Workplace Technology Training Academy
2002
by Steve Brown
Liberty Resources
Liberty Resources (LR), center for independent living for the Philadelphia
area, opened its doors in 1980. An initial staff of seven operated Resources
for Living Independently, its original name, in a “storefront”
facility in West Philadelphia. They served more than 200 people that first
year. Serving the nation's fifth largest city-home to almost six million
people-LR served 1,444 people last year.
The Plan
LR's Workplace Technology Training Academy opened its doors in January
2001, after two years of planning. The Academy is a response to community
members who wanted to fill their days with something meaningful after
moving into independent living settings.
When the idea first came up, the CIL's average consumer could not attend
other training programs. They were too advanced for people who didn't
have real job experience. Lacking the most basic skills, many consumers
had tried-and failed-other training programs.
LR believes that education is the key to independence so it focuses on
basic adult education skills. The Academy is founded on the belief that
anyone can gain the experience needed to be a productive community member.
It offers a multi-level program designed to teach skills and overcome
obstacles that often confront people leaving public education for higher
education or the workplace. The Academy gives each student every chance
to succeedin the work world. It can serve as a link between volunteer
work and the beginning of a real career.
Implementation
Anyone aged 14 (when Pennsylvanians are legally able to make their own
decisions) or older can attend the Academy-if they have a fourth grade
reading level. Interested persons contact LR to receive a catalog, application
form (available in a variety of alternative formats) and schedules for
Taste of Technology (TOT) classes. TOT is a series of weekly, two-and-a-half
hour seminars on a variety of topics that is open to the general public.
Students who want to attend the Academy must attend at least one TOT class.
After the TOT class, an admissions representative meets with each prospective
student to review his or her application, discuss possible sources for
financial aid and, if necessary, arrange for the Academy's placement service
to assist in securing financial aid. If prospects are referred from another
agency, such as vocational rehabilitation, they may have already completed
an Academy application, but the same process applies. They are still contacted
and booked for a TOT class.
Individuals still interested in attending the Academy following a TOT
class go on to complete a comprehensive application/evaluation process.
A general skills assessment is conducted to evaluate the applicant's math,
reading, writing and general knowledge levels. The evaluation-which may
last as long as 10 hours-also assesses functional skills (i.e., keyboarding),
assistive technology needs and career goals.
Academy staff uses Pennsylvania Labor and Industry standards to compare
applicant skill levels to the skills needed for the desired goals. Sometimes
LR develops a two- or three-part plan to suggest what courses to take,
the order to take them in, when a person will be ready for an internship,
what assistive technology, training and/or supports are needed and what,
if any, special projects might benefit the student. The students are involved
in the whole process.
Each student's training plan is based on individual goals-whether vocational
or educational. Students work to master the core skills necessary to succeed
in an office environment or a post-secondary classroom. They may elect
to build upon their success by taking enhanced learning modules. Academy
faculty members assist by recommending specific skills needed to meet
specific goals, based on their observations of the student. There is no
limitation on the number of courses students can take, but the courses
they do take must be directly related to their individual goals.
While taking classes, students review their career goals and interests.
They develop a personal vocational plan that includes work samples and
information about their abilities. Internship and placement activities
start upon admission to the Academy. Students may be matched with mentors
who are business leaders to improve their interview skills and develop
a work portfolio. When they complete training, students receive a Certificate
of Completion and are well-equipped for entry level jobs or advanced career
education.
The Academy maintains a working relationship with a Philadelphia-based
job placement organization called hireAbility, a Projects with Industry
program. Students with disabilities collaborate with hireAbility and Team
Pennsylvania CareerLink to try to get their desired jobs.
The Academy combines LR's resources and experiences with those of The
Sierra Group, a nationally recognized rehabilitation engineering consulting
company. Sierra, a paid consultant, initially conducted “train the
trainer” sessions for staff; but that role is receding as LR hires
new staff. Now, Sierra primarily assists with the evaluation process.
