Personal Plan
Career planning is essential for meaningful, long-term employment. It allows the person to identify what they are good at, how the strengths, skills and experience translate into possible jobs and careers and how to meet your career goals considering your educational and financial needs. The process involves:
- Self Exploration – examining your skills, values, experiences, interests and education (this is done during the strengths assessment)
- Occupational Exploration – researching occupations of interest
- Educational and Career Planning – deciding which jobs to pursue, determining what education is required (if needed), setting goals, and creating a personal action plan.
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Information from the Strengths Identification Inventory and Support Map is used in the initial evaluation to create a comprehensive, personalized plan. This protocol was developed based on recent research from multiple resources and is optimized for adults with autism. The completed plan will evolve to continue to support, develop, and ultimately grow along with the member as strategies are updated and the member progresses in different areas.
Learn MoreOnce the Strengths Assessment and Support Map are complete, a JoyDew team is established for the member that includes staff and a peer mentor. The team leader reviews both documents and develops a draft Personalized Plan for the member that defines the academic enrichment, continuing education, business orientation and the proposed skill trees and jobs to explore first, as well as how to accommodate any specific support required. A draft schedule is created, and a meeting is scheduled with the member and their family/support team to discuss the findings and the proposed plan.
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Once the member is settled into their routine, they are asked to create a "My Story" presentation, which they present to the rest of the organization. It provides background on their personal life, their interests, experiences and career aspirations. This presentation becomes the foundation for their online resume, which is typically done on LinkedIn.
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Throughout their time at JoyDew, members are encouraged to advocate for themselves and for the autism population as a whole. Assignments are created to prompt exercising this skill.
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JoyDew also recognizes that it is difficult for people to imagine a career for themselves that they have never witnessed. An important part of identifying what is interesting requires career exploration. For this reason, JoyDew takes field trips to a variety of different organizations or has visitors in different fields come to visit and present what they do. Members prepare questions for the presenters and are also usually allowed to connect afterward for follow up.
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