SelfDirected Employment Begins with ChoiceMaking

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Self-Directed Employment Begins with ChoiceMaking

• James Martin, Ph.D.
• University of Oklahoma
• Zarrow Center

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Agenda

• Evolution of Employment Programs
• ChoiceMaking
• SDSE Assessment Choice Management
• Making Choices
• Exploring Choices
• Testing Choices
• Final Choices
• Field Testing and Validation Data
• Choose and Take Action Software
• Initial vocational choicemaking

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Evolution of Employment Programs
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Evolving Methodology

• Phase One Get a job - any job - and keep the
  person at the job
• Phase Two Get a job that you think is a match
  and use supports to keep the job
• Phase Three Self-Directed Employment

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Caveat
Practice does not move in a linear fashion. As
one phase begins, the previous phase often
continues.
Some employment programs still focus on readiness
and use numerous means to classify individuals
with disabilities as being unable to work in
community jobs (Pancsofar Steere, 1997).
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Phase 1 Get a job - any job

• No previous models . . . so the pioneers created
  new models
• Train and Place model (Rusch Mithaug, 1979)
• Find a job
• Complete job analysis
• Place trainee on job and teach job skills
• Follow-up to maintain job

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Who Answers These Questions?
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Humble Beginnings
Began Exodus From Sheltered Employment Into
Community Employment
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Phase 2 Get a Job You Think Is a Match

• Staff create vocational profile
• Staff develop job they believe match workers
  skills and interests
• Staff obtain job and secure placement
• Staff train then fade to lowest level that
  maintains employment
• Staff continue monitor
• Beyer Kilsby (1997)

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Is it Choice?

• Employment specialists determine the match
  between person and the job
• The persons choice is reactive -- can refuse to
  go to the job
• The person can choose to . . . . .

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Who Answers These Questions?
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Phase Three Self-Directed Employment

• Informed Choice
• Sufficient options so that person may exercise
  control and autonomy over lifes direction
• Teaches and provides opportunity for
  self-determination
• Individual makes job match
• Individual involved in solving on-the-job
  problems
• Supported by many groups, policies, laws

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Voices in Support
If individuals are to experience personal
satisfaction and quality of life regardless of
whether or not they have a disability, it is
critical for them to have the right to make
choices, express preferences, and exercise
control in their lives (Wehman, 1997).
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More Voices in Support
Any shortcuts taken during the preference
discovery period will most likely result in
additional training and support needs, job loss,
and worker and employer disappointment. (Parent,
Unger, Inge, 1997)
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Self-determined People will

• Make choices and set goals based upon an
  understanding of their interests, skills, and
  limits
• Express their goals to help build support
• Establish a plan to attain their goal
• Evaluate their plan
• Adjust their goal or plan

Martin Huber Marshall, 1993
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Transition IDEA
IDEA 97 and its 1999 Regulations greatly
strengthen the involvement of students with
disabilities in decisions regarding their own
futures and how to facilitate movement from
school to post-school activities.
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 48 / Friday,
March 12, 1999 / Rules and Regulations, p. 12472.
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Importance

• Successful people are self-determined
• Federal Rehab act requires programs to teach
  self-determination
• IDEA - Students must attend own IEP meetings
• IDEA - IEP goals based upon student interests and
  preferences

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Self-Directed Employment Model
uses a repeated measures situational assessment
to produce a cumulative profile of each persons
choices
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SDSE Thinking Process
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SDSE Model
uses self-management strategies to facilitate
on-the-job problem solving
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Self-Directed Employment Questions
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Assessment Questions Methods
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Placement Questions Methods
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Follow-Up Questions
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Who Answers These Questions?
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ChoiceMaking
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Is This Choice?
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Informed Choice

• Quality of choice dependent upon amount of
  practice person has had making choices (Rawlings
  et al., 1995)
• Must involve multiple, individualized choice
  opportunities across time that become validated
  through on-the-job experiences (Bambara Koger,
  1995)
• Requires direct exposure to and interactions with
  the duties and job characteristics (Schaller
  szymanski, 1992)

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Preference Assessment

• Repeated opportunities to make choices
• Direct communication of choices
• Experience with the choice
• Repeated assessment across days
• Regular assessment across blocks of time to
  verify choice
• Presentation of stimuli in a manner person can
  independently use
• Presentation of stimuli in a paired format

Lohrmann-ORourke Browder (1998)
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Discrepancy Problems

• Discrepancy problems occur when
• Chosen job, task, and characteristics do not
  match specific jobs
• Discrepancy problems diminish when job site
  characteristics match preferences
• Logical choice making occurs when chosen
  preferences match available jobs.

