Transcript

Jake Hart:  Four, three, two, one. VR Workforce Studio, podcasting the sparks that ignite vocational rehabilitation through the inspiring stories of people with disabilities who have gone to work.

Flora Frazier:  Working in a field that I understand.

Jake Hart:  As well as the professionals who have helped them.

James Hall:  A job and a career, you got to look at how life-changing this is.

Jake Hart:  And the businesses who have filled their talent pipelines with workers that happen to have disabilities.

Debby Hopkins:  To help expand registered apprenticeship.

Jake Hart:  These are their stories.

Anonymous:  Because there’s such a great story to tell about people with disabilities.

Jake Hart:  Now, here are the hosts of the VR Workforce Studio, Rick Sizemore and Betsy Civilette.

Rick Sizemore (00:40):  April is Autism Acceptance Month, and today we’re honored to share a story that reflects not just awareness, but opportunity, growth, and meaningful employment. Today’s episode takes us down to Lynchburg, Virginia, where we meet a remarkable young professional whose journey reflects the very heart of vocational rehabilitation.

Betsy Civilette (01:03):  Emily Raine is now an administrative office specialist with the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, or DARS, following a successful internship in a determined path toward employment.

Rick Sizemore (01:17):  And joining Emily is her vocational rehabilitation counselor, Nathan Roberts, well-known across Central Virginia and the entire state for helping individuals with disabilities connect to careers and long-term success.

Betsy Civilette (01:33):  Well, Emily Nathan, welcome to the VR Workforce Studio. We are so glad you’re here.

Nathan Roberts (01:37):  Thanks so much. This is exciting. Thank you.

Rick Sizemore (01:41):  Delighted to have you. Emily, I first saw your face over a year ago on a video resume, and it struck me. I still remember you said you wanted to support a business in an administrative role, and now you’re doing that. How does it feel and what do you have to say about your job at DARS?

Emily Raine (02:02):  I will say that I am glad that I am able to use all of the skills that I’ve learned during my internship into an administrative role, because initially when I started my internship, I wanted office experience. But now that I have this experience and now I am doing what I’m doing essentially a lot of the same duties that I did with my internship. I feel like all of the waiting and everything I went through during my internship was worth it.

Rick Sizemore (02:50):  That’s just amazing. We’re celebrating autism awareness, and we couldn’t think of a better person to have on our show to help us do that than you, Emily.

Betsy Civilette (03:02):  And if you don’t mind sharing with us a little bit about living with autism, what are some of the strengths it’s given you, especially in your work and daily life?

Emily Raine (03:14):  I think the most notable trait having autism has given me is my attention to detail. I will look through forms and I will nitpick through almost every single detail.

Rick Sizemore (03:32):  That’s awesome.

Betsy Civilette (03:34):  I can relate. I do the same, really.

Rick Sizemore (03:37):  Well, some people often refer to that as a superpower. It could be called a disability or it can certainly be called a superpower. Along with that though, there have to be some challenges. What have you had to negotiate and navigate? And how have you learned to work through being on the job and on being on the spectrum?

Emily Raine (04:00):  My biggest challenge that I’ve pretty much had all my life is socializing with people. One of the big hurdles that I had to overcome during my internship and through getting this position is learning to talk with people over the phone. Before that, I was always very scared, almost always refusing to talk to anyone over the phone, just referring text and email because I was afraid of, oh, what if I say something wrong? What if my tone accidentally conveys something that I didn’t mean to say? Or they think the person thinks I’m rude. And to be

Rick Sizemore (04:51):  Honest- And now you’re on a podcast.

Betsy Civilette (04:55):  So you’ve come along.

Rick Sizemore (04:57):  You sound great. You sound great.

Emily Raine (05:00):  Well, thank you. Well,

Betsy Civilette (05:01):  So Emily, walk us through your journey though with DARS. You were starting to say some of the challenges, but what services or supports made the biggest difference for you?

Emily Raine (05:13):  I think definitely the internship was the biggest support that DARS had ever given me since I had zero office experience and I was wanting to try some office experience for a job. When I got out of college, I was just kind of existing. I didn’t really know what I was going to do. And with DARS giving me the chance for an internship, it, I guess, brought some meaning back into my life and what I do.

