in undue hardship to the employer Ask the audience if they are familiar with the idea of job accommodations. Then ask if someone is willing to share the potential accommodations they think their son or daughter might need in a work place. We see on the slide that a job accommodation allows a person with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job. A job’s “essential functions” are the duties a person must be able to perform, such as lifting 20 pounds or being on one’s feet for long periods of time. The essential functions are usually found in the job description. Many youth believe that there are certain jobs they can’t do, when in fact a job accommodation would allow them to be successful and have a positive job experience. For example, screen-reading software can be used to help a person with a learning disability work on the computer. Modified work schedules can help a person whose medication causes morning drowsiness to work at their peak times. People often think job accommodations are expensive when in reality as the slide says accommodations are usually inexpensive and simple to put in place. For instance an employer having someone read information posted on a bulletin board to a blind employee is inexpensive and a simple job accommodation. The last bullet on the slide says that an accommodation must not result in undue hardship to the employer. The handout on facts about the ADA defines undue hardship as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as an employer’s size, financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation. Job accommodations open the doors for youth with disabilities to work in almost any field they want, as long as they are qualified for the job and the accommodation is reasonable. We all require accommodations to function on a daily basis whether we think about it or not. For example: Overhead lighting allows us to see what we are doing. Chairs allow us to sit comfortably while we are working. Likewise, most accommodations for people with disabilities are also basic and inexpensive. Families should strive to understand what job accommodations are and help their youth secure accommodations if needed. Parents can start in middle school and this can be a youth-driven activity. These accommodations should continue in high school if necessary. Families can ask for help in identifying assistive technology that can serve as accommodations in the workplace. For example, Adam who has Down Syndrome went for a job interview and described to his potential supervisor how he could use a voice recorder for his supervisor to dictate his job duties to Adam for the day. That way Adam could listen to each direction one at a time and do his duties and if he forgets a direction, he can simply listen to the directions again. The employer was so impressed with Adam’s initiative that he gave him the job. 19

Job Accommodation Network (JAN)
Disclosure and the ADA Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Free resource from the US Department of Labor Includes helpful information for employers about complying with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Contains fact sheets on specific disabilities and workplace accommodations Now that we have discussed the ADA and the important role job accommodations play in the success of people with disabilities in the work place, let’s spend a few minutes talking about a great resource called the Job Accommodation Network or JAN. JAN is a free resource funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Policy. The intent of JAN is to provide workplace productivity enhancements and reasonable accommodation solutions. JAN’S website contains hundreds of fact sheets on specific disabilities and how to accommodate them on the job. The site also provides valuable information for employers who are seeking resources on the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The list is extensive and so you are encouraged to go to the website in your handout “Helpful Resources You Need to Know” to learn about the specific work-place accommodations for your youth. The facts sheets can be used to: provide concise information on a specific disability that can help teach the youth about his/her disability or a teacher, service provider, etc. inform employers about a specific disability. For example, if parents have a youth with cognitive disabilities, the JAN fact sheets can be given to an employer to help ease the fear of hiring that person and began the conversation about needed accommodations. 20

Positive Family Involvement Leads to Success
Practical Tips for Parents Positive Family Involvement Leads to Success Know Employment Options Begin Career Planning Prepare for Employment Understand that Your “Job” Doesn’t Necessarily End with an Employment Offer We have covered a lot in this workshop including why work is important and the employer’s expectations for applicants (like having soft skills and being part of a team on a job.) We also talked about today’s labor market for everyone and then more specifically people with disabilities. We learned that teens are often worried about disclosing their disability. But the good news is that there is a federal law to protect teens who disclose their disability to an employer. We also learned that it is critical for a teen to disclose his or her disability if they need an accommodation to perform their job. Otherwise, if they don’t disclose and don’t get the accommodation, the teen is not protected by the ADA. We just covered a great resource – JAN that gives families examples of specific job accommodations. Throughout this workshop we have stressed that parent and family involvement is essential to helping the teen be successful in getting a job. Where does it start and how can families help? Just as the slide says: Positive family involvement leads to success. Parents can help by learning employment options for teens and helping teens with career planning and preparing for employment. And as the last bullet says parents and family members have to know that the job is not over when the teen is offered a job. And why is that? Because you want the youth to keep the job or get another one if he or she doesn’t like the first job. So let’s start with learning employment options. 21

