Imagine yourself in your first job as a teenager. It’s difficult enough for the average person. Now imagine navigating through this scenario as an individual with autism.
Read his story at http://gulfnews.com/1.2081340
Read his story at http://gulfnews.com/1.2081340
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00:00Ewan is the youngest boy from three siblings.
00:03He's got two sisters and he's a towering 6'2'' tall.
00:08He's very fun-loving, he's very sweet.
00:11When he was four, he was diagnosed with autism, moderate autism,
00:17but lucky enough that he's verbal and he's high-functioning
00:23and he's very independent.
00:27It is hard to raise a child alone,
00:30so imagine me raising three kids and one of them is special.
00:35I had to face the challenges by myself,
00:38and from managing time with him,
00:40to learning and discovering available therapies for my son,
00:44to finding means and ways to support the expensive cost of therapy sessions.
00:48He used to go to the Biodiversity Center,
00:51and now he'll be moving to Integrate School for Special Needs.
00:55Ewan started this firm, I think, at the beginning of the year.
00:58So we started the journey together around that time.
01:02Everybody enjoys working with him, everybody enjoys spending time with him.
01:05He's very caring and warm-hearted, and I think that's fantastic.
01:09His empathy is very, very high.
01:11Also, I think Ewan, when he focuses on the work,
01:14he's very, very determined and wants to complete the work.
01:17I want to work because I need to earn money.
01:20I have a career to help my mom.
01:25Grant Thornton has been very nice and accommodating
01:28in giving a chance to Ewan to join them.
01:32Their team has been very patient in trying to work this together.
01:37In the beginning, it's a little bit difficult,
01:39but they now understood how it is working with children with special needs.
01:46They are very nice and friendly.
01:49They are very supportive and very understanding.
01:52Ewan, for me, is an employee, is a person that we want to give him an opportunity to grow and flourish
01:58and someone we believe adds value to our environment, to our society,
02:03to the growth of Grant Thornton as a whole.
02:05Ewan being part of our organization here,
02:07the amount of love and warmth that has been generated by him
02:11and has kind of touched and allowed everybody else to feel more human in the workplace
02:16has been phenomenal.
02:17The one who is handling Ewan, Hani Ish, has been very accommodating.
02:22He taught Ewan the ropes on how to go about doing his task on a daily basis.
02:29Ewan is actually very fast in his task.
02:32Whatever we give him, he does it just like that.
02:36His main job is processing the payroll.
02:39We do preparation of salary register, preparation of pay slip, preparation of year-to-date report.
02:45We try to accommodate lots of activities and social interactions
02:49so that he gets evolved as a real good gentleman
02:54and he adapts to the working environment.
02:57Ewan has shown a lot of improvement while working at Grant Thornton.
03:01He is now very conscious with time.
03:04He is very diligent with all the data entry and everything.
03:08Hopefully he will have a very long future with us.
03:10We would love to have Ewan with us as long as he is wanting to stay with us.
03:13As any other employee, he will continue to grow and be promoted.
03:17As he excels in his expertise and professionalism, so will his role.
03:22We wish him all the best.
03:24My advice to other parents with special needs is to never give up.
03:29This road is very difficult.
03:31It's very difficult to travel, but you will learn and gain the skills to survive.
03:40Resilience, endurance, perseverance, patience, understanding and love will always be there
03:48and will always be expounded for you to help you be able to take care of your children.