Rick Sizemore (05:58):  That’s the value of putting yourself out there. I want to know more about this internship, but I also don’t want to pass by the fact that you graduated from college with honors. Tell us where you graduated from and about that notoriety you have in terms of finishing college and how you graduated.

Emily Raine (06:21):  So I graduated from Sweet Briar College. They call it Summa Cum Laude. To be honest.

Betsy Civilette (06:34):  That’s an honor.

Emily Raine (06:35):  Yeah.

Rick Sizemore (06:35):  That’s

Emily Raine (06:36):  A real. Sometimes- I

Rick Sizemore (06:38):  Mean, for those who may not be familiar with it, what does that designate?

Emily Raine (06:43):  Basically, I think you’re at the top of your class as far as grade-wise. I think that’s

Rick Sizemore (06:51):  Right.

Emily Raine (06:52):  Yeah.

Rick Sizemore (06:54):  Well, congratulations. That’s absolutely fantastic. And so this internship, after college, you graduated with honors and now you’re in this internship. You already mentioned that it taught you a lot of office skills, but what did it teach you about yourself?

Emily Raine (07:12):  It taught me that I am a relatively quick learner and that maybe I am in fact stronger than I thought I was. I can work through problems and it’s okay to make mistakes.

Rick Sizemore (07:36):  Man. It

Betsy Civilette (07:37): Sure is. I wouldn’t be here still if they graded me time.

Rick Sizemore (07:41): Besty, you and I are living proof.

Betsy Civilette (07:42):  Yeah. So tell us, when you were working in your internship, there wasn’t an immediate job opening. So you continued just to volunteer, right? On your own time. What motivated you during that time to keep working? I

Emily Raine (08:01):  Have to be honest, there were many points I actually wanted to give up and say, “You know what? I’m done with this. I’m not going anywhere.” But it was because of the support of Nathan, my manager, Christian, my parents and my coworkers and many other people who told me to not give up that I should keep going in my internship because even if I didn’t land a job at DARS, I would at least have that experience and that experience could transfer to another job.

Rick Sizemore (08:50):  It’s fantastic. Well, Nathan kind of gave us a little insight into your case. He said that you developed time management, communication, you learned about data systems. How did those skills prepare you for the job you’re in now, the ones you learned during the internship?

Emily Raine (09:09):  They taught me how to prioritize and figure out maybe what tasks I should do first, maybe which ones are a little bit of lower priority. I also learned how Docfinity works, like our database. I learned about Aware and … Sorry, I got to think about this for a moment.

Rick Sizemore (09:41):  That’s a great list, man. That’s an impressive skillset.

Betsy Civilette (09:45):  Right. Well, while you’re thinking about it, what’s a typical day look like for you? Walk us through what your daily tasks are.

Emily Raine (09:56):  So a lot of my daily tasks consist of being on standby in case the phone rings or a client or a guest comes through the door. I also file a lot of paperwork which helps the counselors a lot, lets them focus on their clients.

Rick Sizemore (10:23):  Let’s

Emily Raine (10:24):  See. I also send out-

Betsy Civilette (10:27):  Digital stuff. I’m assuming there’s not as much paperwork. So are you good on the computer?

Emily Raine (10:33):  I can do- I can organize things on the computer and I can organize physical papers.

Betsy Civilette (10:42):  You mentioned your supervisors and coworkers being a support to you, but how do you feel now that you’ve got a full-time job? How everybody supports you in a way that helps you succeed?

Emily Raine (10:54):  I feel more confident in myself. I don’t look upon myself as a failure because for the longest time, I really didn’t see much of a point in continuing on with my internship. I felt like I was just not contributing anything to society, but getting this full-time job told me that all the work that I went through wasn’t for nothing. That in fact, I am someone who can contribute to DARS and to society as a whole.

Rick Sizemore (11:37):  Well, it sounds like you’re doing that in a significant and amazing way. That’s wonderful. There are many people who share this experience of being on the autism spectrum. What advice would you give to someone with autism who may be considering vocational rehabilitation as a way to get into the workforce?

