“Bottom Dollars Movie Chapter 06” produced by Rooted in Rights [NARRATOR]: Bottom Dollars [energetic electronic music] [NARRATOR]: Chapter six - "Yes, there were a lot." AUDIO DESCRIPTION: A van drives down a tree-covered street in Portland, Oregon. Minimum wage $10.25 per hour. ANDY (VIA IPAD): My name is Andy Owens. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Andy is in his wheelchair, using an iPad to speak. ANDY: A lot of kids I went to school with went into sheltered workshops when they graduated and left school. I said, "No way for me!" I was not going to go there. I started my job five days after school got out. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Andy smiles and points forward as his assistant pushes his wheelchair. ANDY: I work at Powell's Bookstore. I will have worked there for 15 years in June 2016. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Andy arrives at his workstation among countless shelves of books. CYNTHIA: I am Cynthia Owens, and I am Andy's mom. He had a near-drowning accident, which caused traumatic brain injury. It's also called acquired cerebral palsy because he was so young when he had that happen. He was in a coma for seven months after his accident, and then in the hospital for about two and a half years. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Photo of Andy as a baby, smiling. A tube is attached to his neck. CYNTHIA: The doctors didn't give me very much hope for him. They said, "You know, if he comes out of the coma, or when he comes out of the coma, he'll be a vegetable," and that was the word they used. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Photo of Andy as a young man, smiling. CYNTHIA: And I know all of those doctors are probably retired now, but I'd someday like to just show them what the results of all of that was. ANDY: My mom had a person centered plan done while I was in high school. We came up with all the strengths, gifts, and talents I have. Yes, there were a lot. [NARRATOR]: Person centered plan. CYNTHIA: A person centered plan is when you're really focusing on the individual, you have a facilitator of that person centered plan who knows how to do that. You'd usually try to get a group of people together who know the individual well, who can help create a plan that has a lot of positiveness to the plan, so you're looking for strengths, you're looking for what gifts they bring, you do look at their challenges. ANDY: We narrowed it down to things I might be able to do using switches. We knew I could control my head and that I could use a switch, then we just needed to find a job that I could do requiring a switch. CYNTHIA: With a person centered plan, you've got a list of things that a job developer or a job coach could take with them to really go out there and try to help that individual find a job. They approached Powell's, which-- you know, they went into Powell's, they saw how Powell's scans the books with the barcodes when people buy these, and what they had to do when they were selling them in the store. They talked to them about, "Gosh, we've got this individual who would be really interested in working." ANDY: I am good at my job. Powell's knows I am a dependable employee. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Andy in front of his workstation. His assistant operates the computer. Adam Henry, Andy's assistant. ADAM: I've been working with Andy full time for about a month and a half now. When we're at work, I log him in, read his emails, and then I get his iPad ready 'cause he likes to listen to music while we're working. ANDY: I scan inventory to be shipped to stores for online pickup. ADAM: His head switch comes in right here, he's got a little battery back here that powers his head switches. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Adam points out wires that run from Andy's wheelchair to a computer-controlled conveyor belt. ANDY: When I am processing the books, I use assistive technology to help me do what I cannot do physically. I use sensitive head switches that control my book loader and conveyor belt. The loader puts the books onto the conveyor belt, which brings them to the scanner in front of me. It scans the barcode on the pricing label, I verify the information on the screen while my assistant offloads the books. The books are then taken to the shipping department. CYNTHIA: He saw his older brother and sister go to work at his age, and that's what he wanted, he wanted to go to work. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Andy advances his book loader with his head switch. ANDY: I earn $13.95 an hour. CYNTHIA: Which is considerably higher than minimum wage. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Adam points to a calendar with the number of books for each day. (ADAM): Last year Andy processed 53,758 books. CYNTHIA: I realize that there's a lot of families who may not have opportunity with time to be able to do what we've done. This was not something anybody really taught me, it was something that we really had to go figure out, it was a lot of trial and error. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Cheryl Bates-Harris from National Disability Rights Network. CHERYL: We know how to support people in employment, we know how to get people with significant disabilities jobs, we're just not spending the money on doing it properly. [NARRATOR]: Vocational Rehabilitation. CHERYL: Vocational Rehabilitation gets money specifically to provide services to people with disabilities, so that they can obtain, maintain, or regain employment consistent with their abilities, strengths, interests, and priorities. CYNTHIA: A lot of what we've gotten has been paid for by Vocational Rehabilitation. CHERYL: There's no question that the return on investment for individuals who actually get real jobs and real wages is great. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Andy and his friends at a bowling alley. ANDY: I want to work because I earn a paycheck, buy things, have friends, pay taxes, get a discount on all the books I want, and feel useful. I value my job and know how I lucky I am to have a great job. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: A ramp is next to his wheelchair, allowing him to push a bowling ball into the lane. CYNTHIA: I think what Andy has taught me is that I can't hold him back, and that's what I was doing when I didn't think that he could do these things. AUDIO DESCRIPTION: after knocking down nine pins, Andy smiles. [slow electronic music] [NARRATOR]: Share the full film in your community. Host a screening. BottomDollarsMovie.com End of transcript.