Practical Tips for Parents: Employment Options
Customized Employment Meets the needs of both employees and employers Based on individual strengths, needs, and interests Customized job responsibilities are negotiated Parents and family members should begin to understand the various employment options available in order to help their teen get the first job. Ask the Audience: How many of you have heard the term “customized employment?” Give people a chance to respond to see if anyone knows the answer. It is individualizing jobs for persons with disabilities to meet both the employee and the employer’s needs. Customized employment is a flexible process designed to personalize the employment relationship between a job candidate and an employer in a way that meets the needs of both. It is based on an individualized match between the strengths, conditions, and interests of a job candidate and the identified business needs of an employer. Customized Employment utilizes an individualized approach to employment planning and job development — one person at a time one employer at a time It may include employment developed through job carving, self-employment or entrepreneurial initiatives, or other job development or restructuring strategies that result in job responsibilities being customized and individually negotiated to fit the needs of individuals with a disability. What is job carving? Job carving is the act of analyzing work duties performed in a given job and identifying specific tasks that might be assigned to an employee with disabilities. For example, in a hospital setting, the supervisor might find that the average staff person dreads stuffing needles into boxes to have in the operating rooms. This placing needles in boxes is carved out of someone else’s job duties and given to a person with disabilities . Another example comes from the accolades of a hospital executive who said that once Marcus, a person with a disability, was given the job of surgical tech, the surgeons raved about the fact that the surgical tray never missed an item when it was time for surgery. This kind of job carving represents a great example of job carving. Customized employment assumes the provision of reasonable accommodations and supports necessary for the individual to perform the functions of a job that is individually negotiated and developed. (Trainer: Do not mention. Just background information for you and in case someone asks. Federal Register, June 26, 2002, Vol No 123 pp – 43149). Customized employment has become a more common form of work experience for people with disabilities as we see the trend across the country to end sheltered workshops. And what if you are thinking my son or daughter would like to work for themselves or they have gotten jobs and lost them and are beginning to get discouraged. What can I do? Well you might consider the option of self-employment or entrepreneurship.

Self-Employment Practical Tips for Parents: Employment Options
Allows an individual to receive assistance in the creation of an independently owned small business Typically a microenterprise under five employees Microenterprise that meets the unmet needs of a local market Is an excellent option for rural areas Requires a viable business plan Many people with disabilities choose to start their own small business. What is self-employment? Self employment allows for an individual to receive assistance in the creation of an independently owned small business (typically a micro enterprise, under five employees) based on the strengths and dreams of an individual and the unmet needs of a local market while incorporating the individualized planning and support strategies needed for success. Often when a person is self employed friends, parents and family members can help. One example of this is a young man with disabilities who has a for-profit corporation that sells water at NASCAR races. Another person makes and sells buttons at conferences, workshops, etc. A third example involves a person who makes and sells DVDs of their life experiences online. Two of these individuals have also written books, one of which deals with steps to starting a microenterprise. Self employment can be an excellent option for rural areas because there may not be a lot of employers and employment options available. Another factor may be limited transportation to get to and from the job. In order to start a small business a person with a disability would need to develop a viable business plan. There are often community agencies and even the Small Business Administration (SBA) which can help an individual develop a business plan. Often retired business people help individuals develop business plans. Parents and family members can seek these resources in their community to help their teen come up with a business plan for self employment as another employment option. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) can also assist with self-employment business plans. Whether the youth is thinking about a job with a specific employer or working for themselves, it all begins with planning. them. 23

