|
Right project for his skills: Program gives autistic man shot at success
Nov 09, 2008 (American News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Andrew Janusz has found a job that suits his meticulous skills. A full-time worker at the Brown County Register of Deeds office, Janusz converts records from microfiche to a digital, computer-based format.
He's working on probate records from between 1976 and 2001. He's already finished the deeds and probate records from those years.
The job primarily involves computer scanning. And while some might find it tedious, it suits Janusz's attention to detail.
Janusz, 22, has a mild form of autism. He's had other jobs in the past, but his duties at the county office are ideal. He works alone, something he says he enjoys. At other jobs, he's worked with the public, but people with autism can struggle in social situations.
Autism is a disorder of the brain that generally appears before children are 3 years old. While wide-ranging in severity, it generally restricts a person's ability to communicate and interact with others.
Carol Sherman, register of deeds, said Janusz fits in well at the office. And, she said, it will be years before he runs out of work. Once he finishes converting the records on microfiche, he'll start on the handwritten records that go back decades. Janusz started as a part-time office employee through a program and worked his way to a full-time post.
The program that allowed Janusz to start with the register of deeds is called Project Skills. Its aim is to find jobs for young people with disabilities. The program paid Janusz's wages for the first 250 hours he worked at the register of deed's office in hopes he would do well and get a permanent job. In this case, the program worked as well as possible, said Barb Evans, Janusz's mother. She said her son was looking for a full-time job instead of working two or three separate jobs. After the program-paid hours finished, Janusz started working part time for the county. Last month, commissioners approved his switch to full time.
If it were up to Janusz, he would get a job developing video games. But, he said, there's no call for such work in South Dakota, let alone Aberdeen.
Project Skills helps between 25 and 50 Aberdeen-area high school students a year find jobs, said Virginia Needham, who works with the program at Central High School, the school Janusz graduated from in 2005. Those students work anywhere from floral shops to auto repair shops, she said.
The program helps young people get jobs they otherwise couldn't by working with employers, paying the initial hours worked and offering other support, Needham said.
Now, Needham said, she works with three students with autism. She said she's noticed the number of students in the district has increased in recent years.
Although there are strangely few statistics about autism, those that there are confirm what Needham said about the number of cases being on the rise.
The state Department of Health, Department of Human Services and the medical school at the University of South Dakota don't track cases in the state. There's no good way to do so, one official said. The statistics that are available largely track the disorder in children via services provided at public schools.
In South Dakota, there were 262 kids with autism between the ages of 3 and 22, according to research compiled by an education and treatment group called Fighting Autism. By 2006-07, the number had grown to 566. Nationwide statistics also show the number of people with autism is on the increase. The reason why remains unclear, though some speculate it has to do with better diagnosis or changed definition.
People with severe cases of autism often can't work. Few people with autism live independently, although some are very intelligent and successful at their jobs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About one in 150 8-year-olds have autism, according to the CDC. As many as 1.5 million Americans are believed to have some form of autism. Other statistics show different numbers of cases, but all indicate that autism has been on the rise in recent years, although the number of cases might be starting to tick downward.
The cause of autism is unknown, although studies have shown that it appears to be genetic. It's also much more common in boys than girls, according to statistics.
There are more local opportunities for people with autism than there used to be. The Project Skills program is more than a decade old. And Janusz was in Presentation College's Transition Learning Center program, which was started in recent years to give young people with disabilities a chance to be exposed to college life. Since, though, Janusz has joined the workforce. And, he said, the job is going well.
Sherman said Janusz's work benefits others. The digital records are much easier to access and read than those on microfiche or in aging books. And, Sherman said, eventually it will be easier to get those digital records online. That's not yet required, but likely will be in the future, she said.
"He's very meticulous about what he does," Sherman said of Janusz. "He's just an exceptional young man."
Children with autism
in South Dakota
2006-2007
Age 3-5: 89
Age 6-11: 241
Age 12-17: 194
Age 18-21: 42
1999-2000
Age 3-5: 35
Age 6-11: 137
Age 12-17: 69
Age 18-21: 21
Source: Fighting Autism
and Easter Seals
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 150 8-year-olds has
a form of autism. A group called Fighting Autism estimates that
one of every 220 South Dakota public school students in
2006-07 had a form of autism.
To see more of the American News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.aberdeennews.com. Copyright (c) 2008, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
INDUSTRIES
Activate Email 
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.
