Daniel Shackelford couldn’t wait to graduate from high school. He watched some of his classmates at Krum High School check in late and leave early, taking advantage of senior in-and-out privileges to work at their jobs.

After visiting a Florida college, he decided the best part was seeing the ocean and that he’d had enough of school.

He was ready to find a good job and get his own place to live. But his first job, helping out at the Fish and Chirps pet store in Denton, didn’t pay enough for independence. Frustrated in his job search, he asked his mom for help.

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Daniel Shackelford pauses while performing his duties at Seton Medical Center in Austin. Shackelford, who is autistic, is a Krum High School graduate.

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“You’ve got to help me run away,” he begged her.

This month, 21-year-old Shackelford, who has autism, started his new job in Austin, working as a sterile processing technician at Seton Medical Center. He got the job about 18 months after he moved to Marbridge, a residential community of 200 adults with various disabilities just outside the Austin city limits.

Shackelford sanitizes nurse stations, cleans patient rooms and packages and wraps instruments and materials used to care for patients. His starting pay is $10.20 per hour.

“I like knowing that the instruments I’m cleaning and processing are going to be used to save human lives,” Shackelford said.

After 30 days, he’ll begin earning all the benefits other hospital employees earn, including participating in the company’s retirement plan.

He applied and interviewed for the job the same as anyone else would have on the competitive market, but Shackelford also received six months of on-the-job training as a Project SEARCH intern before he applied.

The award-winning program is modeled after a program launched in 1996 in Cincinnati. Jenny Hawkins, who helps create internships for Marbridge residents at Seton, said the program is a step up from what she was able to do before.

“It’s a very frustrating business to be in, finding successful places for people with disabilities to find long-term places of employment as they become adults,” Hawkins said. She almost quit before Marbridge was able to secure the three-year, $55,000-per-year grant that paid for Project SEARCH.

Shackelford and other Marbridge residents didn’t need favorable treatment from employers, with simple tasks like taking out trash or mopping, Hawkins said. But they did need some workforce training and accommodations.

“We tell them [prospective employers] we’re not here for your easy jobs,” Hawkins said. “We do well with complex, repetitive tasks.”

Hawkins focuses on networking with managers at the hospital, knowing her clients and bringing thorough, on-the-job training to entry-level jobs that otherwise have high attrition rates. The kind of work Shackelford does, for example, is difficult for his co-workers, who have trouble doing the same thing over and over again.

“But once he’s learned it, he takes comfort in it,” Hawkins said.

Project SEARCH interns stay an average of 5 1/2 years in the job after their training. The program has been replicated around the country, particularly in major hospitals in Florida and financial institutions.

One local nonprofit has been working for more than a year to replicate the program in North Texas, according to Julie Gebhardt-Brown of Special Care and Career Services. The group, based in Farmers Branch, serves more than 150 people, most of whom are clients of the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services. The nonprofit group hopes to get several clients into similar internships by the end of the year.

“We just got the green light from two of the businesses we’ve been talking to, Comerica Bank and Alliance Data,” Gebhardt-Brown said.

The financial sector also has many demanding entry-level jobs that make it hard to retain employees, she said.

“It’s a natural fit for some of our clients,” Gebhardt-Brown said. “These are repetitive tasks that our clients can learn.”

Employers also benefit from having employees who enjoy the work, Hawkins said. A Christmas party for one Seton employee from Marbridge brought employees from all over the hospital, who normally wouldn’t have socialized together.

“After just an introduction, he remembers everyone’s name and schedule,” Hawkins said. “He must’ve really touched them.” 

Through the years, Daniel Shackelford’s mother, Shirley Shackelford, has watched other students benefit from accommodations made in his classes. She thinks employers willing to accommodate workers with disabilities will see other trade-offs as years go by.

“The accommodations often make everyone more productive,” Shirley Shackelford said. “And our kids, they don’t talk about others or have hidden agendas when they come to work.”

Daniel Shackelford said he worries a little about managing his money. He doesn’t want to be surprised by an unexpected bill or fine. But he’s already thinking about what to do with his earnings.

“I’m going to look to find a home of my own to purchase,” he said. 

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.

ON THE WEB

For more information about two nonprofits that help adults with disabilities find jobs, visit Project SEARCH at www.cincinnatichildrens.org and Special Care and Career Services at www.specialcarecareer.org.