Charles began woodworking as a hobby and a way to relieve stress, taking weekly courses with a woodworking instructor at the instructor’s home studio. He started with small projects but has grown his craft, recently completing a full-sized walnut bookstand with sliding drawers and just began his next project, an adjustable bed frame.

Woodworking requires patience; each piece of furniture takes him about a year to complete. Patience and perseverance are skills he’s been developing through his woodworking classes. These soft skills are attributes that Charles’ instructor has put great emphasis on because they are also skills for life. “Stick to the course,” Charles says his woodworking instructor advised. He’s taken this advice to heart in his woodworking and in his employment journey.

Charles has Autism Spectrum Disorder, a complex condition characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. For Charles, it means he has trouble making eye contact and listening. He also struggles with speaking and figuring out sentences, sometimes having to internally plan what he’s going to say before he speaks. These characteristics made finding a job and interviewing difficult, and Charles sought out Beacon Group for assistance.

In October 2021, he began working with Vocational Instructor, Brittney Molinar, in Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS). Pre-ETS is a program that helps students with disabilities age 14-22 prepare for future employment. Participants have access to a variety of supports including individual counseling on job exploration and post-secondary education options, work-based learning opportunities, workplace readiness and self-advocacy skill development.

Prior to working with Brittney, Charles felt lost. It seemed that all his friends knew what career to pursue and how they would achieve it. He says, “[Beacon] gave me just a little more of a push that shows me where I want to be, or at least shows me a road where I want to go forth.” Brittney was able to tailor a program specifically to meet Charles’s needs, so in his case, they focus on exploring career options and developing skills for maintaining employment and relationships within the workplace.

The Pre-ETS program helped Charles identify his short-term and long-term goals and the steps needed to obtain them. In the short-term, Charles aspires to be a truck driver, a career his grandfather had and one that’s always interested him. He will soon enroll in training courses to obtain his trucking license. This short-term goal will lead him to his long-term ambition, a noble one that speaks to the type of person Charles is: paying off his parents’ mortgage and buying them (and himself) a new car. Charles knows his goals will take patience and perseverance, just as woodworking does, but he plans to follow his woodworking instructor’s advice: stick to the course, follow the necessary steps, and the goals will fall in line.