“Life is like a box of chocolates,” Forrest Gump claimed. “You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Each and every person is one of those chocolates, wrapped in a unique layering of skills, abilities, knowledge, experiences, personalities, challenges, and aptitudes. In the very center of so many of these chocolates is a pungent desire to be a contributing member of society -- to be employed.
One of the major hurdles people with disabilities – especially those with obvious, physical disabilities - face from the general public is a hesitation to unwrap the person’s packaging and delve into underlying layers of abilities and knowledge. Right from the first day we met, Carrie and Patrick had no hesitation.
Having been hired during the early stages of the company, CHOICE actually created a job for me with strong consideration to not only my skills, knowledge, and abilities, but adapting the job to the challenges of my disability while meeting the needs of their company. The result was a job as a Document Specialist where I could work from home, solving two major challenges: An hour, one-way commute to the office and the speaking component of my disability.
My disability has advanced over the past two years with severe full-body
muscle contractions, pain, and bouts of immobility, Carrie and the CHOICE management team have implemented job-sharing among the Quality Assurance Team. Specifically, they have carved time-sensitive tasks from my job responsibilities, delegating them to my teammates.
I’ll be forever grateful to Carrie and Patrick for unwrapping my packaging; taste-testing me; utilizing my unique mixture of skills and knowledge; adapting the recipe by making accommodations to ensure my successful job performance continued; and, most importantly of all, savoring my “filling” by believing in me.
A product of their job development and job carving, I am only one of so many chocolates that are proof that Carrie and Patrick, along with Team CHOICE, practice what they preach. Come on and join them in unwrapping more and more chocolates (potential employees) and taste how their abilities can add so much flavoring to your business. It could be sweetness galore!
Comentarios