Careers

 Since I was a kid I have always wanted to be an Ornithologist.  I would study books on birds, read field guides, and I would also draw birds and I would go on all kinds of birding trips with my dad looking for birds that I hadn't seen yet.  This included trips to Kentucky and Minnesota.   Loving birds so much quite naturally I wanted to be part of the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell.  

As a kid my computer interests also took off.   I loved to play computer games and in a lot of cases I also liked to take the knowledge of BASIC programs that I was picking up and write computer programs.   One time I wrote a program for a CIA Agent game into the Commodore 64 and I ended up for hours going line by line and trying to debug the program and get everything going write.  Every time there would be an error I would try to figure out what line it was coming from and I would go there and try to figure out the problem and also making sure that the code was written right in the the Commodore (the original code was actually written for a Apple IIe).  

My dad had a Commodore and a TRS-80 at different times.   Eventually a friend of my mothers sold her a. Franklin Ace1000 that I had in high school along with a lot of his disks, some of which had games.  I would spend hours with a particular dungeon game just rewriting the room descriptions and customizing the monsters.  During high school particularly during my junior and senior years I was in class at Kent Career and Technical Center.  I started with Graphic Design working on early Macintosh computers and then I ended up moving into the Automated Office program.  Because of ADHD when I was in class I would struggle to stay focused on my assignments.  I averaged a C coming out of there and graduated High School in general with a C average.  

At Community College my interest in computers really took off.   I decided that in addition to core curriculum I wanted to take a bunch of computer courses.  I ended up taking both Borland C++ and Visual Basic along with a class on MS-DOS and Windows Operating Systems.   Eventually I transferred to GVSU and started in Pre Computer Science.  While I was there I took classes in basic and advanced Javascript.   I really got into an assignment where I had to write a computer game in Javascript which involved droppings and picking up items and moving from room to room.  I spent hours trying to compile the program and get it running and ended up getting a C grade on it.  But my mind really just got into trying to get the program to run properly.   I spent hours at both the Downtown and Allendale campus working on this program.  Many with Aspergers go into computers and into technology related career paths.  I still would love to do something that combines technology and my interest in computer programming. 

Unfortunately I discovered the curriculum required Calculus.  My mother was funding my education and would not support me with this knowing that I was not good at Math.   I really wanted to do it anyway but could find no other way to pay for my tuition on that.  Part of me wanted to get a tutor and just wanted to navigate the difficult math courses.   I may in the future end up having to take a math course should I end up deciding that I want to go back to school.  And I will definitely get a tutor like I did when I was at GRCC and GVSU.  I believe I am capable of doing this and passing.  

At the time I was at GRCC/GVSU  I was working warehouse.  My journey took me to a Goodwill Enclave at first through Kent Transition Center and Michigan Rehabilitation Services.   I was working in the Rework department with several other kids with developmental conditions.   I had to learn to control my emotions and my Aspergers and ADHD because they were getting me into trouble at times.   Eventually I was able to find a full time regular job.   It was an entry level job and it was packaging fasteners and it was at first job coached.  Eventually the training wheels came off and I ended up working in this warehouse for almost 12 years and it was a lot of lifting and moving things and I became extremely strong.  Unfortunately after about 12 years the place closed its door due to monetary issues.   After a year on MARVIN ( the Michigan unemployment system) I ended up getting a job with a distributor for Joann Fabrics called Notions Marketing.   

As a whole when I was at Notions concentrating was tough sometimes due to anxiety issues.  And I am a very social person and love communicating with other people and getting to know folks.   Oftentimes they would have no talking days where talking would result in a write up.   I started in Fulfillment learning how to quality check products and make sure everything was right before the orders went out to the customers.   I made some honest errors in the beginning but gradually learned.   Not being able to socialize was a struggle for me.   It was hard for me at times to keep my mind on my work and I would get frustrated sometimes.  I enjoyed working with the people that I worked with though.   

