Jeff's Story
"Good Jobby”
During August of 2007 Holly Ridge Center’s Placement Specialist Dennis J. Herzog made contact with the E. Bremerton’s Domino’s Pizza. Holly Ridge Center has been providing services to the community for over 40 years. After meeting with their store Manager Adrienne Murphy and the Franchise Owner Greg Keller (King Beast Pizza
and Domino’s), they decided to hire Jeff Jordan.
Jeff Jordan is a person who is Autistic. Holly Ridge Center’s Employment Consultant, Dennis J. Herzog had to negotiate with the employer to create a specialized position to accommodate Jeff’s unique abilities. This was a new concept for them but they were willing to try. The position that was create for Jeff Jordan was to support the day time opening staff to prepare the shop for that days rush of business. Jeff’s Autism created a perfect match for this position. Jeff does really well with repetition and routine. Jeff is limited on his verbal skills but when asked how he likes working at Domino’s he says “Good Jobby” with a big smile and thumbs up.
Jeff works Monday through Friday for a 2 hour shift. A typical day for Jeff would include restocking the various types of pizza boxes. This is an amazing feat to observe. Jeff has folded over 400 boxes during his two hour shift. Unfortunately for Jeff, Domino’s doesn’t usually sell that many pizzas on a daily basis especially during the week.
Jeff also restocks all the various sealed items used during the day. This includes the pop cooler, the various dipping sauces, packets of hot peppers and parmesan cheese. He also takes out cardboard to the recycle bin, folds towels, sweeps floors, cleans up the parking lot from trash, and additional tasks as needed.
Holly Ridge Center provided a job coach to assist Jeff at learning the various tasks of his job. Some of the teaching techniques included demonstration and lots of repetition. Jeff now comes to work and starts independently at his routine. Picture cards are also to guide him through the addition tasks for his shift or to remind him to do certain tasks that he only does occasionally.
