Direct support professionals (DSPs) are people who work directly with people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities with the aim of assisting the individual to become integrated into his /her community or the least restrictive environment.
These people are responsible for providing direct support, positive direction, and assistance to individuals. They provide supports to people by assisting in the development and implementation of all support plans, including spiritual life supports, assisting people in achieving their personal goals and desires, providing interaction and choices for activities that support a meaningful day, and supporting people to be independent in activities of daily living.
DSPs assist people with maintaining a clean, safe and orderly home by following safety and infection control procedures and educating people about maintaining their homes. They may also assist people with fiscal management while safeguarding their funds. This may include completing ledgers, reconciling accounts and assisting people with spending choices. They ensure that people exercise their rights and that rights are not restricted without legal fairness, ensuring that people are treated with dignity and respect.
Direct support professionals may also be responsible for assisting and supporting individuals with obtaining and keeping jobs in the community.
At Pearl Buck Center, all of our direct support professionals receive training and those of us in the Community Department and specifically in job development related positions are Certified employment support professionals.
Our direct support professionals are ready to assist with the needs of our clients whether it be at home, in the community or on the job.
But we don’t stop there, we are also committed to assisting businesses in the community. We are happy to come in and help companies identify areas where our eager job seekers can come in for a few hours a day and lighten the workload of the other employees.
And when it comes to work in the community, Pearl Buck Center is facile at bridging the gap between employee and employer. We live for it!
So whether you are looking for a little extra support in your day to day living or in your business, think- Pearl Buck Center. Let us know how we can assist you…because who couldn’t benefit from a little extra support, right?
We first met Dylan Metzger when he came to us in need of finding out what he wanted to do for work. We conducted a Discovery inquiry and found that he could use his varied skills in a variety of job situations.
We then began the job search. Dylan worked in the production area of Pearl Buck Center and we heard rave reviews of his work and ability to interact with his supervisors and coworkers.
Fuller Cabinets was in need of another clean-up person so we arranged for an interview. Dylan has been working at Fuller Cabinets for months now and says that he likes it. Here is a text that we received from Kallin Benson, who manages at the facility…
“Good morning…first let me say that Dylan rocks! Such a great worker, and polite young man… he shows up on time every day, does exactly what he’s asked, and is respectful of the guys. He’s painfully shy, but we’ll work on getting him out of his shell a bit.” says Kallin Benson from Fuller Cabinets (5/5)
When I relayed this to Dylan, he said that he is just trying to be a good employee and do the work, because after all that is what he is there for.
Maggie Kollmorgen fills a box with cupcakes in July 2015, at the Scratch Cupcakery in Coralville, Iowa. Kollmorgen, who has Down syndrome, works two-hour shifts at the shop, which accommodated her disability during her training. Most accommodations for people with disabilities cost employers little or nothing.
Small accommodations can go a long way for workers like Maggie Kollmorgen.
Kollmorgen has Down syndrome, but she’s found a work home at Scratch Cupcakery, where she folds boxes, fills cupcake orders and cleans up around the store four hours a week.
When Kollmorgen began working there last fall, she needed to learn the job at a slower pace — taking a few weeks to learn how to build the boxes instead of the few days it takes most employees.
The longer training period was one of the workplace accommodations the cupcake business made to employ the 26-year-old worker.
“You teach them little things at a time and spend a little bit more than one day or one shift on it,” said Kim Frost, assistant manager at Scratch, who added the company also employs Kelly Cochran, another worker with disabilities.
Overall, Frost said, the accommodations were not major ones and having Kollmorgen and Cochran has been a great help.
“I’m just loving it here. I just get along very well with the co-workers here in the front and the back,” Kollmorgen said, adding it was great to be accepted by both the co-workers and the company.
This is a great example of how accommodation a person with a disability can be simple and often doesn’t have to cost much, but time and imagination. Often many companies think that accommodations for people with disabilities will be expensive and don’t give those with a barrier to employment a chance.
Pearl Buck Center’s Community Employment connects people with physical and cognitive disabilities to employers looking to fill positions. We are more than happy to show businesses where a person would be useful in the company and assist with training and implementing accommodations where needed.
According to a 2014 study by the Job Accommodation Network, a service from the Office of Disability Employment Policy under the U.S. Department of Labor, 57 percent of job accommodations can be made at no cost to the company while other accommodations typically cost upwards to $500.
If there is a cost associated with an accommodation companies can take advantage of tax incentives to cover the cost.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, set the standards for the rights and responsibilities for employees and employers, including accommodation.
The law ensures people with disabilities have equal opportunity in how they apply for jobs and makes sure employees with disabilities enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment, such as providing a ramp to a front lobby or access to a break room.
