Shawn is looking for a job

We learned that the Recycling Center does not have a position available for Shawn. He is very sad that he won't be going back. He truly enjoyed working there and has been helping me with the recycling at home. He has even spent time shredding documents for me so that we could recycle the paper. I didn't think he would like the sound of the shredder, but when he hears it he comes in and asks if he can do it. When we took the recycling to the center this past weekend Shawn told me that he hoped they hired him back because he was "saving the planet." 

So now we start the difficult process of trying to find a job for Shawn. Recent high school graduates often have trouble finding work, but that is even more difficult for someone with disabilities that needs job supports. But Shawn loves to work and works very hard when he has a job. 

At home Shawn is extremely bored and keeps asking when he can go to work or back to Summer Bridge. 

He went into the office with me on Wednesday, he even dressed for work. That seemed to help a lot with his boredom, which is interesting since before his internship he was bored in my office. He even copied words I had written on my whiteboard! In Middle School we were told that he would never be able to write his name, but there it is and other words too!

Please keep Shawn and his job search in your thoughts, and if you hear of anyone hiring in Tuscaloosa let us know.

#smallthingsLeadToBIGTHINGS

Thank you for your encouragement and continued support of Shawn.

Jim, Katheryn, Aly, and Shawn

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Shawn Finished the Summer Bridge Program Today

Today was the culmination of Shawn's summer college experience.  Over this last 8 weeks, he has been developing such independence he is nearly a new person.

At the celebration ceremony, we heard of Shawn's positive attitude in his music course during the June mini-semester.  He was in a class with 7 other students, but Shawn was the only student from the CrossingPoints program.  His professor attended the celebration today and Jim got the chance to speak with him afterwards.  He was so grateful to have Shawn in the class.  He identified that Shawn's mentor in the class would give him a bit of assistance when Shawn needed, but he let off so Shawn was doing on his own far more often.  During the celebration we heard the professor's comments to the program administration about Shawn's eagerness and his volunteerism which improved the class for everyone.  

Shawn completed the June MUS107 (Basic Skills in Music) course and the July COM123 (Public Speaking) course in addition to his classes specific to CrossingPoints students (Financial Management, Interpersonal Skills, Independent Living, and Positive Choices--a class on relationships). These courses were part of the standard summer semester for the University.

Shawn had so many "typical college kid" experiences that we are overjoyed.  As parents of a special needs child, it is the times where he is "just another kid in the crowd" that we celebrate.  Standing out, all too often is because of a facet of disability-- so hearing situations where Shawn is leading a class in volunteerism is not anything we hoped to hear-- because he stood out not because of his conditions, but beyond those conditions.

The amount of care expressed by the staff and mentors at CrossingPoints is unfathomable. We are fairly certain that the care is one of the reasons that CrossingPoints has such amazing results.  Most transition programs have a post-program employment rate of approximately 30% of their students. CrossingPoints' employment rate is over 80%. Their staff are actively engaged in trying to have Shawn's summer position become a permanent position-- and even though Shawn is no longer one of their students, the program administrator and the teachers are actively working to try make this happen. 

To be sure, parents want the best for their child, and there is absolutely no question that this program was one of the best possible situations that Shawn could ever have attended.  At the same time, we cannot help but be a bit envious.  Today Shawn was a guest at the Nick's Kids luncheon. He had the opportunity to meet and have a photograph taken with Nick Saban, as well as get to meet some of the other players for the Crimson Tide including the quarterback Jalen Hurts.  Many of the student mentors (not to mention Shawn's family) were jealous and hoping to offer themselves as staff supports at the luncheon.

During move out and after the celebration we had the opportunity to speak with several of the people that were involved in the Summer Bridge Program. Everyone told us stories about Shawn's successes in the program.
The Graduate Assistant that coordinated and taught the students how to plan and prepare meals told us that even when it was not Shawn's turn to cook, he was in the kitchen helping out. She told me how she set up simple meal instructions in Shawn's Visual Schedule App with pictures of him doing the steps and recordings of her instructions and how well he has been able to use that to make meals.
Two of the Undergraduate Mentors told us how Shawn rocked his last speech in his Public Speaking class. The mentor had misplaced the notes that Shawn was to use to cue him for his speech. (Yeah, Shawn can READ cue cards!!!). So they called his other mentor that helped write the cards and she turned his speech into song and Shawn did awesome in class.
The Resident Assistant that has helped Shawn with his medication all summer said that he hasn't needed any prompting or reminders the last several times that he took his medication. That he was focused and did what needed to be done.
The Undergraduate Mentor that Shawn has been working with since last fall said she is so proud of Shawn and now that he isn't one of the students in the program, they can hang out as friends and go places together. They have formed a true friendship that we hope lasts for years to come.
There were so many stories, we don't know if we can remember them all to tell now. We will update again if we remember anything that we didn't share today.

Moving Shawn out of the dorm was both a joyous experience as well as a bit sad. We are so excited to have Shawn home and sharing all of his newfound independence and living skills with us, but sad in that he won't have all the friends he has made in such close proximity. Shawn is happy to be with his sister and they have a week before she goes back to school to hang out.

The goodbyes were many and both happy and sad, we hope that Shawn will be able to save enough money to participate in the Summer Bridge program again next year. And we will work to help him stay in touch with his friends from this year. He has only been home 2 and a half hours and he is already ready to go back to the dorm (we were taking wagers on how long it would be before he asked to go back).

Now we look forward to Shawn's next small thing which turns into Shawn's next BIG THING.

#smallthingsLeadToBIGTHINGS

Thank you for your encouragement and continued support of Shawn.

Jim, Katheryn, Aly, and Shawn

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