Richie’s Journey to Employment and Independence

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

By Ilene Greenberg

As parents, we had a challenge deciding which path would be right for our son, Richie, after High School.

Overall, he was a great student when given the right support. However, college entrance exams and the rigorous curriculum of college could potentially set him on a path for failure.

He also had never lived independently and had few friends. The thought of his dealing with schoolwork, interpersonal skills, and independent living skills at the same time in a college environment—challenging for those with or without disabilities, encouraged us to look into options other than college.

We had been introduced to a consultant who worked with families with children with disabilities. We met her at a support event for parents in our community. This consultant specifically asked us how we would view Richie’s success if he went to college. Our reply was that we wanted him to make friends and get a great job when he graduated. She told us that he can do that without going to college. It was something we had not even considered. Success in our mind was college, but she certainly helped us to change our perspective of what was possible.

We discussed this with the counselor at Vocational Rehabilitation, who then presented a few options in the South Florida area. We investigated them and found they were either short term programs or programs that did not contain an independent living component. We felt strongly that if Richie was ever going to succeed, he would need a structured program that not only prepared him for a good job but taught him the skills he would need to maintain that job, including proper socialization and good hygiene and health habits.

Based on the recommendation of this consultant, we visited several programs focusing on job skills and independent living, one in South Florida, one in Arizona, and the Horizons School in Birmingham, Alabama. We found the overall mission, curriculum, and staff of the Horizons School to be the right fit for Richie. The first-year program taught the building blocks for employment, independence, and autonomy.

Everyone at the Horizons School lived in the same building which was within walking distance to the school. There they learned how to be separate from their parents in a secure environment, learning everything from maintaining an apartment, doing laundry, shopping, making meals (on a budget), banking and paying bills, public transportation, vocational training, and business and personal etiquette.

The second and third year capitalized on these skills with the added element of an internship. There were several intern opportunities presented to Richie, but none that excited him. He had always had a passion for sports and television broadcasting, and we encouraged him to follow that passion. We met with the teachers at the Horizons School to discuss the opportunities that might be available in this profession. One of the teachers had a relationship with a contact at WBRC, a local Fox TV affiliate.

Richie was excited by the prospect of an internship there, but it wouldn’t be an easy road; the station had never taken on someone who had not either received or was working toward a college degree. Yet Richie, the school, and us as parents persevered until he was finally approved at WBRC.

He loved his two and a half years there, and was empowered by his direct manager to learn all aspects of the job. He attended staff meetings, answered the phone, went in the field with reporters and videographers, edited video, and was even taught the teleprompter which he worked during the 12:00 news. Unfortunately, when Richie’s internship was ending, the station was acquired by another company that put a hiring freeze in place, preventing him from becoming employed with the station.

While this was a bit of a blow for Richie, the Horizons School did try to find other jobs in the space, but without a college degree most of the jobs were out of reach.

The school helped Richie to adjust and shifted their focus to other things that Richie was passionate about to help him find new employment. One of his interests is baseball, so Richie got a seasonal job with a local baseball team, the Birmingham Barons. While this wouldn’t necessarily be a full-time career option, Richie enjoyed being around the games and interacting with people. He was well respected in the job and when the season ended, he learned that because of his great customer service he had the ability to be rehired. Unfortunately, COVID-19 caused the baseball program to close, leaving Richie unemployed during the pandemic. Once again, Richie again had to re-think the employment opportunities ahead of him. The experiences at the Horizons School and the support he had been given there were invaluable to his resilience.

He then focused on companies that were known to be good to their employees financially and offered career growth opportunities. Publix was one of those companies. He has now been employed with Publix for the last two months. And while he knows he is starting at the bottom, he understands there are future opportunities for growth with the organization.