Vocational Services

In recent years, the opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities have grown tremendously. As society has become more educated, it has learned to recognize that children and young adults with autism and seizure disorders have marketable skills that can lead to gainful employment and independence.

The role of Chileda’s Vocational Services Department is to create, modify and develop skills that lead to self-sufficiency and positively contribute to life in mainstream society. Assembling, labeling, washing dishes, stuffing and unstuffing envelopes, sweeping and mopping, bussing tables…these are some of the jobs in which our clients have been earning a paycheck. While these tasks might seem trivial at first blush, performing them to the satisfaction of an employer pays huge dividends in terms of self-worth and respect.

When a child is enrolled at Chileda, he or she receives an Individualized Educational Plan that prescribes a course for schooling and measures the child’s progress from enrollment to discharge. This formal, detailed outline encompasses all aspects of the Chileda program—classroom instruction, coursework and staff assignments. Vocational training is also a part of this plan.

As with the other programs at Chileda, our approach to vocational services training is client-centric, based on the individual needs of each child. A "vocational assessment," completed when the client is ready to begin job training, takes into account the child’s skill levels relative to his or her existing cognitive and physical abilities and potential for continued improvement through hands-on education. We also consider the child’s personality traits, likes and dislikes, social skills, preferences for work environment, and other factors to assure that child not only is doing the job for which he or she is best suited, but also that the child enjoys what he is doing.

During vocational training, each child’s progress is constantly measured and his or her program is adapted as needed to assure continued improvement. In addition to the close supervision and hands-on instruction offered by each staff member, we employ several mechanisms that allow us to objectively evaluate the client’s performance.

Among these is the "Quality Production Rating" or Q.P.R. This widely accepted formula assesses an individual’s skill when he or she is first introduced to a particular task. As the client moves through the program, a standard exams is administered periodically to check the client’s performance and a Q.P.R. is awarded. By law, Q.P.R. examinations are to be given every six months, although Chileda often conducts them three to six times per year for each client.

When the client’s Q.P.R. ratings reach acceptable standards for the position for which he or she is training, they are ready to enter the job market. Some individuals are employed by Chileda, while others take advantage of opportunities offered at structured workshops. We also have youngsters who have been employed in community-based jobs. Each is earning a paycheck based on his or her performance, further emphasizing the value of the Q.P.R. system.

Of course, with employment comes additional responsibilities. Chileda prepares the client for these responsibilities with lessons in functional life skills including how to set up a bank account, how to use a credit/debit card, public transportation, time management and other essential skills.

While not every client is able to become fully independent, we believe that simply giving them the opportunity to learn new skills—and to perform tasks as a member of a team—is of tremendous benefit.

vocational services

occupational therapy

speech and language pathology

physical education and physical therapy

creative arts

outreach

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