A Meeting with Facetime
Aran is now working at the MotorCity Casino. This came about unexpectedly fast. He was sort-of working with the Autism Alliance of Michigan to find a new job, but nothing came of it, and I'd almost forgotten about them. Out of the blue, they called Aran, arranged an interview for him with the casino for janitorial work, and he got the job. (!) It all happened before I even heard a word about it! He went through training there and the AAM provides a job coach for him until he's experienced enough to work on his own.
A few days ago, they AAM called me. They needed to hold a meeting with Aran about the job, and they wanted me to give input. Unfortunately, the meeting was in Southfield (30-45 minutes away) at 3:30, and I needed to be in Ypsilanti by early evening the same day. It simply wasn't feasible for me to drive to Southfield, then all the way to Ypsilanti, and then back home. I thought about this, and then realized I was overlooking an obvious solution.
I asked the meeting coordinators if they'd be okay with me being there on Aran's phone with Facetime. It was fine with them. Technology to the rescue!
When Aran arrived at the building, I called his phone on Facetime and he propped it up on the table. Ta da!
It made for a strange meeting, though. It felt like I was watching a video on YouTube, and I had to remind myself that I could speak. It was strange for the coordinators, too. They talked to Aran most of the time and often forgot to address my image on the phone. Whenever I spoke, they whipped their heads around to look at "me." The connection stammered and stuttered several times, too, and I had to concentrate hard to work out from the fragments what they were talking about, but overall it went very well. It also saved me an arduous drive!
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A few days ago, they AAM called me. They needed to hold a meeting with Aran about the job, and they wanted me to give input. Unfortunately, the meeting was in Southfield (30-45 minutes away) at 3:30, and I needed to be in Ypsilanti by early evening the same day. It simply wasn't feasible for me to drive to Southfield, then all the way to Ypsilanti, and then back home. I thought about this, and then realized I was overlooking an obvious solution.
I asked the meeting coordinators if they'd be okay with me being there on Aran's phone with Facetime. It was fine with them. Technology to the rescue!
When Aran arrived at the building, I called his phone on Facetime and he propped it up on the table. Ta da!
It made for a strange meeting, though. It felt like I was watching a video on YouTube, and I had to remind myself that I could speak. It was strange for the coordinators, too. They talked to Aran most of the time and often forgot to address my image on the phone. Whenever I spoke, they whipped their heads around to look at "me." The connection stammered and stuttered several times, too, and I had to concentrate hard to work out from the fragments what they were talking about, but overall it went very well. It also saved me an arduous drive!
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