Emily Raine (12:01):  I would say just go for it. Yeah, just go for it. Your counselors are there to help you. They don’t want to drag you down or overwhelm you. They genuinely want what’s best for you and want to keep your interests at heart. And along those lines, I would say to just be yourself because trying to masquerade, trying to be like everyone else is not going to work out for you in the end.

Rick Sizemore (12:40):  Yeah, just be yourself, right?

Emily Raine (12:42):  Yeah. And that’s a very hard lesson that I’ve had to learn throughout my life.

Betsy Civilette (12:51):  Well, I’m amazed just your self-awareness for someone, your generation, because most people even my age don’t have that. So it is really come so far, I can tell, just by talking to you. So what would you say to a business that may be thinking about hiring someone with autism, but isn’t quite sure what to expect?

Emily Raine (13:15):  I think they should get to know the individual first and their strengths and weaknesses. And based on that, figure out maybe if there’s a way they can incorporate them into their business because you never know that person might have some great ideas, but they just may not be the best communicator or maybe sometimes they struggle with some equipment. You just have to be open-minded and flexible.

Rick Sizemore (13:49):  Yeah. Wow. Well, I know Betsy wants to talk with Nathan in just a minute, but if you would tell us, what’s it like working with this guy? We’ve known him for a long time. What’s it like working with him? And in that vein, what do you wish more people understood about autism in the workplace? Because I’m sure Nathan has helped you figure that out.

Emily Raine (14:16):  So Nathan is definitely my cheerleader. Honestly, we have kind of two different personalities. He’s the very outgoing, very person-oriented, and I’m very much the technical side, more introverted. And sometimes while I feel that does clash sometimes in our work styles, I think overall we get along because our strengths complement each other and together we can help clients get jobs.

Betsy Civilette (14:56):  Well, so Nathan, let’s hear from you. Walk us through the work that you did with Emily in VR and how did you support her along this journey?

Nathan Roberts (15:05):  Sure. First of all, thanks for having us. And Emily, you are a rockstar. And one of the superpowers that you have, girl, is that you ask for help. If you don’t ask for help, you will not be able to get help. And so that is a superpower that you have. And I still everyday call her a rockstar. She has been the one that has helped me carry my caseload the last two years during the internship. She joined DARS in 2016, so like 10 years ago and has really put her vision forward and pushed through. We’ve been able to help her with so many different things that we offer here in our office, vocational evaluation, job readiness class. We’ve connected her with Beth Sullivan, who is our business development manager. She’s worked with Pathways through some of the tools that they have and utilize. When she came into me in 2021 though, she met with me and her mom, which her mom is an amazing support and was at every meeting with Emily.

(16:05):  But when Emily came in, she said, “I really want to do some form of advocacy work. I’m passionate about helping people in the minority and I want to be an advocate for them.” I’ll finish that story in just a second. But I really believed that Emily possessed something that could really make a huge impact where the employer couldn’t open the doors without her being on staff. And so she went through several different applications. I went to several different interviews with her all along the way. But in the back, she didn’t know, but I’m talking to Christian. Christian, what can we do? Get her on our team. Don’t use your corner. We need her. And he was working behind the scenes with a lot of the leadership with Richmond. He found a way to get her paid during some of her internship. We partnered with Virginia Career Works through their program.

(16:58):  And so some of her internships, she was able to get paid. She kept fighting the good fight and then someone retired in our office and a new position opened. She had to go through the process just like any other person being hired. And I was told that she was the top interviewee, which is why exactly she was offered the job. So it’s such a thrill to see her on the staff to this day.

Rick Sizemore (17:26):  Nathan, what would you say to a business about the value of hiring individuals with autism and what they bring to the team?

Nathan Roberts (17:34):  Yeah, definitely. You’re going to get loyalty. You’re going to see somebody who shows up all the time, very dedicated, who wants the job, who is really intentional on using their skillsets, and is a really quick learner. Attention to detail is definitely something that Emily brings to the table. Individuals with autism are very connected into that. Of course, this is anybody with a disability, you find their strengths and their rockstars. So I would just say to the employer, give a chance, give an opportunity. But at the end of the day, the person needs to have the right skillset and aptitude for that business and that in place of employment.

