Employment Skills Training
To have work you enjoy is an essential part of a healthy life. Yet, people with disabilities have much greater difficulty finding and keeping a job than the general population. The unemployment rate hovers at 70 percent and only half of those with FASD have ever held a job longer than one year, according to research.
Typical workplace problems include being easily frustrated, difficulty understanding complex directions and reading social cues. Because they exhibit few external physical characteristics, employers perceive their shortcomings as a “bad attitude” — not as a brain-based disorder.
With certain accommodations, we can pre-empt those problems. Our young adults want to please, but to be successful at work they need hands-on training, supervisors who are willing to repeat instructions, give ongoing, constructive feedback and have appropriate expectations.
Vocational goals:
- To learn from employers who function like coaches and allow for deficits with memory, attention and information processing.
- To participate in programs that provide job training, interviewing and resume preparation, job placement and career development, similar to other successful models, such as Goodwill Industries.
- To be a part of entrepreneurial ventures such as, organic farming, recycling or a cafe, operated by our trainees and under the guidance of local experts in the field.
To request more information on FASD Communities or our Employment Skills Training Program, please contact us.
