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Host Chapter: Halifax, Annapolis Valley, Cape Breton Region, Truro Categories: Adults

Employment: General Support

The Employment Outreach & Support Navigation team at Autism Nova Scotia is a part of the larger employment division. The team is made up of four Autism Outreach & Employment Support Coordinators (AOESCs) are within Nova Scotia; you will find them in Halifax, Truro, Annapolis Valley, and Cape Breton. AOESCs are coordinators who seek to connect working-age adolescents and adults on the autism spectrum (often referred to as job seekers) to community-based supports based on their individual wants, needs, and goals in relation to employment.


Ages/Life Stage:

15+

What Does an AOESC Do?

Autism Outreach & Employment Support Coordinators (AOESC) are available to support Autistic job seekers in finding what they need for employment in the community in which they live. The support can range from:
• Connecting job seekers to pre-employment and employment readiness supports
• Connecting job seekers to employment agencies for case management and career counselling support
• Adding job seekers to our Ready, Willing and Able Job Seekers Database
• Providing axillary supports, such as creating and updating resumes
• Refer job seekers to other support services within the community, such as: mental health, social programming, and more
• Provide connections to assist job seekers with their post-secondary studies

The AOESC adds each job seeker to a database after the completion of The Compass (a brief questionnaire that lets the team know what types of employment supports the job seeker is looking for).

The Compass: Your first step to getting employment support

To connect with supports, follow the link below to fill out The Compass. The Compass is a short online questionnaire and is the first step in connecting to your local Autism Outreach and Employment Support Coordinator .

You will be asked questions about your employment, education history and your experience with employment services and supports in your community.

If you are interested in accessing this service, please fill out the short questionnaire linked below. If you require any support completing the questionnaire, please email hleonard@autismns.ca.  

After completing the questionnaire, your local Autism Outreach and Employment Supports Coordinator will follow up with you by phone or email to arrange a time to meet.  

 

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE COMPASS QUESTIONNAIRE

 

To connect with an Autism Outreach Coordinator in your area see below:

Your local Autism Outreach Coordinator can support you in navigating your path to success. We can help you identify and connect to the supports you may need in the community where you live:  

  • to help you prepare for, and find employment opportunities 
  • to help you be successful in maintaining employment 


Annapolis Valley:  

Emelia Visca|Autism Outreach and Employment Support Coordinator
evisca@autismns.ca


Cape Breton Region:
Tracy Briand | Labour Market Facilitator
tbriand@autismns.ca


Halifax/HRM:

Haley Leonard| Autism Outreach Coordinator 

hleonard@autismns.ca


Nothern Nova Scotia:
Angela Ettinger|Autism Outreach and Employment Support Coordinator 
aettinger@autismns.ca 

 

Additional Information:

Autism Outreach & Employment Support Coordinators (AOESCs)

These four team members assist job seekers in obtaining and maintaining meaningful employment by connecting them to Autism-specific supports, if available, as well as to other relevant community-based supports within their region.

Haley Leonard

Autism Outreach Coordinator

– Haley supports job seekers in the greater Halifax area –

hleonard@autismns.ca 

ANGELA ETTINGER (she/her)

Autism Outreach & Employment Support Coordinator

– Angela supports job seekers in the greater Truro area –

aettinger@autismns.ca

EMELIA VISCA (she/her)

Autism Outreach & Employment Support Coordinator

– Emelia supports job seekers in the Annapolis Valley region –

evisca@autismns.ca

Tracy Briand (she/her)

Labour Market Facilitator

tbriand@autismns.ca

Do you identify as being on the autism spectrum?

Are you 16 years of age or older?

Are you looking for employment opportunities and supports in Nova Scotia?

  • The Compass is a short 10-minute, online questionnaire and is the first step in connecting to one of our outreach coordinators
  • In completing The Compass, you will be asked questions about your employment, education history and your experience with employment services and supports in your community.

After completing The Compass, a member of our coordination team follow-up with you by phone or email to arrange a time to meet (either in-person or virtually) to learn more about your support needs and work with you to connect you to post-secondary supports, employment supports and/or paid employment opportunities in your community!

If you have any questions about The Compass or the Job Seekers Database, please contact Haley Leonard at hleonard@autismns.ca 

When completing The Compass questionnaire there are a few important considerations that you should know.