Betsy Civilette (18:15):  Well, how important is Emily’s current role now? Not just for her, but for the mission of DARS itself.

Nathan Roberts (18:22):  Yeah. Let’s be clear. When Emily came on as intern, I had a caseload of around 70. Now that Emily supports me so well, my caseload is nearly 200 clients. I’m able to serve more clients because she and I work so closely together. She helps me with all of the things that I’m just not great at. And at the end of the day, our goal is to set up individuals with disabilities towards independence and a better way of life. And she is doing that. And I remind her all the time that you are why people are able to get jobs. We are in this together, a great, great team. And she does that for the other counselors in the office as well.

Rick Sizemore (19:05):  So Emily, looking down the road, what are your goals?

Emily Raine (19:11):  So I generally tend to focus on the present, but if I am thinking about things I want to do in the near future, I definitely want to get better at driving, especially in the city and eventually find a place of my own to live.

Nathan Roberts (19:39):  She has come a long way, if I can add, for her internship, her parents were bringing her. She is now driving and has a car of her own and comes to work every day and is driving to Richmond and all of these different places. So she’s really doing amazing work. Fantastic.

Betsy Civilette (19:53):  Well, it sounds like, yeah, you truly have become more independent and have the confidence. It’s just such a wonderful story to hear. And Nathan, again, reflecting on her journey, what does a continued success look like?

Nathan Roberts (20:11):  Yeah. I think as long as she continues to take care of herself first, like take days off of work, you need some rest. That’s why our agency gives time off. Also, continue to ask for help, continue to say, Hey, I need to take some time to go and see my counselor for a moment just for some encouragement or some just feedback on what she can do to continue to manage herself in her role. She’s got a really heavy load here. But of course, we do a lot of get togethers in our office and Emily helps plan some of those and brings food to contribute and stuff. You have fun. On that work-life balance. Got to have the six, seven in our life, right? That

Rick Sizemore (20:57):  Awesome.

Rick Sizemore (21:00):

Well, Emily, we have liked to finish up with a music video and I’m going to warn you, you’re the focus of this video and- A

Betsy Civilette (21:09): Rockstar.

Rick Sizemore (21:11): You are that rockstar. The video’s actually on Nate’s phone. So he’s going to spin that up. We’re going to continue recording, but we’d like for you to watch this video and then we’ll get some reactions and close out here in just a couple minutes. Right now, from waiting to working.

Sagetone Studio Singer (21:45):  She was counting days on calendars, circle in each little maybe in blue, filling out forms at the kitchen table, saying one of these doors is for you. Mom packs snacks for another interview bus ride. Rain drops on the glass. Name tag folded in her pocket, heart beating louder than the traffic past. From waiting to working, from hoping to know. She’s standing here, dream in her hands. This is her room. From waiting to working. Look how she’s grown, from hoping to know how the whole room knows she’s home. First day, badge on a lanyard coffee cup on her two hands. Learning steps like a favorite song desk by the window. Her own plans. She remembers every closed door behind her all the time she practiced alone. Now they call her name in the morning and good job follows her home. From waiting to work and work, from hoping to know.

(23:24):

She’s standing here and dream in her hands. This is her own. Waiting, wait, to working, working. Look how she’s grown from hoping to know now the whole room knows she’s home. She’s more than a story. More than work. More than a label they overheard her autism shining like colors and glass different and brilliant. Something like that lasts too from waiting to working, from hoping to know. She’s standing here, dreaming of hands. This is her from waiting to work and working. Look how she’s grown from hoping to know now the whole room know she’s home.

Rick Sizemore (24:44):  We wanted to share that with you to celebrate autism acceptance. It’s been such a delight to have you on the podcast. Nate, I can only see Emily in the camera, but I believe you’re there. Thank you for the work you do, the amazing work you do to help people with disabilities find their way into the workforce. It’s been a great pleasure having you both on the podcast. Betsy.

