Discount Store Employs People With Special Needs

[OhioChick]

PARMA, Ohio -- Cost-conscious shopping caused by the recession has allowed a new discount store to provide jobs for people with disabilities. Many of Just-A-Buck's 16 special-needs employees had recently been laid off from mainstream workplaces.

The only nonprofit Just-A-Buck franchise nationwide, the store in the Cleveland suburb Parma supports the training and placement of the disabled in workshops or workplaces.

Some shoppers said they like bargains and also like supporting store workers with special needs.

The store opened in April is operated by Solutions at Work Inc., an arm of the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Many of the store's workers had lost jobs from previous SAW placements.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/19758416/detail.html

:thumbsup:

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. K&R

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Great story...good people.

[MADem]

3. Many of the baggers and stockers at my local grocery store are developmentally delayed

They've been at it for years, they do a good job. They don't get bored and quit, either.

[dysfunctional press]

4. same here- both when i lived in chicago, and now in the suburb i currently reside in as well.

and they're generally much more cheerful than the...'normal'(? for lack of a better word) employees.

[KamaAina]

9. I always say "typical"

'normal'(? for lack of a better word)

In the autism world, the full word for the rest of you is "neurotypical" (NT). :P

[JerseygirlCT]

8. Mine too

They're actually often more competent than some of the other store employees. As you say, they take their work very seriously (unlike say, the store manager), and they're happy to be there, working, it seems, since they're also the most pleasant.

So who cares if I have the same conversation week to week with one woman? Or need to offer a hug to another older man? They're part of what makes weekly grocery shopping a little less onerous.

[MADem]

10. Ha ha ha!!! I actually DO have the same conversation with one of my favorites!

Every time I go shopping--it's a bit of a ritual, actually! And it is a rather pleasant and amusing one, too!

She is a young girl in her twenties, I'd say, who tells me about her favorite television stars, the ones she finds most attractive--and some of them are quite ... unique--like the late Johnny Carson and oh, Dean Martin--someone in her family must have the DVD sets, or something! And let's not forget Magnum PI and the Six Million Dollar Man!

I have to laugh because those old programs are ones I remember (some of them thanks to relatives who taped/mailed them for me when I was abroad) from the first time around.

She singles me out every time I shop (and I do shop a lot--I sometimes bring older people to the store) because I remember her area of interest, and can even recall watching some of the shows she talks about so enthusiastically!

[JerseygirlCT]

12. While it always gives us a chuckle as we leave

It's also something special that this one woman remembers my family and even some details. (Her routine usually goes: "where's your other son?" "At home" "Oh. Your younger son looks just like him" "They do look alike". etc.

Funny that it's almost always repeated, but then again, she remembers the family... how many others do that?

Then there's my other favorite, who's not at all developmentally delayed, but IS over 90! George can pack a bag like nobody's business. He must have amazing spacial talents. He gets everything in there perfectly, not too heavy, not too light, heavy stuff on bottom, etc. Perfect. Every time. And, if I'm remembering right, he's 91 now, and sharp as a tack. Love him.

[MADem]

14. Too cool!! nt

[TahitiNut]

5. "Some days, it's not even worth chewing through the restraints."

:rofl:

Ain't that the fucking truth!

:rofl:

[OhioChick]

11. ........

:evilgrin:

[NYC_SKP]

6. K&R and Larry King ought to cover something like this instead of the BS he has on tonight.

What life is like after "Idol"

And what will they do now that they've left, "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here."

That's the Cable NEWS Network, people!!!

:mad:

[MineralMan]

7. But what about the recent college graduates who

can't find a job? :sarcasm:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Sounds great...as long as they're paid well.

I'd love to hear that these people are paid a living wage.