Leonard
Leonard is a 38-year-old male who experienced a TBI in 1986. The cause of the injury was a gunshot wound to the head by an unknown assailant. Leonard is a high school graduate with some additional technical training in the areas of food distribution. His pre-injury work history was stable and included employment as a driver, construction worker, furniture maker, floor stocker and cashier. At the time of his injury, he was working as a messenger for a large organization. His starting pay was a little higher than the minimum wage at that time and he has received several raises over the years. Leonard lives at home with his wife and daughter.
Approximately two years post-injury, Leonard was referred to a vendor of supported employment services by his primary care physician. At this time, a neuropsychological evaluation revealed strengths in the areas of remote fund of information and bilateral coordination. Low-average to borderline impaired performances were displayed on measures of immediate attention and concentration and immediate visual memory. Significant deficits were found on measures of arithmetic computation and reasoning, immediate and sustained attention and concentration, word finding oral fluency, auditory comprehension, spelling, reading accuracy and comprehension, immediate and delayed auditory memory, delayed visual memory, fund of information, auditory and visuomotor learning, bilateral speed and dexterity, visuoperceptual and visuoconstructional skills, common sense safety judgments, logical deductive reasoning and hypothesis testing. Clearly, Leonard’s problems with learning, memory, motor speed and dexterity likely would influence his work performance.
The employment specialist met with Leonard and his wife in their home to learn more about his desires and abilities. During these visits, she learned that he was not interested in working in a professional office setting, but instead wanted to work in a production setting that had a temperature-controlled climate. He also desired full-time work within a ten-mile radius of his home. The employment specialist noted that Leonard’s strengths included good physical abilities, ability to communicate clearly, his own transportation and a supportive family.
A general assembler position was located at a company that manufactures trophies. The employment specialist felt that this would be a good job for Leonard because it offered work during the hours he specified that he wanted to work, the job tasks did not seem too complex and the company was located near his home. Leonard chose to interview and was hired. A few days later, it become apparent to the employment specialist that the job was far more complex than what she had thought initially. The general assembler also was required to learn how to engrave, which was a complex task. Unfortunately, the true complexity of the job bad not been realized fully during the job analysis. The employment specialist discussed the reality with Leonard who chose to quit the job and pursue alternate employment.
Next Leonard accepted a position that required filling magazine orders. The task was very straightforward: check the order request for magazine title and number needed, pull that number from stock and bag it. Although Leonard was able to learn the task, after several weeks it became apparent that the production standard was very unstable, and on some days it was extremely fast paced. The pace past was so fast that Leonard barely could meet the employer’s expectations, even with the assistance of the employment specialist. The employer-who had seemed supportive-began to make comments about whether or not Leonard ever would be able to meet his production standards without the assistance of the employment specialist. After two weeks of training, the employer stated if Leonard could not work independently by now, he should seek alternative employment. Leonard decided to resign and a new job search was initiated.
A few months later, the employment specialist met with the human resource officer of a large grocery store chain. The personnel director referred her to a number of area store managers to learn more about the various positions and employment needs. During the analysis, the employment specialist decided that Leonard might be a suitable candidate for a bagger position. After a thorough job analysis, she met with Leonard and his wife to explain this was a good match because the employer was very supportive, the task relied heavily on visual cues and learning, it was close to Leonard’s home and the cashiers were required to assist with bagging as needed. Leonard decided to apply for the positing and was hired on the spot.
The job involves bagging groceries, loading bagged groceries into customers’ automobiles, performing price checks for cashiers and-during slow periods-gathering carts from the parking lot, replacing bags at cashiers’ station and cleaning the front area. The position offered flexible hours and paid $4.50 per hour. Leonard is on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and chose to work 20 -25 hours per week. After five weeks of training, the employment specialist began to fade from the job site. A total of 215 hours were expended on job site training activities.
Leonard has been employed for seven years. He continues to work as a bagger and also helps stock the floor periodically. The employment specialist continues to visit Leonard and the employer twice a month, requiring an average of around three hours of intervention time monthly. Over the years, problems have arisen which the employment specialist helped resolve. These issues usually surfaced during changes in store management and are related to communicating effectively with Leonard about his schedule and performing tasks outside of his normal routine. During the last follow-along visit, the employer indicated that Leonard is a dependable worker and is doing a great job. Leonard indicated that he still likes his job and hopes to keep it indefinitely.