Moms start campaign to help people with disabilities find jobs

Cindi Swanson's 20-year-old son, Adam, works three part-time jobs a week for a total of 14 hours.

While Swanson is thrilled that Adam, who has Down syndrome, is employed, she said the work opportunities open to him would be considered abysmal in the nondisabled population.

"We've got to change the way we're doing things," the Naperville mother said. "I think there are a lot of things folks with developmental disabilities could do."

Laurie Jerue of Naperville shares her concern. Her 19-year-old daughter, Sarah, who has autism, works about five hours a day in two unpaid positions. Sarah enjoys working, but Jarue wonders what will happen when she is too old to receive such vocational services though her school district.

"When she turns 22, those school services will stop. What I'm trying to ensure is that she'll have a quality of life similar to what she has now," Jerue said.

Jerue and Swanson have formed "Naperville Works!" a nonprofit organization they hope will help match the work-force demands of area businesses with the employment needs and training of Naperville residents with developmental disabilities.

The two Naperville moms held their first public meeting last week. Thirty-two people attended -- most of them parents, but also representatives of the schools and organizations that serve people with developmental disabilities, Jerue said.

"I think what caught most people's attention was the unemployment data we got from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute on Disability and Human Development," she said.

Those statistics show that, nationwide, less than 30 percent of people with disabilities of any kind between the ages of 16 and 64 are employed either part-time or full-time.

The employment rates for those with sensory disabilities, such as autism, are far lower, said Dr. Glen Fujiura, director of the Disability and Human Development Center.

"The employment situation has been grim a long time and remains pretty grim," Fujiura said.

Tight economic times haven't made it easier to find suitable jobs for students with developmental disabilities, said Sharon Tate, assistant superintendent of student services in Indian Prairie Unit District 204, where Jerue's daughter is enrolled.

More businesses want employees who can be cross-trained and do multiple tasks, she said.

"That does make it difficult for students with significant disabilities," she said.

Younger managers who have gone to school with students with disabilities tend to be more open to hiring them, but opportunities remain limited, said Mary Onorad, who runs the transition program for 18- to 21-year-olds in Naperville Unit District 203.

Onorad aims to place students in permanent positions. But they can be vulnerable to layoffs when the economy is sluggish, managers change or their own life circumstances are altered, she said.

Schools have had some of their greatest success with finding students jobs or volunteer training opportunities in grocery stores, nonprofit organizations and service industries, such as restaurants and retirement homes, Onorad said.

Swanson's son, Adam, a District 203 student, works in two Naperville restaurants, as well as at We Grow Dreams Greenhouse & Garden Center in West Chicago, a business his parents helped start to give people with disabilities more opportunities.

Jerue's daughter, Sarah, works at District 204's Education Center in the morning, where she does tasks such as shredding paper. In the afternoons, she works in the cafeteria at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, where she unloads trays and sorts silverware.

"I'm told she really is a good worker," Jerue said. "She really thrills on that sort of routine."

Jerue is convinced conscientious workers like her daughter also could do other routine, hard-to-fill jobs that have high turnover rates --such as scanning documents.

Onorad agrees that the office job market for people with developmental disabilities remains largely untapped, even though transition students have an opportunity to take three computer classes at College of DuPage.

Students also have successfully learned such tasks as filing, copying, faxing and using a postal meter, she said.

"We do (send out) all the bills of Edward Hospital on a volunteer basis," she said. "It's just amazing what our students can do given a chance."

Jerue and Swanson said they have spoken with representatives of the business community about their concerns. Mike Skarr, president and chief executive officer of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, says a number of organizations such as Little Friends and the Ray Graham Association already provide vocational opportunities for people with disabilities.

"I think the challenge for them is getting connected with the employment side," he said.

Gary Skarr, president of the Fox Valley Project with Industry, an organization dedicated to providing education and job training for people with disabilities, said his organization has had a high success rate in matching employees with businesses.

"It's really networking with businesses," he said.

Swanson, who works for ARC of Illinois, an organization that serves people with developmental disabilities, agreed that many agencies are doing good work in seeking to match people with jobs. But she points out that the stubborn unemployment statistics for people with disabilities remain.

"That's one of the things I hear the most," she said.

Jerue said Naperville Works! hopes to put together a multi-media campaign to raise awareness of the employment needs of people with developmental disabilities and what they have to offer.

Anyone interested in becoming involved may contact her at (630) 922-3232 or Swanson at (630) 357-0344. They are particularly in need of people with technology skills.

"It starts with a job," Jerue said. "As adults, we all define ourselves by what jobs we do."