Campaign for Disability Employment

At work, it's what people can do that matters.
The Campaign for Disability Employment is a collaborative effort to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities by encouraging employers and others to recognize the value and talent they bring to the workplace.

Employment Success Stories

URI students help woman start greeting card company using technology
KINGSTON, R.I. – July 2011 – Rebecca Beaton’s desire to start a company to design and sell greeting cards just got a little easier, thanks to a team of engineering students at the University of Rhode Island.

The Warwick resident, who can only control the movement of her head and neck due to the effects of cerebral palsy, is being fitted with customized assistive devices designed by the URI students that will enable her to operate a computer, paint, draw and use an iPad and smart phone, using a headstick.

“Our goal was to make an interface for her so she can use these tools with her head,” said Chelsae Meier, a biomedical engineering major at URI and leader of the engineering team. “We wanted to improve the equipment that she had and give her more options for work and hobbies.”

The students created a lightweight helmet, starting with the innards of a firefighter’s helmet donated by the Kingston Fire Department, and attached a flexible copper rod that could be used as a pointer or could be adapted to grip a pencil, paintbrush or other tools.

“Rebecca has been great to work with, and she’s been extremely helpful with her feedback,” said Meier, a resident of Boscawen, N.H. “She is inspiring and really works hard. I can see that it can be exhausting working with your neck all day every day. That’s why we’ve had to be careful not to make the device too heavy.”

On a recent visit to West Bay Residential Services in Warwick, where Rebecca spends most days working at a computer, the students shared new designs and ideas for additional assistive devices and asked for Rebecca’s input, which she provided with great enthusiasm. When the students saw how much they were helping Rebecca, they offered to design customized devices for other disabled individuals with disabilities who visit West Bay Residential Services, including a wheelchair armrest, a keyboard overlay, and a modified headstick like the one designed for Rebecca.

Here's a YouTube video that shows how the URI students created the equipment Rebecca usese to create her greeting cards.

Mark Nasjleti, Founder and President, GO VOICE FOR CHOICE named one of 40 young entrepreneurs in Massachusetts in 2009.

work

In one sense, Mark Hugo Nasjleti’s story isn’t exactly unique: tired of being overweight, he made a commitment to fitness and lost 133 pounds. Since then, he has forged a career in public speaking, sharing his story and encouraging others to follow his lead. “I thought, if I could do this for myself, I could do it for others, and help other people change,” he said. Words spoken by many a fitness guru, right? Sure, but with one difference: Nasjleti has Down syndrome.

It’s an important aspect of how he connects with his audience, particularly those with developmental disabilities, but in a way, he doesn’t dwell on it. In fact, a brochure for Go Voice for Choice, his series of self-improvement programs, lists eight of his roles, from speaker and workshop leader to expert on self-advocacy and independent living. Listed at the very bottom is “a man who happens to have Down syndrome.”

That’s because Nasjleti — whose fitness workshops include lessons in exercise, making menus, smart shopping, and preparing healthy meals — doesn’t see his condition as a hindrance, and would rather focus on the things in life he can change. For inspiration, he thinks big.

“When Dr. Martin Luther King spoke in front of huge crowds of people, they really wanted to follow him, and they did,” said Nasjleti. “I know that, when I show people what I did, they can do the same thing I did.”

He keeps a busy roster of engagements, even including one program for would-be entrepreneurs looking for guidance in starting their own business, as he did. And he’s told his story before both small groups and large national gatherings, including a stint as keynote speaker at the National Down Syndrome Congress last year.

But his core passion remains the same: “I want to help people eat healthier and gain a whole new point of view.” More and more, they’re listening.

Check out a recent newspaper story about Mark that was featured in MASSLIVE!

EricFulfilling a lifelong dream to operate a food cart all his own, Eric Hughes has opened a pizza business operating at the corner of Marginal Way and Chestnut Street in Portland. Eric, who has a rare disease that impedes certain brain functions, has impressed supporters with his eagerness to learn and ever-present smile. “Once you talk with him, you realize it’s a serious endeavor and not just a whim,” said Peter Brown, who oversees Strive U, a program that helps young adults with developmental disabilities learn to live independently.
Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer, Portland Maine Press Herald. Click here to read the full story about Eric.

DDC Self Employment Collaborative Project

Rhodes To Independence (RTI)
The RTI initiative in RI has been utilizing technical assistance from Griffin-Hammis Associates (GHA) to work with agencies in RI to assist people with disabilities to start their own businesses or obtain community employment.

The RI Developmental Disabilities Council along with collaborative partners; Cranston Arc, John E. Fogarty Center and West Bay Transition Academy, were awarded a grant from RTI to assist people with disabilities with self-employment.

Griffin-Hammis Associates (GHA), LLC
GHA is a full service national organization specializing in developing communities of economic cooperation.

Under the grant from RTI, GHA is providing training in customized employment and self-employment business development. Our RTI grant project has opened up these trainings to all agencies in RI and anyone interested in the topic areas. Included below are copies of the informational materials that have been provided by GHA for the various sessions.

GHA specializes in job creation and job site training, employer development, Social Security Benefits Analysis and Work Incentives, self-employment, management-leadership mentoring, and civic entrepreneurship.

For more information about this project contact Sue Babin at 401-737-1238 or e-mail her.

Training Resources and Handouts

Course Description
Selected Articles On Supported Employment and Self-Employment
Workplace Health and Safety for People with Disabilities

Class Session #1: Foundations of Successful Customized Employment: Introduction to Customized Employment and Discovery

Session # 1 handout materials (PDFs)
  • 1. Session I Agenda
  • 2. Session Power Point Slides
  • 3. 20 Steps to Discovery
  • 4. Itinerary for Discovery
  • 5. Discovery Staging Record
  • 6. Sample Staging Record
  • 7. Discovery Team Cycle
  • 8. Customized Employment Wage Milestones
  • 9. Customized Employment Self Employment Milestones

    • Class Session #2: Customized Job Development and Negotiation

    Class Session # 3: Introduction to Self-Employment and Business Planning: Developing the Idea, Feasibility Testing, and Marketing and Sales Essentials.

    Session 4: Systematic Instruction (SI), Job Analysis and Natural Supports

    Session 5 Benefits Planning, Social Security Benefits, Work Incentives, And PASS Plans