Employment First Florida Staff Interviews, Job Stories, Videos

Self-Advocate: Amanda

Amanda shared her employment story at the 2019 Florida Self-Advocates Network’D conference in Orlando.

Amanda is originally from Pennsylvania, and moved to Florida about six years ago to pursue a job at Disney. Today, she works as a guest services coordinator at Universal Orlando. Amanda says, “Guest service coordinators try to make their guests’ day just a little bit better trying to figure out what to do in situations where they’re going to be, you know, upset and just try to make life a little easier for them.” Listen to the interview to learn more about her, especially her very cool first job as a Macy’s parade balloon handler!

Employment First Florida Staff Videos

How do you request an accommodation from your employer?

It is important to know how to ask for an accommodation. Watch our videos and check out these tips:

  • Be polite and give examples. “These are some accommodations that help me in school, and I think that they can help me on this job. Could we talk about them?”
  • Have a conversation.  Be open to feedback and suggestions. “I looked at the requirements for the job and these are the accommodations I may need.  What are some of your ideas?”

See more transportation resources here.
Julie Reposa Resources for Employment Service Professionals, Videos

Employment First Collaborative Training Toolkit: Domains 1 – 5

The Employment First Collaborative Training Toolkit provides a guide for all employment service professionals—from executive directors and managers to front-line direct support staff—to assess their current capacity and training needs and to identify options for addressing them.

The toolkit covers the application of core values and principles to practice and competencies in:

  • Community research
  • Job development
  • Community-based assessment
  • Workplace and related supports
  • Ongoing supports 

Continue reading “Employment First Collaborative Training Toolkit: Domains 1 – 5” →

Julie Reposa Presentations, Resources for Employers

The Abilities Work Help Desk

The April 2016 Grassroots Group online meeting provided information about the resources available to help Florida’s employers find information about hiring qualified employees with disabilities and to help link people with disabilities to available job openings. The presenters shared information about how employers and job seekers with disabilities can use the Abilities Work Help Desk and Abilities Work Web Portal. Continue reading “The Abilities Work Help Desk” →

Employment First Florida Staff Agency Profiles

AOA: Supporting a local-level network of service organizations and state agencies

The Association of Agencies (AOA) of South Florida began in 2000. The AOA provides a venue for sharing information across local organizations that directly or indirectly support people with disabilities. AOA creates links between its member organizations and identifies ways that they can work together to better serve their clients. Over 80 agencies from Dade, Monroe, and Broward counties engage in the AOA of South Florida.

Continue reading “AOA: Supporting a local-level network of service organizations and state agencies” →
Employment First Florida Staff Agency Profiles, FDDC

On-demand job development training from the Collaborative on Discovery and Innovation in Employment (CODIE)

The Florida Center for Inclusive Communities (FCIC) was established at the University of South Florida in 2005 as one of the national network of university centers for excellence in developmental disability across the country. Over the last decade, as Florida has moved toward its recent adoption of an Employment First policy, FCIC has come to play a prominent role as a provider of training and technical assistance in employment. To standardize training on innovative employment models, it offers a resource library and training opportunities designed in collaboration with the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council (FDDC), the Department of Education’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Social Security Administration.

Continue reading “On-demand job development training from the Collaborative on Discovery and Innovation in Employment (CODIE)” →
Employment First Florida Staff Agency Profiles

Nassau County: Integrating employment training and communication skills development

The Nassau County public school system offers several opportunities for transition age youth to develop their work skills. Two of these are the Hornet’s Nest Café at Yulee High School and the Transition to Adult Program (TAP). Both the Café and TAP provide an opportunity to deliver functional speech and language instruction to students to support them to meet their communication goals while they are developing on-the-job work experiences. Speech and language practitioners work directly with students on the job to help them learn and practice customer service skills and employment-related vocabulary, and to develop problem-solving language, financial skills, and team work skills.

Continue reading “Nassau County: Integrating employment training and communication skills development” →