Wednesday, January 14, 2015

A Facebook post lands a woman with Down syndrome a job


"I don't want to just sit there, I'll get bored at my house," said Laura Gulick. The 25-year-old Ottawa native has Down syndrome, and like many adults with disabilities, few job prospects.

That all changed when her mom, Leslie, posted a message last week on Ladies who Lunch, a networking group for businesswomen, reports CTV News Ottawa. As Leslie wrote,

I am looking for some guidance/assistance. My 25 year old daughter has Down Syndrome. She is looking for paid employment for 8-10 hrs per week. She attends Algonquin College in the mornings. She has had job placements through school and has volunteered for a year at The Salvation Army sorting clothing. Although she has volunteered, she is anxious to earn some money. We have registered with various agencies and she does have a job coach. I am wondering if anyone knows of someone who could use her services. She is dependable and is quite competent, using the bus. We live in Barrhaven. She has had placements in clothing retail and grocery. Other possible matches would be restaurants, movie theaters or shredding companies. Any other suggestions would be welcomed!

Joelle Langlois Rivington, who owns a consignment shop wrote back, had a great suggestion. She wrote,

Hi Leslie, I own Boomerang Kids in Barrhaven and would love to provide your daughter a paid job. We are a very fun loving bunch of moms working at the store and she would be made to feel very welcome! I had an uncle with Down Syndrome so have some experience although he was a typical "male" :) We also have volunteers from a Barrhaven autistic school working for experience a couple hours a week. We donate a lot of clothing toys during the week so she can help me with putting them into the right hands. It may not be the full 10 hours now since it's slower but we'll definitely work around her schedule. PM me if you think she'd enjoy working with us.

As of this week, Laura is working at the Boomerang Consignment shop.

Leslie and Laura Gulick
Stories like this seriously inspire me, despite the depressing statistic I've read that unemployment for people with disabilities is twice that of the general population. Networking: I can do that! I've always figured that, as with many things in Max's life, it would rest on mine and Dave's shoulders to someday help Max find work because we wouldn't necessarily be able to count on programs. That was this mom's experience; as she noted in a comment, "What was accomplished with this group in ONE HOUR far surpassed any progress I have made in 2.5 YEARS!!"  

I try not to predict Max's future because it never does me any good. Given Max's firefighter passion, though, I have daydreamed. Perhaps he could be a social media consultant for a fire station; he is pretty good on his iPad (and who knows what technology will exist by then). Or maybe he could help educate school kids about fire safety; he's already somewhat of an expert, as we discovered during yesterday's impromptu home fire drill.

Or, well, who knows? Max may very well develop other passions. Whatever work or hobby occupies him and makes him happy will make me happy, too. Though I'd especially appreciate it if he got a job involving cupcakes.

Image of Laura: screen grab, CTV News video; image of Leslie and Laura, Facebook

11 comments:

  1. Wonderful. This touches on a fear of mine. I have hearing loss and anxiety and even though I know I am very capable of becoming a teacher and I legally can no be discriminated against I worry I will not be hired or at least given a fair chance.

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    1. Kathryn, you are a smart, thoughtful, kind young woman who seems very capable--winning traits for a teacher.

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  2. Cool! This gives me hope for a friend of mine.

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  3. Of course, many, if not most families don't have the business and social connections demonstrated in this story. But when they do, a job counselor should encourage exploring them thoroughly and creatively. With or without disability, the surest way to a good job is through personal connections.

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    1. Andrew, what's interesting is that this mom posted in a public Facebook networking group she belongs to--it's open to anyone. She didn't seemingly have any special networking skills, she just threw out her request and strangers responded. Such are the powers of social media! I agree, personal connections matter most no matter who you are or what kind of job you are seeking.

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  4. I have 5 kids, four with special needs ranging in age from 11 to 25. My oldest daughter Haley has CP. She works at a greenhouse gift shop through a program with the local ARC(they own it) and she loves it. She has had this job for 4 years. My 22 year old daughter Amanda has Down Syndrome and works at a local toy store. The women who owns the store has a son with Down Syndrome and wanted to help these individuals get jobs. She loves going to work and has been there for 1 year(15 months Mom!). I hope my other two kids with special needs can also find work they love(15 year old Emma has PDD NOS and 11 year old Rebecca is legally blind.)

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    1. Anna, I LOVE hearing this. Thank you. So glad your older girls enjoy the work they do, and so thrilled to know these opportunities exist. I hope there will be similar ones for your other two.

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  5. That is such a wonderful story. I think it is so lovely to hear these sorts of wonderful experiences of families further along in similar journeys...when our children are young these worries are in the back of our heads constantly, hearing of positive experiences helps lift those worries a bit. There is a bakery in our area that was started by a woman with a sibling who is autistic, the mission of the bakery is to employ individuals with autism and other special needs. Just knowing it is there makes me feel just a bit less frightened somehow...

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    1. A few years ago, we went to a cafe that employs people with intellectual disability, and I felt the same—it made me a little less anxious about Max's future, not because I thought he would work there but because of it's mere existence.

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  6. This has been an amazing experience. Laura is so happy and proud and so are we!!

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Thanks for sharing!