Sulphur Residents with Disabilities Celebrate Work Success

Oklahoma School for the Deaf Senior Natalie Bravo counts afternoon snacks for each classroom as part of her on-campus job in food service.

Oklahoma School for the Deaf Kindergarten teacher, Student Government sponsor, bus driver and volley ball line judge Candy Tumblson wears her hearing aid every day to set a good example for deaf students.

OKLAHOMA CITY − In spite of a slow economy, 1,689 Oklahomans with disabilities began earning paychecks last year, thanks to vocational rehabilitation and employment services from the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (DRS).

In federal fiscal year 2009, DRS’ Vocational Rehabilitation and Visual Services staff also provided 12,431 clients with career counseling, vocational education and training, special technology, job placement and medical services – all intended to improve their employment opportunities in the near future.

OSD senior Natalie Bravo has sampled several jobs through the Oklahoma School for the Deaf’s Occupational Training Opportunities for the Deaf (OTOD) program in Sulphur.

The school is a division of DRS.

Bravo has helped on her family’s horse ranch, washed dishes at the Bulldog Corner restaurant, folded clothes at Wal-Mart and laundry at the Veterans Center, and worked as summer staff at the Loving Hands Ranch.

Currently, she works in the food service department at OSD. A cheerleader, Bravo is active in Student Government and earned recognition as chair of the school’s Deaf Awareness Week in Sept.

Bravo credits OTOD Instructor Gina McLaughlin and job coaches, Peggy Jones, Jason Sledd and Trina Ellis with teaching her necessary skills for each job.

“Other deaf people should go through a program like OTOD to get experience from on-the-job training,” Bravo said. “Employers need to give deaf people a chance because if you help and teach them, they will work hard.”

Another hard worker at OSD is kindergarten teacher, bus driver and Student Government sponsor Candy Tumblson. A Chicago native, Tumblson was the only deaf teacher at the school when she came to OSD in 1998. Today, there are seven deaf teachers.

“I love my jobs – I have lots of jobs. I love this school. I love these kids, and they love me,” Tumblson said. “That’s where my heart is – kindergarten, first grade. I teach language That’s what I do all day long, no matter what the subject is.”

One in six Oklahomans has a disability, while 325,535 working-age citizens face disability-related barriers to employment.

“Although we’ve made progress since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 20 years ago, nearly 30 percent of Oklahomans with disabilities were employed in 2008, compared to 70 percent of people without disabilities,” DRS Director Michael O’Brien, Ed.D said.

“There are ways of getting around differences at work,” Candy Tumblson explained. “If employers don’t know sign language, there’s always pen and paper. The video phone has changed the world as far as deaf people being able to talk on the phone to call people or to use the video phone like an interpreter to communicate with the boss or co-workers.”

As the employment agency for Oklahomans with disabilities, DRS can help employers with hiring and training costs for qualified workers with disabilities. The
agency may also pay a percentage of the new employees’ monthly salaries for a short time with the understanding that they will be hired on a permanent basis if they meet the job standards.

“We share the costs of bringing new employees up to speed, and employers can get a federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit of up to $2,400 for salary paid to each new worker,” O’Brien said. “Plus, many of our employers say they've never had more qualified, dedicated employees than those referred by DRS.”

Employed Oklahomans with disabilities become self-sufficient, taxpaying citizens, reducing the need for disability benefits, Medicaid and other social services,” he explained. “They also spend more money in the communities where they live and generally enjoy a better quality of life.”

“At OSD, I’m not disabled. I’m the same as everybody else,” Tumblson said.

For more information about educational program at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf, phone 888-685-3323. To learn more about employment programs offered by the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, phone 800-845-8476 or visit the agency’s website at www.okdrs.gov. The phone numbers are accessible by telecommunications equipment for the deaf.

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