Why Career Planning? Practical Tips for Parents: Career Planning
Avoids poor job matches Improves transition or employment plans Helps the teen begin thinking about work in a productive way Provides a realistic, step-by-step plan to reach long-term career goals Any time we want to accomplish something, we will get to our goal quicker and with less struggles if we take time to make a plan. So, let’s talk about career planning. It may seem like a simple exercise, but having a career planning discussion with youth can be valuable for many reasons. It helps families learn how their youth are thinking about employment. What do they hope for and what kinds of jobs interest them? This information can be communicated to the school’s work experience staff or employment service providers to ensure youth are placed in jobs that match their skills and needs. Career planning can help improve transition to employment. Families can use knowledge gained from the career-planning discussion to identify academic coursework or work experiences that can be integrated into a youth’s IEP. Many adult service providers also utilize a career plan to guide a person’s programming. Whether the plan is for high school or the adult service world, families need to ask if the person writing the plan knows enough about their son or daughter. Families need to use their own expertise to improve the planning process. Finally, career planning allows for goal setting and for the identification of steps to reach that goal. For example, if a young person wants to work outside and in a job that involves caring for animals, families can take this knowledge to the IEP team so the youth can begin learning about jobs that meet that criteria. Classes can be put in place so that youth can build skills in biology. Families can also seek work experiences or volunteer opportunities so their youth can experience that work firsthand. If the young person follows these steps and still is interested in working outside caring for animals, postsecondary programs can be explored or job placements can be made to match these interests. What are some career planning basics? Let’s see in our next slide. 24

Career Planning Basics
Practical Tips for Parents: Career Planning Career Planning Basics “What is your dream job?” “What do you need to know to do that job?” “What classes in school can help you learn the skills you need?” “Do you like to work inside or outside?” “Do you have good times of the day or bad?” Before your teen begins looking for a job, it is important for family members and parents to think about practical steps to career planning. Good questions to ask your teen are: TRAINER READ ALL QUESTIONS: “What is your dream job? What do you need to know to do that job?” “What classes in school can help you learn the skills you need?” “Do you like to work inside or outside?“ “Does your teen have good times of the day or bad times of the day?” Career planning means choosing the path you want to take through life. Remember we talked about the importance of work. Career planning is not a complicated process full of tests and evaluations. For our discussion, career planning means a process by which a youth with a disability discusses the type of jobs they are interested in and how their disability might impact those interests. It is important as parents and family members to help youth with disabilities explore careers that interest them and utilize school, service providers and others in the community to help plan for achieving employment in that area. Find the handout entitled “ My Action Plan.” This is a tool they can use to start exploring employment options. The goal is to be able to list 2 – 3 jobs they are interested in and be able to list 3 skills they need for each job. Once this has been done and the boxes have been checked, you go to second page of the document to begin to check off the boxes of how the youth will acquire these skills. For example, one action might be to “make chores at home an expectation” is listed on the second page at the top. Parents can share this Action Plan with school staff and incorporate these action items as goals into the youth’s Individual Education Plan or IEP and the employment section of the transition plan. The things listed on this Action Plan are important information for anyone such as a Vocational Rehabilitation or VR counselor who is working to help the youth obtain paid employment. So, let’s learn more about Vocational Rehabilitation services in the next slide and why this can be an important part of career planning for your teen with disabilities. 25

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)
Practical Tips for Parents: Career Planning Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Vocational assessment Vocational counseling and guidance Vocational training School to work transition Rehabilitation technology Supported employment Job search and job placement Referral to other agencies for needed services Another practical tip for parents in helping their teen get a job is to consider Vocational Rehabilitation or VR for help. For teens with disabilities who are unsure about their future plans, Vocational Rehabilitation Services counselors can help parents and students identify interests and develop a career path. Some of the services of VR may include an evaluation to assess the teen’s disability, identify the teen’s interests and determine abilities and strengths. VR offers training to support academic, vocational, job readiness and on-the-job training success. Teens working with a VR counselor may decide they want more education after high school and VR can assist with that. Other teens may decide they would like to go right to paid employment after high school and VR counselor can provide job coaching and supported employment. They can also provide follow up services to help a teen with disabilities keep a job and on-going support services. VR can also refer the teen to other agencies for needed services. A VR counselor may come to the high school to provide counseling and guidance to teens with disabilities about life after high school. Often VR does not begin to work with a student with a disability until their senior year in high school. So, parents should ask the special education teacher or transition teacher what the process is in their son or daughter’s particular high school. Parents can invite the VR counselor to attend the teen’s IEP meeting. Families can help their teens use VR services effectively while the student is still in high school. It is important for parents and family members to better understand the role of the transition teacher and the role of the VR counselor. Knowing these things before the teen leaves high school can help make transition from high school a lot easier. If there are documents and paperwork VR will require to help a teen, parents can be gathering these documents and getting them to the VR counselor before the teen begins to work with VR. There may be things the transition teacher or other teachers can assist the family in understanding and providing if the teen is eligible for VR services. Note to trainer as information: Vocational Rehabilitation is now a free-standing agency known as the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency or GVRA and their website is Now that we see some of the services provided by VR, let’s spend some time talking about how important it is for parents to begin long before a teen’s senior year in high school to prepare for getting a job. What can families do when the student is in elementary and middle school and long before they get to high school and want a paid job?

