Norman residents receive commendations from Governor

NORMAN, OKLA. -- Norman residents, Jack Bohannon and Larry Enouen, received commendations from Governor Brad Henry and Lt. Governor Jari Askins Oct. 22 during the Governor’s Disability Employment Awards at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City. October is national Disability Employment  Awareness Month.
Bohannon was recognized for his outstanding work at the Mark Heitz car dealership where he has worked for more than seven years as a coffee specialist. His job is to make sure that customers and co-workers always have the best coffee waiting for them. When he is not making coffee, Bohannon also performs other needed duties such as keeping the car lot and the facilities clean.  Bohannon’s Supported Employment agency, ABLE, said he would work everyday if they let him and there are times when they have to convince him to go on vacation or take a day off.

Enouen has worked at the Red Lobster restaurant in Norman for nearly 20 years and shows no signs of stopping. Enouen is happy to take on any new task and with very little training he can do whatever is asked.  He stopped using a job coach from ABLE several years ago and has just recently taken responsibility for his work transportation by learning to ride the city’s metro transit. Thanks to this job, Enouen has become much more outgoing over the years and enjoys talking with customers.

“It is employees and businesses like these that have put Oklahoma ahead of every state in the nation at employing people with disabilities,” said Howard Hendrick, Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

“For the past three years, Oklahoma has led the nation in assisting people with developmental disabilities to find competitive jobs and become working taxpayers, “said Hendrick. “Today, 60 percent of individuals with developmental disabilities served by the OKDHS Developmental Disabilities Services Division participate in supported employment services.”

The Governor’s Disability Employment Awards are co sponsored by Governor Brad Henry and Lt. Governor Jari Askins, along with OKDHS/DDSD, the Department of Rehabilitation Services, and the Oklahoma Association of Persons in Supported Employment.

Editors Note: To see Oklahoma’s ranking as compared to other states in regard to the numbers of persons with developmental disabilities in competitive jobs (supported employment) go to, www.statedata.info/ (Link opens in new window). This Web site is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, supported in part by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under cooperative agreement with additional support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education.

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