He was very quiet and unsure of himself at first, but Doug quickly progressed nicely and moved up to a grill cook and began running a cash register and taking customer orders. He began cleaning tables, emptying trash, and dishwashing at the store’s “Purple Cow” restaurant. has been working at the Meijer grocery store in Fort Wayne, IN for over 20 years! In September 1997, when Doug was fresh out of high school, he worked with Benchmark’s employment services division to secure the job at Meijer. “This Santa deserves to be recognized for his willingness to tube feed my little guy so that he felt included in sharing cookies with Santa!” said Austin’s mother Beth, “People are learning and seeing that there are all different kinds of disabilities, and that kids can be treated normally.”ĭoug B. Santa warmly shared in the moment, pouring formula “milk” through Austin’s G-tube as he munched on a gingerbread man. After the siblings took pictures together, Austin’s mom asked Santa if he could share some milk and cookies with her son. To commemorate this growth milestone, Austin, his sister, and mother all went to visit Santa. He is now taking most nutrition orally and receives only supplemental feedings via his G-tube. After several failed swallow studies and multiple surgeries, Austin was finally cleared to begin oral feeding this past year. He has struggled with feeding dysfunction his entire life, has had several hospitalizations related to aspiration pneumonia, and has spent most of his life receiving complete nutrition and medications via his G-tube. Austin graduated from the program in November of 2018. Long before Austin met Santa, he met nurses from Benchmark’s HomePointe HealthCare program, when they began serving him in 2015. Many of you may have seen the Today Show article that highlighted a mall Santa who shared his milk and cookies with a boy named Austin at Fort Wayne, Indiana’s Glenbrook Square Mall. My resolution for this New Year is to eat healthy and get plenty of rest so that I’m available for those I support. The most challenging part of my job is when a person I support is upset, but I try to help them to understand that it’s okay to express his or her feelings. Knowing that they went home happy at the end of my shift makes my job rewarding. The best part of the job is being with those I support, helping them to have a smooth and happy day. Not being able to always understand what my clients want/need.
Seeing my client’s faces light up when I take them out in the community. Kiesha Walker, DSP, Supported Living, Fort Wayne, IN I also want to focus on teaching/showing my 2 daughters the importance of approaching life in a positive light! I am looking forwarded to continuing my path to receiving my masters in applied behavioral analysis so that I can better assist my families of children with autism and other behavioral concerns. I feel we are life-long learners and need to be open and willing to learn new things. My New Year’s Resolution is to continue bettering myself as a person. When a parent is unwilling to follow through with services it is difficult for me because as much as I want to help their family they need to be ready to accept the help we can provide. Working in early intervention you come to realize that the earlier services are started the better it is for a child. The most challenging part is giving parents who are not ready to accept help the space they need to reflect and digest their child’s delay. What is the most challenging part of your job? It brings me great joy as a service coordinator following up with families and seeing how they are thriving and knowing that I have empowered them to be an advocate for their child. As their coordinator I need to be empathetic and understanding of this and assist them in navigating obtaining services and additional resources. When a family comes to Early Steps they are coming because they have a concern about their child’s development - this is a sensitive and difficult position to be in as a parent. It is my job to make the families on feel comfortable and confident in the decisions they will be making for their child. As a service coordinator, I am their first point of contact into the world of early intervention and understanding what we do at Early Steps. The best part is the impact I have on the families we serve. Melissa Martinez, Service Coordinator, Early Steps program, Florida Enjoy, and please share any stories you would like to include in a future issue with Courtney Heiser or Simon May! Welcome to the electronic edition of Thrive, the Benchmark employee newsletter.
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