How Families Can Help Practical Tips for Parents: Career Planning
Identify strengths of youth Work on “soft skills” at home Maintain high expectations This slides gives parents and family members some practical tips on career planning with their teen. Parents can help organize and clarify a young person’s strengths, needs and interests. Parents can work on soft skills at home. Most importantly, families need to maintain high expectations of youth with disabilities and be consistent. I know this is really hard for parents. It is hard to constantly “fight” or “battle” with your teen about doing simple chores or being organized but it is important to keep working and encouraging your child to gain these skills. Giving kids very simple chores when they are small and then introducing harder chores in their teens and as youth is one way to help them gain vocational skills. Washing dishes, mopping or sweeping floors, cleaning the table, sorting laundry, folding clothes, vacuuming, sorting silverware, making beds, loading the dishwasher, dusting and cleaning windows are all chores a youth can do at home that also gives them practical work skills and work habits for their first job. It is important to talk with a teen with disabilities about his or her dreams. You should help your teen think about answers to questions like “What do I do well? What is hard for me? What do I like to do?” These questions and the answers from the teen are ways parents begin career planning to help their son or daughter with a disability get a job. So let’s now look at some practical things parents and family members can do to help a teen get a job. 27

How Families Can Help Practical Tips for Parents: Career Planning
Develop skills that allow him/her to become as independent as possible Develop self-advocacy skills such as self-knowledge, goal setting, decision making, and problem solving Families can help teens with disabilities develop skills that allow him/her to become as independent as possible. Self-advocacy skills such as self-knowledge, goal setting, decision making, and problem solving are crucial for young people. Example of skills like washing your own clothes, taking public transportation, setting and waking to an alarm, planning and making meals are all ways for your teen to gain self-knowledge, decision making, and problem solving skills. Teens who have been able to lead their IEP meetings while in school and exert some control over their services and make choices will be more successful in their career planning. Even students who may be very shy at public speaking can lead their IEP using a computer and show a power point with their voice embedded into the presentation or use a communication device. Parents and family members can help their children develop self-determination skills by creating a supportive environment, which allows youth to take risks, test their abilities and limitations, develop their problem solving skills, and practice positive work habits and behaviors. Examples: Goal: keep room clean, achieve community service hours Now that you have learned about ways to help your teen with career planning, let’s look at a key tool for getting a job, which is having a resume’.

