How has the Department of Rehabilitation helped you

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For the past month and a half, I have been getting tired of my job and have been bouncing from one job to the next. With my family yelling at me about getting a better job/career as well as finding out about me having Aspergers (non-diagnosed, not sure to be honest), been grasping at straws and recently decided to look into the Department of Rehab to help me out.

I sorta have an idea of the type of career/job I want to land (Social Media Manager). I wanted to know, how has the Department of Rehabilitation helped you to secure a stable job/career?

What else can they do to help me out?

If you read many of the other Department of Rehabilitation-related threads on this site, it seems that there is a great deal of variation but that DoR generally has a poor reputation for putting persons on the autism spectrum into higher-skill jobs. Once in a while there is a success, but by and large it seems to be hit or miss. DoR seems to be great at serving persons with Intellectual Disabilities (ID), especially ones who need a little help to learn to read and get a GED so that they can qualify for one of the "conveyor belt" janitorial or warehouse job placement programs that exist here and there.

I tried to investigate whether I could get into one of those janitorial placement programs but use my high literacy, high math skills, and college degree to get placed as a supervisor or manager, but nobody wanted to help me figure out how to do that....

For me it has yet to be seen, I've gotten as far as meeting with a counselor and submitted an application for the program. However the counseler said it would probably take around 60 days for me to hear from them again because I guess it takes a while to process the application and set things up. So far it seems like it should be helpful, though I was hoping to get started a little sooner.

I don't have a particular job interest really, I mentioned that I could organize things like stocking products as I volunteered at a library once and carted returned books around to put them back in their proper place so I imagine i could do that with any items. Aside from that I know I have pretty good typing skills, didn't mention that yet but probably will next time.

But yeah basically they can help you get a job and/or keep it if you have a disability, you do have to help them to help you though. It is good to think of jobs you're interested in as well as try and determine what skills you have and what limitations your disability causes. Not sure if they could initially get you a social media manager job unless you have past experience in that sort of field but otherwise I think the focus would be more entry level jobs. Still would be a good thing to bring up, since they could help find jobs that could help you move up to that.

My voc counselor mostly kept telling me to assert myself while I did all the work in looking for a job. The only thing she did that helped was refer me to an organization a family friend found that helped people with disabilities find jobs. That organization helped me get my 1st job. That was in Louisiana thou & vac rehab & other programs/services there have been facing budget cuts for a long time so things could be better in another state.

I'm with them and have been now for over two years. Still no job. And yes, I have probably done most of the work and wonder why I need them.

Yes!

The thing is I knew what they could do for me going in. The consular didn't help me much at all but I knew my way around and what I wanted so I went in demanding what service I wanted and I got a government job out of it with a small office. I got a fridge and coffee maker in my little office lol

Bottom line when you go research what they offer and make it happen. Not though everything takes a long time.

I'll put it to you like this one year later from me applying I got a latter from the state in the mail I thought it was a ticket or bill and it was my salary and my interview date.

Vocational rehabilitation is the best thing to help people with autism like us.

EDIT I JUST READ YOUR SELF DIANGOSISED

DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT GO TO VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION!

Vocational Rehabilitation is meant for those of us who actually have autism. You may think you have autism you might have been enabled to think you have autism by a quiz or those who worship at the altar of the online quiz but if you go to vocational rehab and tell them your autistic because people on a message board or someone without the power to diangosis you and they definitely won't accept the results of an online quiz.

Its because of people like YOU that my life has to be made harder because people like you think because an online quiz told you something it gives you the right to apply for social services meant for people like me.

I had to be denied for vocational rehabilitation for two months until I fought it because I look normal and so many self diangosisers apply for these things trying to fool social services into giving them support and funds.

I had to see three different clinical psychologists and have them diangosis me with Autism Spectrum disorder because my consular refused to believe someone who looked like me has autism and people have tried to fool her in the past.

Stop going around claiming your autistic when your not you just make life harder for people like me and others who need the help.

Get a diangosis and if your clinical psychologist says your not autistic or you have something else then perhaps it's about time you stop being in denial about yourself.