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Basic Procedures

• Prior to visiting a job site, individual will
  select preferred tasks and characteristics
• Visit job site and spend time watching and/or
  doing tasks
• After visit, will compare initial preferences to
  those at the site
• Process repeated across numerous sites

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Phases

• Making Choices
• Developing an initial menu
• Exploring Choices
• Shadowing at site
• Job tasting
• Testing Choices
• More time at site and focus on social and work
  skills
• Final Choices
• Using graphic data with individual to summarize
  choices

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Making Choices
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http//brookespublishing.com/picturebank/
What Do I Want To Do?
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What Jobs Have I Done?
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Characteristics I Like
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All Choices Get Graphed
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Exploring Choices
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Shadowing Form
Means to structure the shadowing process. Enables
person to leave a record of their opinions.
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Char I Like vs Here
Compares initial preferences to those experienced
at a particular job site.
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Characteristics Graph
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Situational Interview
Compiled after visiting the job site Yields a
skill match Yields a like match
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Testing Choices

• Characteristics I Like vs. Here
• Social Improvement Contracts
• Task Improvement Contracts
• Work Improvement Contracts
• Self-Determined Improvement Contracts
• Undertake Internships
• Great tool to create opportunities for job carving

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Again
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Social Improvement Contract
The match contract compares self-evaluation to
job coach or supervisors evaluation. Worker
makes a plan, implements plan, evaluates
performance, and makes adjustment.
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Task Improvement Form
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Personal Improvement Contract
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(No Transcript)
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Final Choices

• Summary of all assessment experiences
• Individual involved in compiling information
• Presented to school, vocational rehab, and other
  involved agencies.

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My Employment Plan
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Field Testing

• 751 Individuals with disabilities across 11 years
• 234 with mental retardation
• 145 with chronic mental illness
• 113 with severe learning disability
• 102 with physical disabilities
• 96 with other disability including autism
• 61 with traumatic brain injury
• Replicated across numerous sites

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More Data

• Those who completed the assessment process had a
  significantly greater likelihood of a successful
  job placement than those who did not complete the
  assessment process
• Chi square p lt .05
• Of those successful, 92 came within two
  placements, with significantly more after the
  first placement

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Follow-up Data

• 5-year cumulative summary
• 88 still working
• 55 at same job
• 33 at different jobs
• Major reason for job change was to move to a
  better job
• Over 93 of placements matched first or second
  job choice

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Choose and Take Action ChoiceMaking Software
Use of a software program and community
experiences to teach basic self-determination
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Problems with Illustrations

• For individuals with limited to no vocational
  experience illustrations may mean little. Real
  choice making doesnt exist until students learn
  what the illustrations mean.
• Time consuming to make and costly to undertake
  systematic situational assessment.
• Not all programs can put students or adults into
  the field with enough frequency and structure to
  make the approach worthwhile.
• Is their an alternative?

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Target Population

• Secondary students and adults with moderate to
  significant cognitive needs who
• Have difficulty getting information from print
• Can attend to a computer screen
• Can follow simple 1 or 2 step directions
• Have limited to no previous work experience

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CTA Constructs

• Vocational Choice Making
• Characteristics
• Setting
• Activities (jobs)
• Planning
• Community Experience
• Watch
• Do
• Self-Evaluation
• Choose Again with Adjustment

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CTA Choice Factors

• 14 entry-level vocational settings found in most
  communities
• 15 job activities repeated across two settings
• Care for animals in a vets office
• Care for animals in a retail store
• 12 characteristics repeated across two or three
  activities
• Working in a factory where it is inside and noisy

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(No Transcript)
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CTA Features

• A navigator to give instructions and guide user
  through the program
• Restricted mouse movements
• Highlight critical features as navigator says
  them
• Record made of all choices
• Input options may include user installed touch
  screen

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• Format designed so teachers can add comments on
  student performance
• Teacher can set number of video clips student can
  see in one trial
• Pair of video clips presented together
• Minimum teacher control over available video
  choices

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CTA Cycle
Choose
Select job activity and
setting to try (on computer)
Adjust When Choosing
Plan
Decide to try again
Develop a plan for
or try something
the setting
else
(on computer)
(on computer)
T
ry-It
Evaluate
Complete plan at
Evaluate the plan
setting
results
(in community)
(on computer)
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Field Testing

• Field tested in at least seven states
• Findings were incorporated into the software and
  instructional materials
• Revised and field tested again
• Two studies underway
• Reliable compared to other assessments
• Choices made by individuals differ from those
  made by caregivers

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Screen Shot of Choice Pair
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Screen Shot of Watch or Do?
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Screen Shot of Evaluate Window
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Screen shot of activities I like graph
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Screen shot of plan window
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Match Between Caregiver User

• 28 setting match
• 28 activity match
• 31 characteristics match
• 29 match on top three choices
• 21 match on top three setting choices
• 13 match on top three activity choices
• 15 match on top three characteristics choices
• 16 match on total top three choices

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Publishers
ChoiceMaker Materials Sopris West 4093
Speciality Place Longmont, CO 80504 800.547.6747
www.sopriswest.com Self-Directed Employment
book Paul Brookes Publishing P.O.10624 Baltimor
e, MD 21285-0624 1-800-638-3775 www.brookespubl
ishing.com
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For More Information Contact
James Martin, Ph.D. University of Oklahoma Zarrow
Endowed Professor in Special Education Zarrow
Center for Learning Enrichment Carpenter Hall,
Room 111 Norman, OK 73019 Phone
405-325-8951 E-mail jemartin_at_ou.edu