Due to another condition called OCD that I was diagnosed with as a kid it could be very hard for me to concentrate because of some of the anxiety that would be racing through my mind.  In particular at this time it was a religious form of OCD that I fought with called scrupulosity.  I had no peace and my mind was constantly racing.   I dealt with a lot of guilt as well from things that had happened when I was younger and was dealing with PTSD as well which I found out when I was diagnosed in October of 2023.  After treatment this spring I can happily say that both are doing better.  Medication helps my OCD and coping strategies and Cognitive Behavior Therapy are helping me with the PTSD.   

I spent time doing both fulfillment and order pulling and it was very hard for me to make rate due to anxiousness.  As much as I loved my coworkers I was searching for something that was the right fit and I was wanting so bad to move up and be trained in other things as well, and I struggled with dealing with some of the barriers.  Part of it was my own fault because at times I was on and off my meds.  I have learned from the experience to stay on my meds no matter what.

The great thing is at that time I was losing a lot of weight and that I was able to go out biking after buying a new bike in 2019.  Trail riding really helped with some of the anxiety it helped me basically to take hours at a time get out into nature and get my focus away from what was going on in the world and get it on Jesus.  I would frequently ride alone or I would ride with a friend of mine from my church.  

Quality wise I really found my forte the last year that I was at  Notions due to the fact that I was in their shipping department and learned to assemble skids and stack the back of trucks as well.   Trucks was like working a Tetris puzzle because everything had to be precisely stacked in a certain manner.  Fortunately I had great supervisors and Coworkers who showed me the way that it was supposed to be done and that were patient with me.  With the Aspergers ADHD combo I sometimes tend to get frustrated very easily and throw up my hands.  Autistic people have strengths and thank God there are job organizations that have a focus on placing them in the right places.   I knew God had a plan for my life and a specific place where I was going to be able to use all my skills and talents. 

Change come in 2021.  My supervisors that I looked up to left Notions and went to a company called Tech Defenders and they extended me an invitation to check it out.  I took a look at the Job 

I do well in warehouse invironments but as a whole given the way my mind is very technical I have a preference for doing jobs that involve quality control or finding errors.  This is why I did so well at Tech Defenders for 3 years.   I was able to identify anomalies in computers and hone my skills at quality control.   Grading computers took a bit to learn but gradually I was getting to the point where I was able to keep my quality up.  And I enjoyed talking games and talking fantasy and just being goofy with my coworkers at TD.   Part of me at the time was exploring getting into the field of health care though.  

You see, between my jobs at the fastener company and Notions Marketing I had spend a month and a half in inpatient at Pine Rest because of OCD and anxiety had brought me to the point of just wanting to give up on my life.  It was like it was ongoing and it would not go away.   After med changes and therapy during inpatient services I was able to get back out into the world but my experience in the Pine Rest inpatient unit changed how I look at things.  I developed a passion to want to either work with autism or to work in mental health.   That drove me for a long time and I would fill out application after application and I was constantly being rejected.  There were a few times applying for Peer Support Roles while at Tech Defenders that I finally ended up getting interviews with people.   I started applying for Behavior Tech roles as well.  

This spring I had the opportunity to apply for some internal roles at Tech Defenders for a seasonal position.  At the end I had to learn to cope with rejection and it was during this period in early may that I had an interview with Merakey for a job as a Behavior Technician and I was offered the position.   Presently I am learning to work therapy with autistic people while at the same time exploring getting back into Tech Defenders part time working some kind of position.  I want to be able to do both, work computers and work with autistic kids (see my blog on working as a behavior tech on the spectrum).  

I have been watching some videos by Dr. Tony Attwood over the past couple of days and he is an authority on Aspergers Syndrome, my type of autism.   There is hope because there are so many companies that are recognizing the skills of people on the spectrum.  I just wanted to share some of that with you and also share of the things that can become barriers.  

I believe there is hope for everyone.  I believe that there is a place for every person with autism and I want to continue to see companies looking at the potential of kids on the spectrum and saying "These kids are special, they have these great abilities that we can utilize".  Because a lot of kids do have strong abilities and they just need to be channeled.  

God bless.