  1.  Ready, Willing and Able is a partnership initiative between the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) and the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance (CASDA). The program is governed and managed by an executive committee and national team that we refer to as the RWA Program. RWA’s The Compass is owned by CASDA, an Ontario entity. RWA uses Simple Survey as the service provider to host The Compass questionnaire. As such, personal information collected through The Compass is stored with a provider (Simple Survey) in Canada.
  2. By completing this questionnaire, you are acknowledging that you identify as an individual with Autism Spectrum Disorder and consent to sharing this information with CASDA.
  3.  By completing this questionnaire, you will be sharing your contact information with the RWA team and consent to being contacted by a local RWA team member.
  4. By completing this questionnaire, you represent and warrant to us that you are: (a) an individual seeking supports and are not completing the questionnaire on behalf of any other individual without their consent and (b) 16 years of age or older.
  5. All personal information collected will be retained by RWA for the duration of the initiative. Upon formal completion of the initiative, any and all identifying information (including your name and contact information) will be deleted or destroyed.
  6. With your consent, CASDA will collect and use some of the data gathered in this brief questionnaire for research purposes. In collecting this data, RWA aims to develop a better understanding of the current employment and support experiences of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder with the ultimate goal of improving what employment supports are available and how they are delivered to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Any identifying information (including your name and contact information) will be removed from the research database, making it highly unlikely that researchers, or anyone viewing published research results, could identify you or any other person or employer on the basis of the data. This data would be accessible by the research team approved by Ready, Willing and Able and CASDA, for use in the broader evaluation of the Ready, Willing and Able initiative. The database would not be publicly accessible, nor will anything in it be used for non-research or commercial purposes.

It should take about 10 minutes to complete this brief questionnaire. If you need help completing this questionnaire, please email aoc@autismns.ca

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE COMPASS QUESTIONNAIRE

 

Privacy Policy:

The Compass Privacy Policy v. 2.0

Terms of use:

  • Ready, Willing and Able is a partnership initiative between Inclusion Canada and the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorder Alliance (CASDA).
    • The program is governed and managed by an executive committee and national team that we refer to as the RWA Program. RWA’s The Compass is owned by CASDA, an Ontario entity. RWA uses Simple Survey as the service provider to host The Compass questionnaire.
      • As such, personal information collected through The Compass is stored with a provider (Simple Survey) in Canada.
    • By completing The Compass questionnaire, you are acknowledging that you identify as an individual on the autism spectrum and consent to sharing this information with CASDA.
    • By completing The Compass questionnaire, you will be sharing your contact information with the RWA team and consent to being contacted by a local RWA team member.
    • By completing The Compass questionnaire, you represent and warrant to us that you are: (a) an individual seeking supports and are not completing the questionnaire on behalf of any other individual without their consent and (b) 16 years of age or older
    • All personal information collected will be retained by RWA for the duration of the initiative. Upon formal completion of the initiative, all identifying information (including your name and contact information) will be deleted or destroyed.
    • With your consent, CASDA will collect and use some of the data gathered in this brief questionnaire for research purposes.
      • In collecting this data, RWA aims to develop a better understanding of the current employment and support experiences of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder with the ultimate goal of improving what employment supports are available and how they are delivered to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

 

Angela Ettinger | Autism Outreach and Employment Support Coordinator
aettinger@autismns.ca

Angela is the first point of contact for individuals in the Truro region. She connects with job seekers and supports them in connecting to services. Angela also provides direct employment supports to individuals in the Truro area, and facilitates the EmploymentWorks pre-employment program.


Emelia Visca
 | Autism Outreach and Employment Support Coordinator
evisca@autismns.ca

Emelia is the first point of contact for individuals in the Annapolis Valley region. She connects with job seekers and supports them in connecting to services. Emelia also provides direct employment supports to individuals in the Annapolis Valley area, and facilitates the EmploymentWorks pre-employment program.


Tracy Briand | Labour Market Facilitator
tbriand@autismns.ca

Tracy is responsible for conducting outreach to community partners and acting as the first point of contact for individuals who identify as autistic seeking employment supports. Tracy also works with Ready, Willing, and Able to connect job seekers with inclusive hiring opportunities, and provides direct employment supports as needed.

Funded by the Government of Canada, RWA is a national partnership initiative between the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) and the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance (CASDA) that is working to increase the labour force participation of people with an intellectual disability or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The Inclusive Workplace:

The Inclusive Workplace is for people who are on the autism spectrum or have an intellectual disability. It helps them to find jobs or to work during COVID-19 and beyond. It helps companies hire good workers and build an inclusive workplace. It helps employment agencies support job seekers and employees too.

Developed in consultation with community organizations, individuals, and businesses, all of these resources are FREE.

Ready, Willing and Able:

RWA is a national partnership active in more than 20 communities across the country. RWA is designed to help employers discover the business case for inclusive employment for Autistic individuals and/or individuals who have an intellectual disability, ages 16 and older.

 

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