It is hit or miss, I have met good people thru it and they are the reason I am doing what I am doing right now. Right now Voc Rehab in this state is in shambles because our idiot governor put a literal crazy person in charge of it who fired hundreds of good workers because he said they were 'bullies' or 'liars' or some other nonsense, which with the massive staff shortage caused a wave of resignations as well. My counselor was fired or quit, they haven't even sent me a letter telling me that nor has the person they assigned me to(who's office is located like 20 miles west of me) ever responded to any of my communications. I have grown close with one of the vendors thru VR who I have known for years now, she's a good person who goes above and beyond trying to help me and without her there would be zero chance I would be in school or sought professional help with a therapist/medication. They fired the crazy DES director and offered a lot of these people's jobs back but this state doesn't pay well enough to attract/retain workers and most who left have found work elsewhere so it's been a tremendous loss. It would of been a lot easier if I were simple and could do menial jobs, I've jumped thru a lot of hoops to get them to pay for me to go to school but it does feel like spinning wheels at times since it hasn't gotten me work nor do they seem to really push me towards it but I guess that is just a reflection of how bad off they think I am I guess.

Go at it with an open mind, expect the worst, hope for the best, I feel like it has been worth the experience since I would not of gotten out even as little as I have without it. Be aware of the limitations and callousness of the state, I never expected anything from them. The one time I did I was very very near just quitting altogether, they had told me I would be getting a paid position and apparently that was a mistake they casually just glided over with me at the last moment and that set me off bad. Hopefully something real comes of it eventually, I don't have anywhere else to go.

I do feel that I am sort of punished for trying, I know if I continued down the path avoidance and was just a recluse in my parents house then I would have probably would have qualified for SSI for sure by now which while not much is certainly a lot more than $0 which would help my parents a lot who spend a lot to support me outside their home and allow me to have some base level of dignity to live any sort of life. I don't want to be seen as a leech or entitled or someone undeserving, I am very very self conscious about any assistance I get. I feel a tremendous amount of pressure coming down on me and most of it comes from myself, eventually I'll be finished with school and the real world will no longer be able to be delayed.

^Or just get a diagnoses of autism first....also if you have any other diagnosed conditions aside from autism that would work just as well and you could still bring up difficulties that could be autism related. But yeah I think you do have to have medical documentation of having a disability to be accepted to the program.


Also people wouldn't seek out diagnoses if they didn't notice there was something in the first place, lots of people on the spectrum who have been diagnosed later in life spent a period being self diagnosed....so I would disagree with that poster who finds fault with that.

Where does the O.P say that they found out about having aspergers from an online quiz? That looks like an assumption on your part. Quit blaming random people on-line for your difficulties.

I've had a mixed experience with state vocational rehab myself. With me, I stayed with them a lot longer than I should have and eventually ended up nowhere. In the beginning, things were going pretty well. My mom and I first met with my counselor when I was still a junior in high school (the school referred me to them) and from there I took assessments between mid spring 2009 until late spring 2010 (shortly before summer). One of those assessments were actually career oriented. Eventually, I was referred to VSP, who worked with DORS and sometimes placed people in permanent positions. However, there were no openings when I went and to top it all off the man who registered me said it was going to be hard for me to get a job due to my lack of work experience. And I was like, "Huh? I'm only 18!" But, no one told me about this unwritten rule of having your first job while still in high school.

After this VSP job ended, which was a job filing medical records, I was then referenced to another agency that worked with DORS known as JCS (Jewish Community Service). My first day there the man told me the same thing: it's gonna be hard for me to get a job. And he said this with my DORS counselor in the room! After staying with that crappy job agency for almost a year and not landing any position, I decided to go back to DORS to try to get my education. I finally dropped out of community college after 2014 and by late 2015 my old counselor left and of course they reassigned me a new one. Once I stopped receiving bus passes due to my training for work and school ending, I decided to let my case with this vocational rehab agency to end. My reason: I wasn't getting anywhere with this agency. The last day I was there I told my new counselor that my family situation is getting worse and asked if she could refer me to an out of state agency known as Easter Seals. Instead, she wanted to focus on me getting a job here in Maryland, and while I was there I did agree to it but then decided not to keep my appointment with her and mailed out a letter to them asking to permanently close my case. I don't want to put down roots here in Maryland and a job will just tie me to this place.. The bottom line is that not too many people listened to me especially since I turned 18, but even before then.

I can also relate to having a relative telling you to go to school for a better job (education doesn't equal success). The relative who did tell me this I'm no longer speaking to for reasons I will not get into here. But, one last piece of advice I can give is if you do decide to go to a state vocational rehab, try to be realistic. You may get somewhere or nothing at all. I also hurt myself by pretending I can hold down a job like everyone else when I now realize I can't. And if you feel you have Asperger's Syndrome, I suggest you seek a professional diagnosis.

