Jamar is 20 years old and has an intellectual disability; he was referred to Disability Network by Michigan Rehabilitation Services, whose services he was using to try to find a job. When our staff first started working with Jamar on pre-employment training, he didn’t take it very seriously at first and when he applied for a position at Taco Bell he didn’t get the job
After that experience, Jamar was disappointed and he wanted to work harder and try again. He submitted an application to McDonald’s and paid more attention as our staff worked with him on “soft skills” to address employer expectations and interviewing. Staff did some role playing to go through the interview process and cover some common questions he might encounter in case he got an interview. Staff also worked with Jamar on self-advocacy and talked about the “how, what and when” of disclosing his disability and his rights under the ADA for receiving accommodations.
A week after Jamar applied for the job he still hadn’t heard back from McDonald’s. Staff encouraged him to call and follow up on his application, and again they role-played how that phone call might go. By the time the meeting with him was over he was feeling much more confident. He made the call and received an interview the next day. Jamar nailed his interview and was offered a training position starting the next week. Congratulations Jamar, you’ve got this!