John Comegys and his Tucson Job Club, Part I

 

I sat down to talk with John Comegys, the facilitator of the Tucson Autism Job Club. John "inherited" the job  club from someone else in 2013 and it has been going on and off ever since. John has a special education and rehabilitation counseling background, which is good to have if a person is going to work with the autism community. John also has autism. Being on the specutrum and being a counselor helps with advocating for members.

A visit to the online and in-person versions of the Autism Job Club will show that it is a peer driven support system with John as the facilitator. Between 5-15 show up to John's Autism Job Clubs.

Next week this story will be continued as I review John's book about how to start autism job clubs.

Support Group Announcement

 

Hello everyone, This week the support group will be Saturday 18 July 2026 at 1:00 pm.  This week we will be meeting at the Eegees located at 243 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ. The closest street is 5th ave. This week there will be an open forum We now have a Google Meet link for those that have an issue leaving their home. It will be up at this meeting. Please see this message's footer for the link.  See you then Regards,  John Support community location: 243 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ Community Office Phone: (520) 314-6896 Community web site: www.tucsonautismadvocacy.org Community  social   networking site: https://www.meetup.com/Tucson-Adult-Autism-Support-. Google Meet link: To join the video meeting, click this link: https://meet.google.com/hnz-opbt-mos

Special Event

 

The ARC of Tucson is having An ice cream social. This is a special event outside our regular support group meeting. The special event is located at 3520 E. Grant Road, Tucson, AZ. The purpose of this ice cream social is to commemorate the 36 anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act. You must register though so the ARC of Tucson has enough ice cream available. The link to register is https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeB7TP3UL7ODl-5xG_3sUoWCnqFxCRkqDYJv8gfew4xvaCqrA/viewform. Just copy and paste it into your browser window. The date and time is Sunday, July 26 from 2-4 pm. Hope to see you then. Take care.

Department of Labor 14c Certificates and how Issuing Them Causes Discrimination

 

Currently, if non profits choose to, they can be granted a special certificate from the department that allows them to pay employees with disabilities subminimum wages. This is flat out not fair. Ironically, this law is contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act is far from fair

14c came into being with a 1986 amendment that created a provision to allow special certificates to do such. The Department of Labor was going to phase out 14c certificates and canceled this phase-out on July 7, 2026 much to the disappointment of the disability community

According to the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities many of those working under 14c have developmental and intellectual disabilities, and that 14c  certificates prevents such ones from living independently

We may have to look to the states to protect those with disabilities for several states have already created laws to disallow subminimum wages for those with disabilities. For a list of 14c certificate holders click here. 

I am asking the public not to support any 14c certificate holder. It is unfair and down right discriminatory