Young adults with disabilities from Romania, Lithuania and Portugal who have enrolled as beneficiaries in LEAD project make day-to-day progress, with the help of LEAD team, by benefiting from collaborative and partnership relationships developed by the partner organisations, accessing lifelong-learning and personal development programs available in the mentioned countries.
Tiberiu is a 25-year-old man, with hearing, physical and speaking impairments, but with a great desire to work. He is full of vitality, and optimism.
In order to find a suitable job, Tiberiu contacted the HAO team, and enrolled in the LEAD project.
Following the process of Vocational Profiling, Olivia, Supported Employment Specialist with HAO Romania, identified the young man’s skills, interests and preferences. She discovered that the young man loves cleaning and possesses cleaning skills; he usually gets involved in household tasks.
Because Olivia had doubts about his capacity to complete a cleaning task, she tested him by having him pick up sticky papers she scattered throughout the office floor. It was hard for her to imagine that he would be able to sweep the floor and have a “normal” working speed. She was surprised to see how, despite his seemingly helpless hands and his immobile back, he was able to fulfill the task with a smile on his face.
His desire to work, his plesant demeanour and his ability to make himself understood in spite of his physical appearance and apparent helplessness made Olivia feel that she could present him to any employer who would be able to see the person within, ignoring a superficial first impresion.
She identified SIMACEK, a company that offers a complete range of services in the field of maintenance and professional cleaning, in several cities in Romania and other European countries. Over time, the company has faced difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, so the management focused on employing people with disabilities.
Following her discussion with the employer and the identification of work tasks, our colleague visited the location and the area where, if employed, Tiberiu was supposed to be assigned to. Olivia took note of the set of tasks that the young man had to learn and the relationship with the supervisors. She also met staff members and the rest of the team.
The Supported Employment Specialist accompanied Tiberiu to his first meeting with the employer. She has mediated the discussion by helping the employer step by step, because the young man has severe speech difficulties, which sometimes make it impossible to understand what he is talking about. The employer was impressed by the young man’s great desire to work and the fact that he wants to do this in parallel with going to school.
The employer was conquered by the personality and motivation of the young man. Tiberiu also met his future colleagues and supervisor, as well as the respective sector assigned for cleaning. Everything he was told he would have to do, he received with joy and said he would do it well.
After overcoming his waiting anxieties, the first day of work went very well. Olivia has monitored his activity for two months, by talking on a weekly basis with the employer and almost daily with the young man, ensuring that there is not a single moment when his motivation, state of trust and interest would decrease. Tiberiu has adapted admirably within the team and with the supervisor(s) by making himself pleasant and sympathetic to everyone.
Through weekly discussions with the employer, Olivia has found out that Tiberiu slowly became the employer’s most trustworthy man. His attention to details and cleanliness was a real help for the company. The SIMACEK’s manager has got the benefits of employing this new worker. He has proven to be completely reliable and if asked to do a job, he would always complete it.
After employment, the young man has become financially independent; he has gained prestige at school with his teachers and colleagues who are now appreciating him even more. Although he is a young man with disabilities, commuting every day between two cities to attend to both school and work, he still manages to combine them brilliantly.
