'Agricultural specialisterne': rural employment revolution for those with Autism

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Detour to: Walgreens Outreach initiative to hire people with disabilities

In another post, I mention the Walgreens Outreach initiative for workers with disabilities as a classic example of Universal Design in the workplace. Both the Anderson (South Carolina) and Windsor (Connecticut) Walgreens distribution centers were engineered specifically to accommodate large numbers of employees with disabilities. Just about anything that a typical employer might view as an ‘accommodation’ for those with disabilities was built into the two facilities.

The initiative was the brainchild of Randy Lewis, Walgreens Senior Vice President of Distribution, who himself has a son with Autism. Indeed, while catering to a wide group of individuals (including those with various other disabilities), the Walgreens Outreach initiative also offers various supports for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Deb Russell, the Walgreens Manager in charge of the Anderson, S.C. program said that its focus initially was on employment for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders…

…the program is not about tracking and labeling people with autism or other disabilities. It is about building systemic accommodations into the workplace culture so people with autism become just like any other employees.
…Although the project started out with a focus on autism employment, it soon moved beyond that.
“Autism is a model disability for us,” Russell says.
She explains that by planning accommodations around the common needs of people on the autism spectrum, the program was able to expand easily to accommodate people with other disabilities. Autism was the template from which the program grew…

The following are some details on what appropriate accommodations and support systems are available at the two Walgreens sites to help workers with Autism specifically:

…Jenny Castle, HR manager for [the Windsor Walgreens distribution center,] offers one scenario. “If a candidate appears to struggle with how we have worded interview questions, we have a modified script that eliminates abstract language.” …“For candidates with autism, this can be helpful.”
In other situations, she says, HR professionals may allow an advocate to help prepare the candidate or sit in during the interview to provide support. Many employees with autism need assistance with orientation and paperwork, she adds. “We work with community agencies to ensure this support is available. If the support is not available, we provide it.”
…In other cases …workers with autism focus very well on their normal job tasks but, when faced with change, struggle with unknown factors.
“We try to be proactive and provide job aids like touch-screen computers with large icons and easy-to-read type to give the team members a reminder of what to do when change happens,” she says. “We do this by putting messages on the computer screens or displaying messages on or around their workstations.”
Castle emphasizes that "Autism affects each person in different ways. You have to be willing to try different ways of communicating, motivating and supporting employees in order to find the right fit for each individual…

(sources: http://www.dps.missouri.edu/Autism/2012AWNC/Standifer%20-%20Walgreens.pdf; http://kenskidsinc.org/pdfs/hrmagazine.pdf)