Stories about kids with disabilities- Written-off teen with disability finds success in TWO paid jobs
Classified with intellectual disabilities, Benson (not his real name) is a friendly fourteen-year-old with an engaging smile and an easy personality. I first met Benson when his mother called me after she read a newspaper article about my work with another teen with disabilities in her town. A single mother, she wanted to privately hire me to get her son out into the workforce, believing sooner was always a better option than later. (My kind of person)
When I conducted my initial intake, Benson let me know that he liked to perform and that he liked restaurants. Based upon his interests, I placed Benson into my career exploration program to help determine a future career path. I contacted a local restaurant and local Chick-fil-A to see if they would allow Benson to job sample at their respective businesses. Both said yes.
Benson enjoyed his restaurant job sampling, prepping food. But he was totally hooked when he had the opportunity to dress up as the Chick-fil-A cow mascot and perform for a few hours
During a busy lunchtime, Benson played the cow—waving to cars and pedestrians outside the restaurant, greeting diners inside of it, posing for pictures with kids both young and young-at-heart, and dancing. He loved performing. Acting as his job coach, I kept an eye on him and made sure he was safe.
After that job sampling, Benson wanted to do nothing else but play the cow. A week later, I managed to secure Benson his first paid job to play the cow at this Chick-fil-A restaurant just two miles from his home.
And two weeks after starting his job, Benson received his first-ever paycheck. He was thrilled, as was his mother.
I took a photo of Benson holding the check and got it developed. I gave it to Benson and asked him to show it to the people who didn’t believe he could work because of his ‘profound intellectual disabilities.’
Benson didn’t understand the significance of what I was getting at. He just smiled and said, “Okay, Mike.” But his mother knew exactly what I meant. She said she’d be showing it to a lot of people who doubted her son.
At fourteen, Benson’s got a head start on his peers who unfortunately often wait until they are much older before they get their first jobs . . . if they ever do get jobs at all.
Two years after Benson started his Chick-fil-A job, he was still working at it.
Lots of paychecks collected and money put into the bank, and lots of confidence, self-esteem, and belief in himself built.
WANTING MORE WORK
One of the first things Benson said to me when we first met was that he wanted to “play a character at Sesame Place.”
Sesame Place is a sprawling theme park located in Pennsylvania that features rides and attractions with all of the well-known Sesame Street characters wandering about.
Simply put, it’s heaven for kids.
Because employees have to be a minimum age of fifteen, I let Benson know there was nothing I could do until he turned that age. He’d have to keep performing as the cow mascot at the Chick-fil-A. I let him know this was great training for his next job.
On the day he turned fifteen, I helped Benson apply online to Sesame Place to work as a costumed character. I knew it was a multi-step process which saw hundreds of kids applying each season, but only a few dozen getting hired. I prepped Benson, saying that while I was optimistic he’d get the job, there was also a chance he may not because there were just so many kids applying for a limited number of spots.
Benson understood.
In the meantime, I orchestrated my behind-the-scenes work and did everything in my power to get him hired.
A week after submitting Benson’s application, his mother excitedly called me and reported that Sesame Place called her son to come in for an interview.
With Benson’s help, I updated Benson’s resume, made copies of the newspaper article recently printed highlighting his success working at Chick-fil-A, I wrote him a recommendation letter printed on my company’s letterhead, secured a few references, and coached him for the job interview. For that job interview, I had Benson wear a suit and tie and accompanied him to the meeting. The kid looked like he could have been on the cover of GQ magazine.
A week after his interview, Benson was called back for the next step in the process: an audition with over a hundred other applicants—mostly fellow teens. He’d be judged on dancing, being able to listen to commands, and personality.
At the audition, I discovered most of the applicants were involved in the performing arts. Other applicants were extremely outgoing and personable, and also great dancers. Some applicants had been lifelong dancers, were in college drama programs, and were much older than Benson.
Not exactly a level playing field.
The competition was stiff, but Benson held his own by picking up the moves the choreographer taught the group. His charisma shined through during his public speaking, and whatever words he stumbled on were made up by his magic smile.
I was so incredibly proud of him. He gave it his all, which is all I asked of any of my students. His fate was in the hands of the judges and management team at Sesame Place. Meanwhile, Benson’s mother and I were in contact a few times a day, anxiously awaiting some news:
“Did you hear anything yet?”
“Not yet, did you?”
Nine days after his audition, Benson’s mother called me. Sounding out of breath but deliriously happy she shouted, “MY SON GOT THE JOB! HE GOT THE JOB!”
Benson was hired to be an entertainment assistant. And I couldn’t have been more proud of him if he were my own son.
Acting as his job coach, I both guided and accompanied Benson through the extensive orientation and training process, upon which time he was provided his work duties. Benson was assigned as a walk assistant—accompanying the costumed characters as they sauntered through the park meeting and greeting kids. If he excelled in that role, he could eventually perform in character. When Benson heard this, he was in heaven. This is what he wanted to do.
Fast forward a couple of weeks when he got his dream job.
While I was job coaching Benson one Saturday, he was performing in character, playing the role of The Count—his favorite character. Dressed in costume and surrounded by dozens of children hanging on him like ornaments on a Christmas tree, Benson was in his glory—waving, dancing, posing for photos with kids, signing autographs, and hugging guests both young and old.
Standing nearby and beaming with pride while monitoring his efforts, I called Benson’s mother and reported what I was witnessing. I asked her if she remembered one of the first things her son said to me when I met him over a year ago.
The phone went silent for a few moments. Choked up, she replied, “My son said he wanted to play a character at Sesame Place.”
I thanked her for hiring me to help make her son’s wish come true.
Benson’s mother told me that the plan is for her to retire in six years when Benson is twenty-one-years-old and will be graduating from high school. She said they plan to move to Orlando, Florida where Benson wants to play a character at Disneyworld.
By that time, Benson will have had seven years experience performing at both a nationally-known theme park and a nationally-known restaurant, having earned several thousands of dollars doing work that he loves. With that track record, he’ll be hired in a heartbeat.
Knowing that I can help kids with differences and make this kind of impact in their life is why I do what I do for a living.
For more stories on youth with disabilities, visit www.specialstoriesbook.com to learn about the new book, “Special Stories: Short Stories On Youth With Disabilities And My Adventures Working In The Disabilities Field” by Mike Kelly (2017, Vendue Books)
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