While Katie Marino was just in her second month living in Columbus, her BSVI counselor Albert Pauley remembers a little girl growing up in Newark who wanted to drive a bus … a truck ... maybe fly an airplane! That earlier collaboration arose through the former vocational development specialists program of the Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired (BSVI), that paired OOD counselors with children as young as pre-school. “She’s flowered,” Al said.
Katie has only vague childhood memories of “Mr. Pauley,” but she does vividly recall the time she realized that driving might not be the greatest career for a person born blind. She also recalls discovering technology in the 1990’s and the excitement it brought her way. “He was really good, I’ll tell you that,” she says of their early vocational development collaboration.
Katie taught herself to use JAWS, a powerful, complex screen-reading program, and moved from there to the IPhone. Fascination with Apple started early with a silent IPod and then a talking Nano. She recalls counting the clicks to get to the right adjustment on her not so accessible IPod Classic.
After graduating from the Ohio State School for the Blind in
2011, Katie participated in BSVI’s Work and Learn program for the next two
summers, exposing her to activities as diverse as “Science on a Cart” at COSI,
helping with food pantry appointments, and data entry. “That’s when I really found my niche and fell
in love with technology,” Katie recalls.
A friend working for Red Roof Inn got her interested in a
position where she could work from home by phone. The employment process required two
interviews, including situational role playing.
Last October, Katie [pictured with her guide dog] got an entry-level reservationist position, at 25
hours a week.
After her first three months, she read about a $1-per-hour
higher position in VIP reservations, 40 hours a week that would involve
trouble-shooting and using math and other skills to deal with loyal customers. Those technology skills first promoted by
Albert Pauley in childhood, combined with the training, natural talent and some
technology adjustments like scripting to make everything accessible, allowed
for this rapid promotion.
“I’m going to wait a while for something else,” Katie comments. For now, with steady paychecks, she’s happy
to be learning the ropes of living in the big city.
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Verizon associates at the May 18th Akron job fair
We continue to receive positive feedback from employers participating in our regional job fairs.
“This job fair [Akron, May 18] has had a fantastic turnout! It has been, by far, the best turnout of a job fair I have attended. Candidates are fully engaged and seeking opportunities. We talked with about 100 candidates at this event which surpasses the number of candidates we have met at other job fairs. We have encouraged people to apply at the Verizon web site, but we have also been reviewing resumes at the job fair as we’re currently looking to hire for local retail sales. Many employees start in sales and they can move to other positions from there based on job vacancies and candidate’s skills and interest."
-- Scott Mapus, Human Resources Recruiter/Talent Acquisition Team, Verizon.
“We were pleased to see so many Dayton area employers actively participating in this. Likewise, it was wonderful seeing such a large volume of job-ready individuals attending [Dayton, May 12] eager and excited to make connections. We really enjoyed being here and would like to thank OOD and WSU for collaborating to host such a professional and successful event.”
-- Samantha Boutaam, EEO Specialist, Crown Equipment Corporation
“We have met more than 50 job seekers at today’s event [Akron, May 18]. The candidates have been really well-prepared and this has been an overall excellent experience for our company. We may have had a match for one of our open positions and we look forward to recruiting at a similar event in the future.”
-- Michele Thompson and Michelle Skoletsky, Human Resources Representatives, Land O’ Lakes, Inc.
Legislation designating October as "Disability History
and Awareness Month” in Ohio passed the General Assembly this week and is
headed to Governor John Kasich’s desk for signature. Introduced as Senate Bill 130 by Representative
Lou Gentile, the language was amended into House Bill 483, and passed by the
House and Senate on Wednesday evening.
The legislation states that “During this month, schools in this state
are encouraged to provide instruction and events focused on disability history,
people with disabilities, and the disability rights movement.”
Vocational Rehabilitation
Current
FFY2016
Individuals in Job Ready
Status: 3,325 4,476
(For county level
information
& map visit our website)
Individuals Employed:
1,943 4,264
(Employed, not yet
successfully closed)
Successful Closures: 4,371
(Employed for over 90
days,
case closed
successfully)
Disability Determination
(FFY2016 as of 05/20/2016 – Week 34)
Applications Received:
130,162
Determinations:
131,945
Productivity Per Work
Year (PPWY) 376.4
(Total number of cases
processed divided
by the number of work
years funded)
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