Empowered Employees

Today, I attended an autism society program called Empowered Employees. My brother had signed me up for this program, which aims to enhance job skills and provide job training to individuals with autism to help them secure employment opportunities.


The program consists of six weeks of sessions every Tuesday from 9:30 to 11:30. The sessions were highly informative and beneficial. We began with a break-the-ice game using tissue paper to get to know each other. Next, we played a game called “chit chat,” where we asked each other questions about our future aspirations, such as where we envision ourselves in three years.


Throughout the program, we engaged in casual conversations and learned about essential career skills, including communication, resume building, mock interviews, and talked about doing job tours scheduled in the upcoming few weeks. We also have a celebratory event at the end of the program.


During a quiet moment, my 10:00 alarm unexpectedly went off. James Brown’s “Get On Up” played, and everyone got up, started laughing, dancing, and one of the staff exclaimed, “Dance break!” 🕺🪩 One of the staff members asked me what song it was, and I laughed uncontrollably, telling them it was “Sex Machine” by James Brown. They suggested playing it again, and I mentioned that I was feeling good today, so we played “I Feel Good” by James Brown while we worked on our career assessment surveys.


After the session, we had Domino’s for lunch and relaxed for a bit before it was time to leave. As I waited for my lift, I unexpectedly saw Ms. Tish, someone I hadn’t seen since the pandemic. We caught up, chatted, and she even gave me some pizza and cookies from Valerios to take home.


Overall, I had a very informative and enjoyable session today. 



  • David Gillespie 

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