Directing My Own Job Search

By Alicia Ruggles and Ellen Condon at the Rural Institute

My name is Alicia Ruggles and I am a high school senior in Polson, Montana. I will be graduating this spring. One of my goals is to have a job where I can make money to put in a savings account and to pay for changes to my future house to make it accessible for me. I just turned 18 on December 21st. I became my own guardian on my 18th birthday, which meant that I got to use my signature stamp to give my permission for this article to be published, and it means that I get to make decisions about jobs and who will provide support to me on my job. My Social Security Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS plan) was just approved, which will give me money to pay someone to help me to find a job, learn my job, and get to and from work, since I don’t drive. My Individual Education Plan (IEP) team is committed to helping me develop and learn a job before I graduate in June.

Since the PASS plan is a source of money that I get to control, I also get to choose whom I will hire using my PASS funds. With another student and teacher, I developed a list of questions to ask people who wanted to help me find a job. My student aide then typed them on the computer for me. My friend’s sister, Amanda, and another teacher Nannette, wanted to be my job coaches, so with assistance from my support person to set up the speaker phone, I called them and set up times for us to meet. I asked Carrie, my student aide, and one of the para-professionals to sit in on the interviews to assist me to remember the questions I wanted to ask, or to help interpret what I was saying in case Amanda didn’t understand my words. Some of the questions I asked were:

• When can you work? Nights, weekends, or day time?
• How will you teach me a new job task?
• How will you ensure that I am happy with my job and the job coaching you are providing?
I felt powerful getting to ask the questions.

Two years ago I began trying out different jobs at my school and in the community. In the beginning, I always had a job coach with me. The job coach helped me do the tasks I couldn’t do by myself, like opening doors, grasping things, picking things up if I dropped them, setting up my work station, and sometimes explaining or interpreting what I said to my bosses. It was scarey when my team members began talking about me going to a job by myself and at first I told them that I would always need a job coach. Then we talked about them only leaving me when I felt comfortable that I could do the job myself and when I knew my co-workers. If I had somebody in the room when I got there I would be o.k. to work by myself. I also want to have a cell phone so that I know that I can reach someone immediately if I need to.

Now that I have tried different jobs, like delivering mail between the middle and high school, making deliveries at the hospital and volunteering at the assisted living center, I have learned what things help me to work by myself, what kinds of help I need, what jobs I like, and what jobs I do well.

My IEP team has also developed a Vocational Profile for me, which summarizes all the information they have learned and discovered about me. The Profile will help us to develop or identify a job that I can do. My team discovered my talents and gifts by spending time with me in new environments (like shopping in Walmart), in familiar environments (like the school), and talking to people who know me best. We all began to realize how much I could contribute to an employer. During my employment planning meeting—a meeting with lots of people talking about things I can do well—my team listed things I could contribute, such as:

• I have a fantastic memory;
• I am observant and aware of schedules, my own as well as all other students and staff;
• I pay attention to detail and can point out errors or something that is out of place;
• I like to help people and am always offering assistance to solve problems;
• I have a great sense of humor and get along well with my co-workers.

Next we listed job tasks that I can do and, finally, employers in Polson that may meet my “ideal conditions of employment,” where I could make a contribution. Some of my team members thought I would be good at quality control, but I told them “no.” I liked the idea of working at the hospital, which may be because I know many of the people there and feel comfortable there. I chose to put that first on my job development list, above the ideas of banks or schools.

My para-professional is now developing a photographic marketing portfolio for me, which my job developer will take to the employers that I chose at my planning meeting. The pictures in my portfolio will show the employers what I can do and what I can contribute. I am looking forward to starting my paid job soon, although I also want to continue my volunteer position at the assisted living center.

Contact Information

Ellen Condon, Project Director
(406) 243-5927
condon@selway.umt.edu

The Rural Institute
52 Corbin Hall, The University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812
(406) 243-4730 Fax