Practical Tips for Parents: Prepare for Employment
Building a Resume Let’s look at the handout “Building a Resume” tips for youth with disabilities and their families on effective strategies for building the first resume. As this handout says, the resume continues to be the main tool employers use to review the qualifications of prospective employees and what they use when deciding who to interview or hire. All youth who are looking for a job should have an up-to-date resume that shows employment, education, and volunteer history. At this point as a parent or family member, you may be saying my son or daughter has never worked so they do not have a resume’. When helping your teen develop a resume, consider school work experience such as community-based instruction or CBI. Community-based instruction is an instructional model that provides students with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to learn and practice functional skills across a variety of community settings. This definition is from the Georgia DOE, Special Education Supplement Glossary. It is the systematic training of people with disabilities in functional skills within the natural community setting where such skills are used, in order to ease/enhance transitions to independent living, community participation, and employment.” (taken from the glossary of Education terms). Another thing to consider are job shadowing opportunities and experiences. The teen may also build a resume by having informational interviews. Attending career fairs is another great way to build a resume. Trainer make sure you tell audience that job shadowing and informational interviews are defined on the handout. Review this at the bottom of page 1 and top of page 2 of the handout. Often people think that only paid work experiences can go on a resume, but if you are a teen who is creating your first resume and you never had a paid job, then think about any volunteer or unpaid work experiences you have had. This might include babysitting your brothers and sisters, cutting the grass, helping in the church kitchen and other activities. Now let’s look at the Sample Resume handout. This is just a made up resume to help parents clearly see how to help build a resume. This resume is for Scott Hampton. You can see that it includes a lot of the activities mentioned on the slide. We see under the heading work skills and volunteer history that Scott was a member of a Boy Scout Troop that did a highway cleanup project. We also see that Scott visited a fire station and interviewed the chief. He sold items at a concession stand. In addition, he worked with a provider called Transition Plus and successfully completed two job placements at Target and Abbott Hospital. Scott also lists some of his skills and achievements like using public transportation and getting Boy Scout merit badges. He puts the name of his high school and gives some of his classes like introduction to work skills and money management. As we look at Scott’s resume, parents and family members can get a clear picture of how to build a resume for a teen with a disability. Now let’s talk specifically about volunteer experience in our next slide. School work experience Job shadowing Informational interviews Attending career fairs Volunteer experience

Volunteering Builds work skills and improves a resume’ Not a long-term solution to paid employment Shows employers that youth want to work despite lack of paid employment Allows youth to explore different types of jobs Why is volunteering so important? Studies show that youth who have quality work experiences during the high school years are more likely to experience positive employment outcomes as adults. While the goal is always paid employment, volunteering shows employers that youth want to work. Volunteering can be used to build a resume for youth who do not have paid work experience. This should be highlighted during the interview process. The key reason for volunteering is to build work skills. It is not an acceptable long-term substitute for paid employment. It should not be the final goal, but just a mechanism to move youth with disabilities into paid employment. Volunteering can allow youth to try many different type of jobs, making it easier to begin focusing on a specific career path they may want to follow. Also volunteering is something that a parent or sibling can do with a youth with disabilities, making it easier to provide any needed coaching or supports. Ideas for Volunteering: 1) Local PBS or public access stations helping run cameras and helping out behind-the-scenes work 2) Camps, daycares and church groups working with children as a teacher or camp counselor 3) Animal shelters helping walk dogs or shampooing new rescues 4) Local museum or aquarium helping feed animals or conducting museum tours; helping with paperwork or other administrative work; 5) Hospital or nursing home helping deliver food, reading to patients, playing games with patients, or transporting patients * Look around your community and in the phone book to see what programs are there. Call and ask if they need help. * Visit your city or town Web site. It may list volunteer opportunities in your community. Contact your local United Way, cultural arts association, student organization, or other groups that can point you in the right direction. * Ask your library, faith or spiritual groups, or community colleges if they sponsor any volunteer groups. Parents and family members can use personal networks to help teens with disabilities find volunteer opportunities. 30

Use Personal Networks Relationships, not want ads, provide the most job opportunities. Everyone has a network within the community they can use. Use your network to find opportunities. Why do we talk about personal network? Why is networking so important? Ask the Audience: When you got your first job, did someone that you knew tell you about it? Did you scan the newspapers? Well maybe depending on your age. Many of us remember scanning the newspaper classifieds for job openings. That method of finding job openings is quickly becoming obsolete. In fact, many job openings are not listed publically at all. Today as the slide says, relationships, not want ads, provide the most important job opportunities. The vast majority of jobs are found through word of mouth from a person’s “network.” The saying “it's who you know, not what you know” is very relevant in today's job market. Personal relationships are more likely to get an interview than someone who just completes a job application. When it comes to finding a job, you’ve got to network! According to Cornell University’s Career Center, 80% of available jobs are not advertised. These jobs are often referred to as the “hidden job market.” Everyone has a network within the community they can use. For our discussion, a network is anybody you know, including family members, professional acquaintances, or people you know from places of worship, fraternal organizations, or informal clubs. Every family has a network of personal contracts they can utilize to identify potential work experiences, volunteer opportunities, and paid job openings for their youth. What network does your family have access to? Perhaps they include a support group. Remember, these networks also include places that people do a great deal of business with, such as grocery stores, greenhouses, dental offices, or auto dealerships. Use your network to find opportunities for your teen with disabilities to gain work experience. Because families are often concerned about whether or not a work site will be a safe place for a youth to work, this is all the more reason to use a personal contact to find a job opportunity. Chances are that by using a personal contact the youth will be working in an environment that is familiar. Families can learn about services or job opportunities from using personal networks. In addition, parents who use their own networks to help with their youth’s job search are being active participant’s in their youth’s success. Why is using a family’s personal network also important? Unfortunately a school’s transition teacher, employment specialist or Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) counselor have a limited pool of businesses and resources to refer their clients to for job opportunities. Therefore, the jobs they may have available may not fit the skills and interests of the youth. So, most of these employment professionals would welcome tips on potential work experience and job opportunities from families. For example, if you have a friend who owns a business and he is willing to give your youth with a disability a chance to gain some employment skills, your child’s VR counselor might be able to provide information and other support to the business owner that might even lead to paid employment after several months. 31

