Pauls Valley Resident Receives Commendation from Governor

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Pauls Valley resident Tim Auwen received a commendation from Gov. Brad Henry and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins on October 6 during the Governor’s Disability Employment Awards at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City. October is national Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Auwen has worked for the past two years as a metal worker at MR Metals in Pauls Valley. Auwen takes great pride in his job and is excited about working 40 hours a week. He wears his MR Metals’ logo shirts to work each day and is always on time. His job is to operate the can crusher that is used to recycle soda cans. Auwen is a huge NASCAR fan and last year saved his money for a trip to the races at the Texas International Speedway. He says his next goal is to save for another race so he can hopefully meet Mark Martin before he retires. Having a full-time job has given Auwen the financial independence he needed to not only support himself but to enjoy the fun things life has to offer.
 

“It is employees and businesses like these that have put Oklahoma ahead of every state in the nation at employing people with disabilities,” said Director Howard Hendrick 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," Hendrick said. “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 Gov. Brad Henry and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, along with OKDHS/DDSD, the Department of Rehabilitation Services, and the Oklahoma Association of Persons in Supported Employment.

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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 http://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.