He said the ADA also requires companies to make reasonable accommodations so employees with disabilities can perform the essential functions of their job. This could be adjusting lighting to see better, or providing earphones for hearing better.
In the example mentioned above, that meant allowing Maggie more time to learn how to package boxes and tweaking her job responsibilities to her skill set.
The assistant manager of Scratch Cupcakery, Kim Frost said Kollmorgen and Cochran have made a positive contribution to the company.
“They just take the initiative, and that’s just great — not having to push someone to do things, and they just do it on their own,” Frost said.
Scratch Cupcakery, in Iowa, is not alone. Pearl Buck Center has successfully placed employees in many businesses within our very own community. Places like; Fuller Cabinet, Dari Mart, Playdates, Selco Credit Union, Chambers Construction, Willamalane, and Togo’s Sandwiches to name a few.
With all of these companies, Pearl Buck Center’s Community Services has provided a job coach that accompanied the employees during their training to help them understand the employer’s expectations, what they were being trained and how to be successful.
If you would like Pearl Buck Center to help your business fill a position, please contact us and let’s talk and figure something out. pbc.community.employment@gmail.com
Meet Rayanna. Rayanna is the definition of a ‘people person.’
Everywhere she goes, Rayanna smiles and talks to anyone and everyone. People who know Rayanna say she is funny, personable, and has an uplifting spirit. Rayanna’s primary interest is to find a job where she can help people. On top of that, Rayanna is a big animal lover and a great cook! She has personal and professional experience baking a variety
of items, from baked potatoes to desserts. Rayanna’s dog, Lily, is a big part of her life. Rayanna enjoys taking
Lily to the park and playing with her. As long as she is doing something involving people, food, and animals, Rayanna is happy.
Lily, Rayanna’s doggie
Either in customer service, as a waitress, or at a position where she can help animals, Rayanna’s strengths will truly shine. Her hardworking attitude, willingness to learn, and professional experience, make her a well-rounded candidate for a
variety of positions. Rayanna is open to trying new things and loves to learn new skills.
If you have a place for Rayanna in your business or know of a job opening that would be suitable for Rayanna and her skills and interests, please contact her Job Developer; Nicole Hamilton, nicole.hamilton@pearlbuckcenter.com, or 541-543-3507. Thank you!
These are all videos that I found on YouTube. These people are in various stages of life and have had many varied experiences to portray. I found it to be helpful in understanding what autism is and isn’t. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
“People are so afraid of variety that they try to fit everything into a tiny little box with a specific label,” says 16-year-old Rosie King, who is bold, brash and autistic. She wants to know: Why is everyone so worried about being normal? She sounds a call to action for every kid, parent, teacher, and person to celebrate uniqueness.
Autism does not have to be a life sentence. Dr. John Hall knows. As a toddler, he lived in his own private world, flipping light switches, banging pans, avoiding eye contact, and babbling unintelligibly. Today, he is the CEO of a national education management firm based in Southern California. Defying his initial “slightly retarded, low-functioning autistic” diagnosis, he pushed himself through elementary, high school, and college earned an MBA, and was even awarded a Doctorate! He is also a father of two children, one with special needs.
John’s confusing, frustrating, often heart-wrenching, sometimes comical journey from disabled to triumphant will inspire every teacher, therapist, and family member who lives with, loves or works with a special-needs child. Am I Still Autistic? offers a unique, inside perspective on life in the special, secluded world of autism, and how love, support, and persistence can help make even the most unlikely candidate for success turn their life around.
Diagnosed as severely autistic and slightly retarded before he was two, Dr. John Hall overcame developmental issues, physical awkwardness, speech impediments, and family troubles to become a successful entrepreneur. He energetically juggles work, school, family, and diverse charity efforts with the autistic’s blessing of extreme focus and determination. Am I Still Autistic? is John’s gift to prove that when it comes to autism, anything — everything — really is possible!
Wendy Lampen (Belgium, 1969 — @lampadedromy) works as a lecturer at a university of applied sciences. She got diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome herself. Trained as a teacher in English, History and Ethics, she, later on, worked with adolescents with autism in a school setting.
Next to being an MA in autism, she extensively studied neurotypical (non-autistic) behavior in order to understand people better. It gave her insight into what really set her apart from (most of the) others: sensory processing and its ongoing processes and the way the two brain types give meaning to the world they experience.
This heightened awareness made her start her own company with her (neurotypical) partner. From her international experience in how different cultures look at autism or ‘disorders’ in general, Wendy is an advocate for a neuro-divers society. She focusses on the competencies and the possibilities of the different brain types and how they each can contribute to a richer life.
overcoming personal limitations – going beyond boundaries
Krister Palo is a 15-year-old student at the International School of the Hague. Having been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism, he has been faced with the stigma of this learning disability, which risked making him an outcast. In his TEDx Youth@ISH talk, however, he will convincingly demonstrate how people with learning disabilities can go far beyond ordinary boundaries and are valuable contributors to society.