Betsy Civilette (25:06):  Yes. Thank you so much for your time and sharing, like I said. I love that line that you’re more than a story. You’re an inspiration for a lot of people. And to me, just your self-awareness is just amazing. So again, thank you for being here.

Emily Raine (25:24):  Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

Nathan Roberts (25:28):  You all couldn’t have chosen a better person to highlight this month and this awareness.

Emily Raine (25:34):  Definitely.

Rick Sizemore (25:35):  Thank you.

Sagetone Studio Singer (25:36):  It’s the Clearinghouse update with Heather Servais.

Rick Sizemore (25:44):  Well, it’s April and we’re celebrating Autism Acceptance. What resources do you have for our listeners for Autism?

Heather Servais (25:54): I Have two great resources for you on Autism. And the first is a practice brief called Principles and Promising Practices for Hiring and Retaining Young Autistic Workers. And this is by Mathematica. And it’s an information brief that focuses on evidence-informed strategies that employers can actually use to help recruit, hire, and retain young adults on the autism spectrum. And the brief goes over things like hiring practices, how to make communication more clear, workplace flexibility. And it really outlines approaches that employers can use all throughout the employment lifecycle. So from the time that we’re working on recruiting to retaining and advancing the individual employee’s career, and this brief is really geared towards improving those outcomes for both the individuals who are the employees and the employers. So for VR counselors or service providers who are working on employer engagement, this is a great practice brief to give you some of those evidence-informed strategies and can really help you identify those workplace practices that are going to support successful placements and that individualized service planning that you really need when you’re working in VR.

(27:09):  So it’s a great tool and resource to check in on. It’s also a great training tool and technical assistance tool that can be used to help build partnerships with employers and improve those retention outcomes that we were talking about.

Rick Sizemore (27:22):  That’s what I love about your reports. They’re always so tailored to our segments earlier in the show. Emily Rain from our Lynchburg DARS office, she described just that process and her supervisor or the VR counselor, Nathan Roberts, you heard him say superpowers. Learning that environment and harnessing all of the strategies that are usually supported in a VR program. It’s just great to have you now add the academic support and the research and the literature to help our listeners understand the realities of what they just heard about. What else do you have for us?

Heather Servais (28:05):  My second resource is actually another resource focused on autism, and it’s one of the NCRTM curated lists, resources from the NCRTM on autism. And this curated list has actually more than 25 autism-related resources. Everything from things like outreach guides, there’s training materials, there’s research articles, there’s employment success stories, and each curated list that we offer has resources that are designed for multiple audiences. So there’s items on there for individuals with disabilities and their families, VR counselors, service providers, businesses. And so it’s really this kind of central collection that allows a user to quickly access this vetted information because everything that you can find on an NCRTM curated list is from federal partners, from RSA grantees. They’re going to be tools and resources that are really relevant and timely to the work you’re doing right now. So for this particular list on autism, VR counselors and service providers, individuals can use these tools and materials to really support that service planning and to share these resources with your customers and employers to really help inform those training and outreach efforts.

(29:20):

And just as a little plug here, NCRTM has more than 25 curated lists. So we heard a little bit about the story of folks coming into VR that maybe don’t have a VR background. So that’s one of our favorite curated lists to share with folks is the NCRTM curated list for counselors and staff who are new to the profession of VR. So it’s almost like a little mini curriculum that will take you through all the basics and foundational information that you really need to understand when you start working in a VR setting. We also have lists on things like labor market information, supported employment. We have over 25, and I’m going to include the link in the show notes So that if you’re interested, you could take a peek at all of the curated lists that we offer because it’s a great starting point to point you towards some of the best resources in these particular areas.

Rick Sizemore (30:10):  The NCRTM is an absolute treasure trove of information for family members, for VR counselors, for anyone who’s interested in VR. So we hope you’ll like and subscribe at our YouTube channel @VRWorkforceStudio, where we have the links out to NCRTM. Also, you can find it in the show notes as Heather mentioned at vrworkforcestudio.com. Until next time, Heather, it’s always a pleasure joining you to podcast the sparks that Ignite VR.

Heather Servais (30:41):  Thanks, Rick. Take care. VR Workforce Studio.

End Podcast

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