What I got out of it was better social skills. They drilled it in me to make eye contact and the consistent meetings with my DVR counselor and the secondary agency which helped me look for work taught me better social skills. I got my job I have now myself, though honestly they didn't really care when they hired me for a different position. It was like "when did you go above and beyond for customer service or in your personal life" and can you legally work in the US and I was hires. I work at walmart as a fitting room attendant now, which is a very social job. I answer the phone and interact with customers all day. I started as a cake decorator there though.

Anyways DVR helped me get employed, just not in the direct way you'd expect.

As someone with 2 Masters degrees in technical fields, they've pretty much been useless for me. I sought them for help mainly because although I have the technical skills to get the job I want, I don't have the social and communication skills to network to get my foot in the door or to get past the interview, and this has been going on for over a year while I tried my best to find a job. So I went to them as a last resort.

They spent like an hour asking me for basic information that I had already filled out in one of their applications (which they couldn't find.) When I ask them how they can help me, specifically when it comes to introducing me to local employers who are hiring, they did everything they can to skirt that question.

The kicker? At the very end, they give me this brochure and spend like 15 minutes explaining how wonderful it is and how everyone they know who has a disability uses it. It's basically a program for applying for public transportation discounts for people with disabilities, and how they can show the special card they give you and pay only $4 for a $12 train ride. And they tell me I should go see my psychiatrist (who is in another town 2 hours away) to get him to sign off on this special public transportation pass.

I had the biggest WTF moment that I can remember in the last several years!! Keep in mind I only spend maybe $30 a month on public transportation since I have a car (and this $30 is mostly Uber/Lyft rides which are NOT covered under this program.) The best they can do is to reduce 60-70% of my messily public transportation expense, and that is only if I use the pathetically slow and outdated trains and busses of the San Francisco MUNI and Bart systems!

They are referring to the Federally Manadated ADA paratransit program. Sadly these programs also spawn other programs that help seniors and convicts I actually worked for the one here we have in our area.

Nothing like seeing seniors and convicts spending someone else's hard earned tax dollars to transport them to the strip club or casinos

Hello everyone,

Wow all these responses are overwhelming. On the one hand I have someone that is judgmental and probably angry and bitter (trust me, I'm like that too right now) and others telling me some sound advice. So far, I had my first meeting with a counselor and now doing everything I can to get qualified so that I can get referred to this agency that specializes in helping folks with autism.

Hope they can help. As for the whole social media thing, if I can't get something, I'm willing to settle for HR jobs. I wouldn't mind trying something in music but we all know that the music business does not pay much no matter how talented you are.

Well, I met with them a few days ago. One of them flat out told me that my interview skills stink so bad that I'll never make it unless I can somehow get connections. (Which, of course, they have, for some things, mostly things I'm not the most keen on.)

I just find it hard for people who get week long vacations once every other month to tell me to suck it up on stuff.



What the people at DORS DO NOT know is that I have actually state legislators (from other states, alas) as my Facebook friends and I DO indeed have connections.

BTW, my mother did verify that this area DOES seem to have a higher than normal amount of abusive employers around, so perhaps I should get out of the area itself.

I work for the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation in my state. I do accounting and help with closed case files. Our department supposedly has a good reputation, both as a place to work and to get help. *shrug* I used to think it was a decent place to work.

However I went through kind of a rough patch with depression, anxiety, and sleep issues which resulted in me missing work. My boss never talked to me about attendance or told me I was missing too much. She also always approved my time off, so I figured it was okay. Apparently it wasn't because they were going to fire me, despite the fact that it is almost unheard of to fire someone with no disciplinary record.

They decided not to fire me, it's now two weeks later I still haven't found out why. Based on what I've observed and heard, I strongly suspect that they looked at my insurance claims (employers can have access to some medical records for various purposes, especially if they pay for your insurance. It also helps if they are a government agency that regularly handles medical records for legitimate reasons.) and found out about my autism diagnosis.

It's very weird working there for me at the moment. Still trying to get to the bottom of what really happened. No one's telling me much of anything. I hope I'm wrong. If I'm not, I think I may be the in-house autistic that they feel fantastic about employing to show off their "values." Sorry if I sound bitter! I worked for an agency prior to this that had a reputation for being hard on its workers and I was treated so much better there.