Rashard at Work: Rashard Brown

Class Of 2008, Part 3: Time To Get A Job

06/06/2008

Everyone in Rashard Brown's life wants him to get a job, now. He's about to wrap up a transition program in the Renton School District. The district provides support for Rashard and other disabled students to learn job skills–until the end of the school year. KUOW's Phyllis Fletcher has the final report in our series on the Class of 2008.

RASHARD BROWN'S NUMBER ONE OFFICE SKILL IS DATA ENTRY.

RASHARD: "Go to the next page. . ."

HE'S BETTER AT IT THAN PEOPLE MIGHT THINK.

ONE REASON THEY MIGHT BE SKEPTICAL IS THAT RASHARD MOVES HIS HANDS MUCH MORE SLOWLY THAN MOST PEOPLE. AND SOMEONE ELSE HAS TO DO THINGS LIKE FLIP PIECES OF PAPER FOR HIM.

BUT WHEN IT COMES TO ACTUALLY PUTTING THE INFORMATION IN THE COMPUTER, HE CAN GO ON FOR HOURS. HE STAYS FOCUSED. HE DOESN'T GET BORED WITH A TASK MOST PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO DO. I WATCHED HIM, AND DIDN'T SEE HIM MAKE A SINGLE MISTAKE, AS HE ENTERED DATA FROM HAND–WRITTEN FORMS.

RASHARD: "And sometimes these people can't write for nothin'."

HE'S ALREADY GOT THE DRY OFFICE WIT.

HE'S A VOLUNTEER AT THE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION. ONE REASON HE VOLUNTEERS THERE IS BECAUSE HE HAS A FORM OF MD.

RASHARD AND HIS DAD RICO SAY THE SYMPTOMS KICKED IN WHEN RASHARD WAS THREE.

BROWN: "Kids at that age run around a lot, but he'd run and be tired quick." RASHARD: A"nd I used to get tired walking and then I'd start crying. And then the next day, my dad took me into the hospital."

BROWN: "'And we lived in a small town in Alaska, so, they’re like, 'woah, I think I know what this is, but we gotta do some tests.'"

RASHARD:

And they said, 'your son been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.'

BROWN: "They said that he would slow down with his walking around 8 to 10. He was gonna stop walking between 12 and 13. Everything that they said just happened. And, I mean, it almost happened to the date."

NOW, RASHARD IS 21. HE'S IN A WHEELCHAIR. HE'S HAD SURGERY TO INSTALL A ROD IN HIS BACK, FOR POSTURE, AND BREATHING.

AND HE LIVES WITH HIS DAD, WHO LIKES TO SAY HE'S ON THE 'EXTENDED' PARENTING PLAN.

RASHARD'S HIGH SCHOOL PLAN WAS EXTENDED, TOO. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES CAN PARTICIPATE IN TRANSITION PROGRAMS AFTER THEY GRADUATE. FOR RASHARD, THE PROGRAM PROVIDES SOMEONE TO GO TO WORK WITH HIM, TO DO THINGS HE CAN’T DO HIMSELF.

BROWN: "He just needs a little scoots or slide the water cup closer, or push it away from him or hand him a mouse. 'Cause sometimes stuff slips out of his hands."

THE SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEE WHO DOES THAT FOR RASHARD CAN ONLY DO IT FOR TWO MORE WEEKS. BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN THE SCHOOL YEAR ENDS.

WEINHOUSE: "It's frustrating for everybody."

STEPHEN WEINHOUSE IS A COUNSELOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON MEDICAL CENTER EMPLOYMENT TRAINING PROGRAM. HE'S PART OF RASHARD'S JOB–SEEKING TEAM.

WEINHOUSE: "I mean, everyone that works with Rashard would like to see him do what he wants to do, and be in a position where he could earn some money and feel good about that."

IT'S WEINHOUSE'S JOB TO CONVINCE EMPLOYERS THEY SHOULD HIRE SOMEONE LIKE RASHARD.

FLETCHER: "How much of your job do you feel like is sales?"

WEINHOUSE: "Lot. A lot of–it's marketing our clients to people who have a limited understanding of disabled individuals and what they're capable of doing. There tends to be a lot of myths and fears about working with someone with a disability."

BUT WEINHOUSE ADMITS SOME OF THOSE FEARS ARE NOT MYTHICAL. LIKE THE FEAR THAT AN EMPLOYER WILL HIRE SOMEONE, AND IT MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD FIT. AND THAT'S WHY WEINHOUSE PUTS TOGETHER A TRIAL SITUATION THAT LETS EITHER PARTY BACK OUT.

THIS IS RASHARD'S LAST YEAR IN SCHOOL. IT'S A YEAR A LOT OF KIDS WOULD CELEBRATE. BUT MANY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FIND IT'S A TIME OF BEING CUT OFF. NOT JUST FROM SERVICES. BUT CUT FROM FRIENDS. FROM RIVALS. FROM PEOPLE THEY CAN TALK ABOUT, AND PEOPLE THEY CAN TALK TO. RASHARD'S SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY DON'T WANT HIM TO GET CUT OFF. AND THAT'S ONE REASON THEY HOPE HE GETS A JOB.

RASHARD HAS A PRETTY SIMPLE REASON. THE SAME REASON EVERYONE HAS.

RASHARD: "'Cause I like money!"

FLETCHER: "Why do you like money?"

RASHARD: "'Cause I could spend it!"

DUH!

RASHARD BROWN COMPLETES THE TRANSITION PROGRAM AT THE SARTORI EDUCATION CENTER IN RENTON IN TWO WEEKS. HIS DAD CALLS HIM 'PERFECT.'

PHYLLIS FLETCHER, KUOW NEWS.

℗ Copyright 2008, KUOW News