Spring 2005

Supported Employees Gain Independence on the Job

“My first love is providing supports for people with developmental disabilities so that they can integrate and gain entrance into society,” says Dena Rucker, supported employment supervisor. “One exciting development is that we’re working towards full integration. Group Supported Employees are now supervised by the production lead, just like everyone else out there on the production floor. It’s a move towards independence and integration.”

“Supported employees do the same jobs everyone else does: canteens, mops, flyswatters, stamp kits, hanger kits,” says Linda Villarreal, production supervisor. “All GSE workers do a good job.” Linda supervises and evaluates the supported employees in her area, while Dena oversees the Group Supported Employment (GSE) program and makes sure workers in the program get the assistance they need.

Currently, twenty-three blind or Deaf-Blind adults with developmental disabilities work in production at the Seattle Lighthouse. These employees work closely with job coaches. “Job coaches provide training to blind and Deaf-Blind people with developmental disabilities. The support helps the GSE employees gain independence,” says Dena. “Job coaches are always on the watch-out for work that supported employees can do. The first thing that the job coach does is go and perform the task. Then they assess how to best train the GSE worker on it.”

“My job is to make the supported employees’ job easier: make sure they have the correct work supplies, find ways to help them better themselves and increase production, and make them feel comfortable in their work environment,” says Marsden Martin, job coach. “We do one-on-one training. It depends on the person and how much they can remember. It all depends on people’s motor skills. We train anywhere from two to two hundred hours. It can take however long.”

Job coaches further support employees with developmental disabilities through providing sighted guiding, meeting with employees weekly, and working with the engineering department to create mechanical “jigs” to make the jobs more accessible such as revolving tables that help GSE workers screw canteen caps tightly closed.

Marsden says he gets satisfaction from seeing supported employees “getting a lot more independent and confident on the job and taking on more responsibility.” Dena adds, “We provide [people in the GSE program] with real work and they work side by side [with other Lighthouse employees]. I think that’s the biggest difference this makes. They’re not separate. They’re with everybody else.”

The Group Supported Employment program is funded primarily through Washington State and the King County Department of Developmental Disabilities. Remaining funding comes through support from individuals, foundations, corporations, and other organizations in the community.

Previous Page | Horizons Main Page | Home