Along with sharing stories and resources to mark National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we’re also spotlighting three recent TCDD-funded projects that supported people with developmental disabilities (DD) in finding meaningful employment in the jobs of their choice and that continue to make an impact in communities across Texas today.
While adapting to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, these projects (among others) provided job-skills training to people with DD and connected them with prospective employers:
- Best Buddies International coordinated career day events to connect people with DD with employers in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas and to spread awareness of non-traditional jobs and jobs that participants may not have known about before. The project demonstrated that job training and career development for people with DD are worthwhile and important investments for local businesses and school districts.
- Goodwill Industries of East Texas created a training program that provides basic computer skills and information technology as well as other employment skills such as creating resumes, searching for jobs, managing time, and more.
- nonPareil Institute supported people with autism in Travis County through technology-related education and person-centered training to build confidence, practice self-advocacy, and develop career goals.
