AR&C

With all due respect to Helene K., the director of ARC needs to have better judgment about who to hire as job coaches. He should make sure that they are competent to work with the special-​needs community, and that they know they are supposed to be job coaches, not babysitters. Competent job coaches do not make insensitive comments such as the aforementioned «zero tolerance for mistakes» crap (that is an unrealistic expectation of anyone, with or without a disability), nor do they otherwise talk down to, berate, or belittle their clients. It doesn’t help anyone. It damages client morale. If I could grade the job coaches that I had, I would give them an F, for failing to learn about how to work with people with disabilities.
Oh, and by the way, ARC seems to want to reinforce the stereotype that people with disabilities are not as capable as people without disabilities. It may be true for some of us with special needs, but not all. With all disabilities (autism, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, Williams’ syndrome, etc.), no two cases are exactly the same. So, Helene K., please pass this on to the director and then the clients will have a better experience than I did.
If you are reading this, Harry Von Loon, do a competency check on prospective job coaches. If necessary, give them a quiz on how to interact with people with disabilities (if such a thing exists, otherwise prepare one; be it True-​or-​False, multiple-​choice, what have you). If the prospective job coaches don’t get a certain minimum score, determined by you (for the sake of argument, 85% or greater) to get hired to work with clients. If they fail, they do not get hired. Their score determines their competency (or lack thereof). Simple as that.

Just read the poor review by Joey S. While I am sorry that HIS experience was not a good one, I have to say that I know ARC-​Long Beach from the inside out and it really is a terrific place. Most of the clients are not on such a high level as Joey, so it might not be the place for him. However, the director, Harry Van Loon, has been there for at least 25 years and I worked directly for him. He is the best! He truly cares about the clients; he is not in any glory job, believe me. He is a «roll up your sleeves and get it done» kind of Executive Director, very hardworking and ethical. The ARC-​Long Beach Auxiliary that helps with funding is comprised mainly of the parents of the clients. Therefore, the parents are there at the site on a daily basis, seeing everything that happens. It is BEYOND full disclosure; the staff works in a fish bowl, which means there is virtually no opportunity for anyone to do the wrong thing. The parents «police» the place themselves. Also, they make every penny scream for mercy, so if you donate to them, you KNOW they will put your money to the best possible use.