Academy instructors, who each teach three or four classes, are usually
college-educated persons with disabilities. Currently, there are four
instructors, with one position available. Finding instructors has been
the hardest part of the project to date. Originally, LR wanted teachers
with training experience and disabilities but they were hard to find.
Now, LR requires a Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent life experience.
The Academy is open to everyone and designed for convenience and easy
accessibility for people with disabilities. Students can expect height
adjustable desks in every classroom, multimedia classroom materials and
a one to three faculty-student ratio. There are two classrooms, two learning
labs and 22 new Dell computer workstations- equipped and configured with
appropriate applied technology. The high-powered machines are loaded with
state-of-the art operating systems and software and have a high-speed
DSL connection for e-mail and Web surfing. The Academy rents computers
which enables them to upgrade every two years. There is $60,000 in adaptive
equipment and software available. Additional items are available on loan
from the Pennsylvania Technology Act project.
It costs $100 per three-hour session to attend the Academy. The cost
of the evaluation is a little more than $900. LR is signed up for the
welfare to work initiative-Maximizing Personal Participation Project.
The vocational rehabilitation department and a local mental health provider
pay for students they sponsor on a fee for service basis. LR is a vendor
under Medicaid for transitioning consumers. And, it is currently getting
ready to sign a comprehensive contract with the Philadelphia Office of
Mental Health. Otherwise, if someone wants to take classes but simply
cannot find a way to pay, LR allows them to attend TOT a few times.
Academy classes simulate the nine-to-five working world. Each session
is three hours long and includes instructional and motivational training.
Classes meet two to three days per week, depending on the number of modules
required in a 12-week semester.
Academy classes offer a menu of technical and business training, including
practical skills such as job-hunting, career-mapping, and advanced computer
skills. Available courses include:
- Basic Business Communications: Learn to
write effective memos, e-mails, and short letters and the verbal communication
skills required in a business setting
- Learning and Study Skills: Learn how to
improve upon the study skills you already have to learn new information
and achieve your educational and work goals.
- Employer Expectations and Employee Rights:
Learn to identify your own strengths and weaknesses in the workplace
and how these affect you when looking for a job.
- Reading and Written Communication Skills:
Learn to write more clearly and with more ease by improving your basic
spelling, punctuation and vocabulary.
- Math Training: Learn to perform basic calculations,
use decimal points, and understand how to create and use math formulas
in the workplace.
- Keyboarding: Master the skill of keyboarding using the traditional
computer keyboard or assistive technology.
- Introduction to Computers: Learn the skills
needed to comfortably use a windows-based computer system and to produce
professional looking documents.
- Advanced Computers: Learn more advanced
functions of word processing, and learn new computer programs to create
spreadsheets, use e-mail, and access the Internet.
- Taking the Next Step: Explore and discuss
your future educational and work goals and prepare a plan for achieving
these goals.
- Basic Office Equipment: Learn to use a fax
machine, postage meter, photocopier, and calculator.
- Business Etiquette / Career Awareness: Learn
how to answer the telephone in a polite and courteous manner and how
to behave and dress in a business setting.
- Dress for Success: Learn how to build a
business wardrobe that is professional, comfortable, and affordable.
- Assistive Technology in the Workplace: Practice
using your required assistive technology in a work-like setting and
learn special functions that will improve your computer skills.
Successes
Thus far, 62 students have enrolled in the Academy. Eleven graduated
at the end of September 2001, the end of the first year of open enrollment.
Of them, nine have confirmed plans-eight are working, two are attending
college and one is enrolled in GED classes.
Sixty-seven percent of Academy students are minority group members. The
average age is 37. About 90 percent have significant disabilities, representing
all disability groups.
The Academy has launched student-run businesses to assist graduates in
their efforts to break into the job market. A thrift store is currently
operational. A wheelchair repair business is on the way.