Jacob Barnett is an American mathematician and child prodigy. At 8 years old, Jacob began sneaking into the back of college lectures at IUPUI. After being diagnosed with autism since the age of two and placed in his school’s special ed. program, Jacob’s teachers, and doctors were astonished to learn he was able to teach calculus to college students.
At age nine, while playing with shapes, Jacob built a series of mathematical models that expanded Einstein’s field of relativity. A professor at Princeton reviewed his work and confirmed that it was groundbreaking and could someday result in a Nobel Prize. At age 10, Jacob was formally accepted to the University as a full-time college student and went straight into a paid research position in the field of condensed matter physics. For his original work in this field, Jacob set a record, becoming the world’s youngest astrophysics researcher. His paper was subsequently accepted for publication by Physical Review A, a scientific journal shared on sites such as NASA, the Smithsonian, and Harvard’s webpage. Jacob’s work aims to help improve the way light travels in technology.
Jacob is also CEO and founder of Wheel LLC, a business he started in his mom’s garage and is in the process of writing a book to help end “math phobia” in his generation.
Jacob’s favorite pastime is playing basketball with the kids at his charity, Jacob’s Place. It is a place where kids with autism are inspired every day to be their true authentic selves…just like Jacob.
Cody Peterson and Jacob Flug are polar opposites when it comes to personality, however, what they share is being successful at their new jobs at the same job site!
Kassey Daggett– Building Manager, of the South Hills Center, first approached us, last fall inquiring about filling a janitorial position a few nights a week in the Tamarack building. We placed Cody Grimes in this position initially and assisted him in learning the tasks necessary.
Because of Cody’s success, Kassey called us back seeking another person to fill the nights that he didn’t work. We placed Cody Peterson (or Cody 2) and he took to the tasks without a hitch and he seems to enjoy the quietness of the Tamarack building as well as the tasks that he is performing.
As a result of landing this job, Cody Peterson has been able to venture out of his comfort level and learn to get around town on his own using the LTD bus system.
After Cody G. elected to not work anymore, we were asked to replace him, so we did with Jacob Flug. Jacob has been doing a fantastic job of cleaning and as a result of having a job he is in the process of getting his drivers license, moving out of his families home, and finding an apartment of his own.
Both of these young men have been able to get all of the tasks that were requested of them completed within the time frame given them and will soon be given additional tasks to finish as part of their workload.
We are all very proud of Cody and Jacob and the progress that they have both made. We are happy to have been a part of both of their growth and development into independent members of the Eugene community. Nice job, guys!
I want to share an email from Pearl Buck Center’s Safety and Forklift Training Program Coordinator; Mark Marzullo. It’s a great example of what can happen when people are persistent and receptive and willing to think outside of the box (or perceived ability).
May 10, 2016
When I was approached by one of the Community Employment Specialists (Linda Cox) back in October of 2015 saying she had a VR client who was interested in learning how to operate a forklift having had no previous experience I was wondering how we could make that happen.
At the time we were buried in Production work and all staff were already working overtime. I told her we would need to find a window of opportunity and a month went by. I was asked again but still we were buried. I was skeptical we could pull this off and admittedly I did not push. A very wise man who just happens to be our COO and financial guru spoke with me about something that was still a new concept for me at the time. He said (loosely quoted), we are Pearl Buck Center, we are in the business of improving lives, helping people reach their goals. Make it happen, Mark!
I went to two very key experienced resources Will & Jon (Pearl Buck Center Production department heads). They truly understood the PBC Mission that I was still learning. Well, of course, we will find the time. Well, of course, we can make it happen. We are Pearl Buck Center. That’s what we do. Wow was I humbled. Next John Whalen- PBC Operations Specialist/Business Developer, gave his blessing for whatever resources were needed and on December 1, 2015, we started training Lonnie Ofsthun.
It was a slow process. At times, it did not go well. The pace seemed like two steps forward, one step back but all the while our staff never gave up. We solicited the help of Doug, another PBC Production staff, who was a prior VR client that came to the Community Employment Department seeking work, to lend his time and expertise. Doug helped bring us to the promised land with Lonnie and his training.
So here we are on 5-10-2016. We have completed our training and Lonnie successfully passed his practical evaluation. He now is certified through PBC as a Forklift Operator and Electric Pallet Jack Operator. Whether or not Lonnie ever gets a job using these skills will never take away the pure joy I saw in his eyes as shown in this photo.
That is what PBC is all about. Now more than ever…..I get it. Thanks to everyone who participated in this and for helping me grow as part of the PBC family.
f a ‘people
