OAR has partnered with Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA), a K-12 public cyber charter school located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to create 10 videos as well as step-by-step guides for autistic job seekers and students on employment-related topics, including:
You can find the videos, as well as step-by-step guides, on Hire Autism’s Resource Center. The videos are also available on CCA’s YouTube channel. Videos are modeled after some of Hire Autism’s job seeker resources and guides but also feature original content developed by CCA.
In addition to the employment training videos, CCA created two animated videos based on OAR’s “What’s Up with Nick?” story booklet and funded thanks to an OAR Autism Education Grant fund. Carla Swartz, Central Region director of special education at CCA, received the grant to develop and distribute the content to CCA students. The first video shows a teacher reading the story to a virtual class of engaged students, and the second video shows two students reflecting on the storytelling after they bump into Nick, the new student who has autism.
This collaboration came about thanks to the efforts of OAR board member Roberto Datorre, executive vice president of operations at CCA, and CCA staff members Andrew Kalahanis, Michelle Orcutt, and James Rohrbaugh. “We are so grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with OAR and develop these engaging resources,” says Datorre. “The informative videos will not only be used by our students and their families and teachers, but by the individuals who work with Hire Autism as they prepare to join the workforce as well. We also welcome and encourage other schools, students, and families across the country to use these resources to increase employment opportunities for individuals with autism.”
If you have ideas for other resources and videos that would be helpful for autistic individuals, please contact Amanda Rioux, Hire Autism director, at arioux@ researchautism.org.
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