Today, most of the Academy's funding comes from the Pennsylvania Office
of Vocational Rehabilitation. In the beginning, LR used its own funds.
The funding is supplemented by a few foundation grants.
The most pertinent examples of the Academy's success may come from the
students themselves. The following are direct quotes from some current
and former participants:
- “If I had to recommend someone who wants to work but doesn't
think that they are able (due to an illness or disability) I would tell
them about the Academy and how it has changed my life for the better.”
- “Without the assistance of this program, I wouldn't have been
very successful on my own. The reason I say this is where I went to
school for education they only skimmed the surface of these general
things I need to work toward my future employment.”
- “I just want to say how much the Academy has shown me about
the computer and how [much] it has done to improve my job prospects.
Coming to classes here was very important to me because I knew I would
need more training to get the job that I wanted. They don't just teach
you about computer they show you different ways the computer can be
accessed. They also give you training in the proper ways to perform
in a business atmosphere.”
- “Every day I learn something new which is interesting and I
look forward to learning a lot more as time goes by. That is why the
Academy has worked for me, as I know it will work for anyone who's willing
to take a chance in life.”
- “...when I first started the Academy I did not know anything
about computers. One of my biggest fears about computers was my spelling.
I always liked computers but because of my spelling, I never put forward
any interest in them. I knew there was a lot of writing, and spelling
that came along with computer use, but as time went by, I got better.
One month later I was introduced to a software program called Soothsayer
which helped me a lot with my spelling, and because of this software,
I'm able to work with my computer. Along with this, I went off SSI and
have been able to accomplish some of my goals.”
Contact information
Linda Richman, Acting Director
Liberty Resources |
Workplace Technology
Training Academy
1341 N. Delaware Avenue, Suite 207
Philadelphia, PA 19125
215.634.2000 (V)
215.634.0394 (FAX)
EMAIL: richman@dca.net
www.workplaceacademy.org/index.html
htttp://www.libertyresources.org/
Steven Brown
Institute on Disability Culture
Center on Disability Studies
University of Hawai'i
1776 University Ave., UA4-6
Honolulu, HI 96822
SBrown8912@aol.com
http://hometown.aol.com/sbrown8912/
About the Author
Steven E. Brown is currently a Resident Scholar
at the Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Brown,
founder, Institute on Disability Culture (IDC), earned a doctorate in
history from the University of Oklahoma. He directed an independent living
center in Oklahoma, organized numerous community coalitions, and served
as training director at the World Institute on Disability Research and
Training Center on Public Policy in Independent Living. He founded the
not-for-profit Institute on Disability Culture with his wife, Lillian
Gonzales Brown, in 1994. Since then he has become an internationally sought
speaker, trainer, and writer.
Brown's publications include dozens of articles and the books Independent
Living: Theory and Practice, which has been translated into several
languages; Investigating a Culture of Disability: Final
Report, the result of a prestigious Switzer Fellowship from the
National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research of the Department
of Education, the first funding of its type for research into the field
of Disability Culture; A Celebration of Diversity:
an Annotated Bibliography about Disability Culture, Second Edition;
and Celebrating Passion, Relentlessness, and Vision:
the Manifesto Editorials. An award-winning poet, Brown has published
five books of poetry, Dragonflies in Paradise: An Activist's
Partial Poetic Autobiography; The Goddess Approaches
Fifty: Poems; Love into Forever: a Tribute to
Martyrs, Heroes, Friends, and Colleagues; Pain,
Plain--and Fancy Rappings: Poetry from the Disability Culture;
and Voyages: Life Journeys.
In recent years, Brown has conducted writing workshops and residencies
with groups of all ages, especially with middle and elementary school
students. He has written a children's biography about disability rights
pioneer Ed Roberts, distributed a monthly online newsletter and continued
to publish articles about disability culture and disability rights in
a variety of publications. He has conducted trainings throughout the United
States and Europe on a variety of disability related subjects.
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