Brady’s Employment Story

Thursday, October 22, 2020

By Julie Stern

I remember the day I received the phone call telling me that my son, Brady, was accepted as a client of Vocational Rehab (VR). I cried as I was on the phone setting up his first appointment. I had spent the last 15 years of his life navigating the school systems, the doctors, the diagnoses, and reading all that I could to make certain that I knew as much as possible regarding opportunities and his rights so that I could help my son succeed. I was a one-woman show, and I was exhausted from the pressure of doing right by him. I was hopeful that VR would be the newest catalyst to move Brady further along in life and in his future.

No longer would I have to fight for Brady alone. VR had some great programs to help Brady understand the world before him. I was hopeful that with the proper education and an arsenal of real-world tools, that Brady’s future would be better than I feared.

At the time Brady was 15 years old and he was attending a private school for students with cognitive disabilities on a partial McKay scholarship. He was learning with all the accommodations that the school provided for him and the other students. He fit in. He had friends. He was learning. We were all cautiously hopeful for his future. But the transition out of high school was rapidly approaching and I was frozen with fear and dread over what would be next for Brady and how he would handle the real-world challenges that he would soon be facing.

VR had a handful of really great programs geared towards students who, like Brady, were preparing to transition out of high school. I made certain, over the next three years, that Brady took advantage of every program VR had available to him. There was a weeklong program at Career Source, which took place over his high school spring break, that helped him learn how to write a resume and taught him how to interview. There was also a mentoring program that Brady was invited to be part of. Unfortunately, that program was just beginning and there were a lot of kinks in it. The mentors kept changing and it was, therefore, difficult to have any continuity, so Brady asked to leave the program and I agreed.

Brady was invited to participate in a two-week summer residential program that was sponsored by Autism After 21 called SOAR. The program was held at Florida Atlantic University and Brady got to live in a pod of four individual dorm rooms. There were daily activities that explored post-high school opportunities. The program contained career exploration, independent living, social skills, financial management, and good health practices. This was a great program and an exceptional way for Brady to get a taste of freedom, in a safe and controlled environment.

Probably the most important thing that we learned from the SOAR program was that Brady had the capacity to learn how to live independently. It gave me hope that with the right schooling and the right opportunities Brady could become a responsible, contributing member of society. Of course, this was only two weeks, and we still had to find the proper avenue to nurture his independence, but for Brady and for our family this was a wonderful “experiment” and it gave us insight into what Brady’s future could hold. Now we needed to find a way to further educate Brady so he could explore his interests and hopefully find a career.

VR helped get Brady signed up for Palm Tran Connection, which is a door to door ride-share service in Palm Beach County. Brady was able to use the transportation to get back and forth to school, doctor appointments, work (as a bagger at Publix) and anyplace else he needed or wanted to go.

Two years ago, when Brady was 20, I was discussing with Brady’s VR counselor the difficulty I was having in teaching Brady to drive. He had had his permit for three years, but we still were not at the point where he could pass his driving exam. She let me know that VR works with a driver’s ed program and she arranged for six driving lessons for Brady. The lessons were free to us and shortly after those lessons Brady finally had the skills he needed to pass his driving test.

Last year, during Brady’s Junior year of college, I asked his VR counselor if there was assistance available to help Brady find a summer internship. Brady’s career goal has always been in film production. Opportunities around here are slim and I was having a hard time finding him an internship that fit what he was learning at Beacon and what he wanted to do for a career.

Brady was assigned a job coach and met with her a few times over his spring break to map out a plan to secure him an internship. She taught Brady how to look at job search sites to look for work that might interest him. The plan was that, after he found a company that interested him, the job coach would then call and introduce Brady and explain his situation. Brady and I spent a few days scouring current and older job postings to see what companies offered internship opportunities that fit closely to his career goal. We turned the business names and contact info over to the job coach, and then she worked her magic. Brady and I contacted her from time to time to see how she was progressing.

Finally, in the early summer, she let Brady now that she found him a company that was aware of his situation and was willing to work with him and teach him production work. Brady enjoyed his internship so much that he asked the owner of the company if he could come back to volunteer over his winter break as well. During this internship, Brady was able to apply what he had learned about production work at Beacon, but he was also introduced to additional skills. Brady learned how to assist with set up, how to work the soundboard, how to operate the camera, etc. He really enjoyed the work and was thrilled to be a part of the team. Brady earned an A in his internship class as a result of his hard work and employer recommendation. One other thing worth mentioning is that every day Brady drove himself to the internship which was about 30 minutes away.

In just under seven months, Brady will graduate Beacon college with a Bachelor of Science degree in Digital Design. I am hopeful that VR will be able to assist in finding Brady a job in his chosen field.

For the last seven years, VR has been a part of Brady’s life. It hasn’t been a perfect relationship. But it has been a very useful one. Not only did VR help Brady, but they helped me carry, and in many ways reduce, the burden of transitioning my son from high school to college. And I look forward to the assistance that they will provide to Brady as he transitions from college into the workforce to realize real independence, a real career, and not just a job.