Practical Tips for Parents: Your Job’s Not Done!
Additional Advice Practice filling out job applications Plan for transportation Consider disability management Encourage postsecondary education Remember, the first job should not be the last job. Never stop expecting great things! Now that you have learned how to help your teen build a resume and get work experience through volunteering or using personal networks, it is important to realize that the parent’s job is not done! Let’s look at this slide for some additional practical tips for parents and family members. Everybody needs to practice getting a job. So does your teen with disabilities. Parents and family members can help youth get jobs by taking them to different businesses such as a grocery store or restaurant and ask for an application. The goal is not necessarily to get a job but to have the youth practice completing the application. You can laminate and keep the application once it is complete and use it as a tool to help the youth when he or she is ready to fill out other job applications for places where they do want to work. A very important question is how will the youth get to the job site? Is the job within walking distance or accessible by public transportation? It is critical that parents plan for how the youth will get to work. This is just as important as getting the job. Families are encouraged to work with service providers, school staff, or within the family to plan for a youth’s transportation needs. There are resources, such as your local Center for Independent Living (CIL), that can provide transportation training. Independent Living Centers are part of The Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) a private nonprofit corporation governed by people with all types of disabilities, collaborates with individuals, the CILs, and the VR program to promote equal participation of people with disabilities within their communities. There are eight (8) Centers for Independent Living (CILs) throughout Georgia; check the SILC web site at for specific information about each Center. Some high schools may provide transportation or mobility training or agencies like the Center for the Visually Impaired for those youth who are blind or have low vision. Transportation tends to be a bigger problem in rural areas, so always make this a part of employment planning for youth with disabilities. Remember on Scott’s sample resume he put he could use public transit. Many people with disabilities take medications or have daily treatments to manage the disability on a day-to-day basis. Families need to think about and plan for the impact of this daily management in the employment setting. The families need to consider the following questions: Do medications cause the youth to be sleepy at certain times of the day? Will the youth require a separate restroom for personal care? Has the employer been notified of important medical issues and been instructed on how to deal with an emergency? These are questions that a family should consider in the job planning process. What about more school to get the job the teen really wants. As parents and family members you might have to encourage your teen to consider postsecondary education options like career, technical or community college, job certification training programs, or even four year colleges. Remember, the first job should not be the last job. Never stop expecting great things! So what happens when the teen gets a job interview? Let’s talk about this in the next slide.

Some Thoughts On The Interview
Practical Tips for Parents: Your Job’s Not Done! Some Thoughts On The Interview Practice the basics Never stress the disability, only strengths Avoid giving too much information Plan responses to disability-related questions Know that although you may be allowed to participate, parents have no legal right to take part in the interview The job interview. This is the day you as a parent or family member have been waiting for. After learning about employment options, careful planning and some practical resume building experiences like volunteering, your teen has finally gotten a job interview! Wow! Now what will you need to do as the parent? Well as the slide says, practice the basics. Never stress the disability, only strengths. Like we stressed before when we talked about disclosing or not disclosing, avoid giving too much information. The teen should plan responses to disability-related questions if they plan to disclose. Help your child understand what questions are legal for an employer to ask and what questions are not. Parents keep in mind that you have no legal right to take part in the interview. Even if the employer will allow it, it would be good to ask your teen if they want you there. Will it make them more nervous? Will it be helpful. Don’t presume that your presence in the interview will be what your teen wants. So talk to them about it and accept their saying no. So, the teen has had an interview and the employer offers them the job. Is your work as a parent or family member done? Of course not! And why is that? Parents and family members are going to be a crucial part in the youth keeping the job. Let’s talk about some practical things parents and family members can do to help the youth keep the job in the next slide. 33

