Excerpt from the Air Force News Service
The Air Force Materiel Command’s record of hiring and supporting workers with disabilities is further emphasized by a Workforce Recruitment Program initiative for those with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum.
Autism at Work, a collaborative effort between AFMC and Wright State University, is approaching its third year. It is designed to give the college student, or recent graduate, the opportunity to gain work experience in a paid summer-intern work program as an Air Force civilian.
“Autism at Work is a one of a kind initiative with the power to launch a student or pending graduate into a work environment which might be otherwise out of their reach,” said Kristine Billings, AFMC Affirmative Employment Program strategic advisor.
Wright State provides the number of students who fall on the autism spectrum and have an interest in pursuing an internship and pairs the student’s education with the available summer Air Force civilian positions.
The AFMC Workforce Recruitment Program recruits a mentor for each intern.
“We like to pair each participant in the program with a mentor who has a relationship with autism, meaning there is a family member, co-worker or friend with the condition,” said Rebecca Traynor, Human Resources Disability program manager.
Mentors are not a requirement of the Workforce Recruitment Program, but ‘something we like to do’ Traynor said.
