“[My biggest challenge in finding a job before using the Virtual Job Coach was] not knowing how to get started. [Using the Virtual Job Coach] gave me self confidence…and taught me how to find a job.”
Brent T, pilot tester who found a job after using the Virtual Job Coach
“[My biggest challenge in finding a job before using the Virtual Job Coach was] being nervous that I don’t qualify. [Using the Virtual Job Coach] taught me how to tell my employer about my disability.”
Kayla D, pilot tester who found a job after using the Virtual Job Coach
“[The Virtual Job Coach] placed the entire world of employment into an academic setting that I had never seen before. It moved quickly, it was very easily communicated, it was on a level to where I think pretty much anyone with special needs could understand and could relate to.”
Charles B, pilot tester, previously employed, who found a job after using the Virtual Job Coach
“I appreciated the way everything was set up and was geared to fit an autistic [person]. All those videos, all those texts, and you could just replay it...It also helped me remember and pay attention to what I got out of the website...Everything really helped reinforce what I actually learned.”
James G, pilot tester who is currently a self-employed IT Specialist
“The change I see in my students using the Virtual Job Coach modules is a change in their self confidence and self awareness. The students have really embraced their disabilities as a positive and have learned their strengths and weaknesses in the workplace.”
Leah Davis, Project Search Teacher, Fort Bend ISD/United Healthcare
“My students’ confidence level was totally different from when I first met to when we were actually finishing up. It showed even in the way they acted. They would say, ‘Oh, I don’t think I should apply,’ or ‘I don’t think I should go for that interview. I won’t get it.’ But after doing the modules, they believed in themselves. They said, ‘I can do this. I can make this resume or this cover letter. If it doesn’t go well, then it doesn’t go well, but I still have the skills I need to continue and keep looking for jobs.’”
Rebecca Moran, Pilot Coordinator
"For many years, I have seen students and young adults with Autism who have so much to offer to the world, but can’t get a job. We’ve tried to fit them into existing programs to learn the skills they need, but this doesn’t work. In the Virtual Job Coach, we finally have a program designed for people with autism, with direct input by people with autism every step of the way. We need this program in every classroom and every service system in the country.”
Maria Quintero-Conk, Ph.D., Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Authority Psychologist, Tri-County Behavioral Healthcare