All the fun of the Circus - Cerebral Palsy League

Pictured: Jenny and Tye Stephenson with AccessServices Job Development Offi cer, Quita Brown.Access builds towards Tye’s dream jobTYE Stephenson dreams of oneday owning his own plaster boardbusiness and he’s already movingin the right direction thanks to a littlehelp from Access Employment.Access Employment is a divisionof the Cerebral Palsy League ofQueensland that assist peoplewho have a disability to exploretheir employment options.Tye, who is 16 years old, registeredwith Access Employment’sCaboolture offi ce six months agoafter deciding to leave school toseek an apprenticeship.Tye has attention-defi cithyperactivity disorder whichboarders on Asperger’s Syndrome,a disability that effects socialinteraction and concentration.“Access was recommended tous by Tye’s school,” Tye’s MotherJenny Stephenson said. “It’ beengreat dealing with Access asthey understood the challengesassociated with Tye’s disability”.“It was hard at fi rst...but I wanted to get ajob so I stuck with it”Once Tye was registered with theservice, he was matched up withJob Development Offi cer, QuitaBrown who guided him throughfi ve weeks of assessment andtraining - including job seeking,resume building and interviewtechniques.“It was hard at fi rst and I felt like Iwas back at school, but I wantedto get a job so I stuck with it”, Tyesaid.After a short time Tye was luckyenough to be offered a job as aplaster boarding apprentice withScooter Commercial, which heenthusiastically took up.Adjusting to full time work and anew environment was diffi cult forTye at first.“It was really hectic at the start withthe blokes at work really testingme. As I learnt the job and workedout strategies to solve problemsit started to ease up. They’re allreally good guys now,” Tye sayswith a smile on his face.It is expected that Tye will facemany challenges throughoutthe apprenticeship process andAccess Employment will be thereevery step of the way to provideongoing support.“We are in the process of organisingtuition support with his TAFEmodules to help with his numeracyand literature diffi culties” saidJob Development Offi cer, QuitaBrown.Tye continues to grow at his newjob and is enjoying learning newthings everyday. He has ambitionsof saving for a house and a car.One day he may even achieve thatdream of owning his own plasterboarding business.For more information about Access Employment Services, a division of theCerebral Palsy League log onto www.accessemployment.org.auPage 8 - League News Volume 31 Edition 4, 2007