When
you first talk with Kyle Mai, you might walk away believing he’s a salesman.
He’s friendly and polite, asks questions and seems genuinely interested in
what you’re saying. But the 34-year old Johnson County man isn’t in
sales----his job is assembling pens and spray bottles for the Alphapointe
Association for the Blind in Kansas City.
It might not sound like the best job in the world to some people, but Kyle loves it. It’s the first steady work he’s had in 15 years. He looks forward to going to work, and his parents are thrilled to see him so happy. To understand why, you need to know a little bit more about Kyle.
Kyle was born totally blind, with problems characteristic of autism. He went to the Kansas State School for the Blind in KCK until 1972 when the State Legislature decided that disabled children such as Kyle should be mainstreamed. Kyle was given an aide, but he still struggled in school.
Kyle’s mother Georgeann Mai remembers, "The schools all used a behavior modification approach, telling Kyle ‘If you don’t do this—this will happen.’ Kyle didn’t respond well. After a lot of problems we decided it would be best if we took him out of school." That was 1982---Kyle was 16.
He continued living at home, always searching for something to do. Under his parent’s guidance, Kyle began weaving place mats and rugs, which the family sold at trade shows. People liked Kyle’s friendly personality and would make a point of stopping by to place orders for Kyle to make. But the grind of traveling, the repetitive motion and strain of bending over a loom for hours-on-end forced the family to give it up.
For the next 15 years Ken and Georgeann Mai sought other opportunities for Kyle but didn’t really find anything that was feasible with his disabilities. He became his parents' constant companion, accompanying them everywhere. Kyle enjoyed starting casual conversations with other customers and clerks, often not telling them he was blind. He spent a lot of time recording music, listening to Chiefs and Royals games and listening to TV game shows such as "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Price is Right." But it was becoming apparent that Kyle needed something else, something more fulfilling.
In 1995 Kyle’s parents heard about Alphapointe. They offered a sheltered workshop for visually impaired men and women, allowing them to earn money assembling pens and spray bottles. Alphapointe sells the finished products to the government and private companies.
Georgeann remembers, "At first, Kyle didn’t want to go---I was his security blanket. But he got down there, met people right away and now he loves to go." Georgeann likes the way supervisors let Kyle and other employees work at their own pace. "At Alphapointe, they accept people for who they are, and what they can do. It’s exactly the type of low pressure setting Kyle needs."
He is one of 40 employees in Alphapointe’s Work Adjustment Center where the ages range from 16 to 68. The employees are paid by the piece. They earn $15.35 for every 1,000 pens they put together. To Ken and Georgeann it’s not how much Kyle earns, it’s the fact he can go to a safe place, has an opportunity to interact with others and is doing something productive. Kyle normally works five hours a day, three days a week. His first paycheck was $7.45---his largest weekly paycheck has been $64.74. "In the five years he’s been at Alphapointe, Kyle has blossomed," says his mother. "We’re discovering who Kyle really is."
The goal of the Work Adjustment Center is to provide basic work skills so visually impaired workers with multiple disabilities can enjoy the fulfillment of working. Some men and women in the Work Adjustment Center will eventually move to Alphapointe’s main production facility. Blind workers there earn an average of $6.70 an hour, with full benefits, doing a variety of jobs ranging from pen and bottle assembly to packing, shipping and receiving to working as machine operators, supervisors and clerks.
For Kyle, Alphapointe gives him a sense of accomplishment and a chance to make new friends. He talks with some of his coworkers on the phone, records music for them and they’ve even gone bowling together. After listening to Kyle describe how much he enjoys his job, you walk away knowing that the money given to Alphapointe, is money well spent.