Practical Tips for Parents: Your Job’s Not Done!
Keeping the Job Teach Your Child to: Show up Take direction and work well with others Be flexible Families Can: Build support system at work Communicate regularly with employer and service staff Know that sometimes it just doesn’t work and that’s OK Once a youth finds a job, the focus then becomes on keeping the job. The first thing families can help youth to do is show up. Parents need to teach their youth the importance of being responsible for their work and their work attendance and work ethic. Another reason youth struggle on the job is that they are not used to taking direction and don’t feel they need to interact with fellow employees. Youth need to understand that the nature of being employed is that they will be told what to do. If they react negatively to work direction, there will be problems. Families need to help youth with this. They need to stress also that work is not a place to have personal phone calls or texts and that this is for the time after work hours. Families need to also help youth understand that things in the work place change and help youth understand these changes and prepare them to deal with it. Families should build relationships with employers and job coaches as many youth lose jobs without their families ever knowing there was a problem. And lastly, know that like any job it may not work out. The youth may decide they don’t like the job duties or the work environment. It may just not be a good match. Families can help youth realize that losing a job is part of life and is not the end of the world. They can explain to youth that taking risks and failing is part of growing up. If a youth loses a job, families should use that time to discuss why it did not work and then talk about what things can be done differently the next time the youth get a job. Now let’s review all that we have provided today as keys to help your teen get a first job. 34

What We Have Learned Today
Learning Objectives Review Let’s Review What We Have Learned Today The employer’s perspective Straight talk about employment Disclosure and the ADA Practical tips for families Let’s Review What We Have Learned Today. Trainer reviews each bullet point on the slide Remind parents and family members that they play a crucial role in helping their teen with disabilities get a job since work skills really start in the home as chores. Parents who work collaboratively with the school, VR and other services are more likely to see their teen with disabilities have success in gaining paid work. Start working with your son or daughter while they are very young and help them to learn about their disability and to be involved in their IEP. Students who can lead their IEP meeting are much more likely to be able to disclose they have a disability to an employer in order to get the job accommodations they need to be successful at work. Planning early, understanding today’s workplace, career planning, and gaining knowledge about resources and services are the keys that can lead to success for parents and families helping their youth get a job. 35

Thank You for Learning with Us!
Parent to Parent of Georgia 3070 Presidential Parkway, Suite 130 Atlanta, GA 30340 (770) or Fax: (770) Thanks for attending. Please make sure that you have signed in and completed an evaluation form. If you want to be added to our blast list please make sure we have your address on the sign-in sheet. Also, remember that if you are in need of immediate assistance, call our number to speak with a regional coordinator. Before you leave we want to make sure you feel you can apply some of the things you have learned in this presentation on helping your teen get a job. Would anyone like to give me an example of what they can do next to apply what they have learned? What are some next steps you might take based on what you learned today? SHARING INFORMATION: Please share with your family and friends information about this training. You can like P2P on your Facebook page and also if you have a Twitter account, tweet the title of this presentation to people you know so they can come out in the future and get this same information. Do tell others about our P2P trainings and webinars. We have a webinar titled “Thinking Outside the Box for Employment/Career Options” on finding creative jobs and self employment. It is listed on our website under archived webinars. Again, thank you for coming and don’t hesitate to call P2P if you need help on any matter, not just employment.

KEYS TO HELP YOUR TEEN GET Parent to Parent of Georgia

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "KEYS TO HELP YOUR TEEN GET Parent to Parent of Georgia"— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback

Log in

Auth with social network:

KEYS TO HELP YOUR TEEN GET Parent to Parent of Georgia

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "KEYS TO HELP YOUR TEEN GET Parent to Parent of Georgia"— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback