My Job Anniversary 2020 by Aaron Tanner

February 2020 marks a milestone for me. As of the 16th of this month, I will have officially been with Oral Arts Dental Lab in Huntsville for five years.

To say that this distinction is a huge deal for me is an understatement. Due to the high unemployment rate many on the Autism experience, I did not think I would still be at the lab after a year or two. Five years is the longest I have held down a job at any one location.

When I started out wrapping cases that were leaving the lab to be shipped, I was having a hard time keeping up with the pace, and I often had pretty severe meltdowns. Even though there were times I was close to being sacked, I am thankful that the manager gave me multiple chances to not only work with me but to get myself straightened out.

Today I am still in Shipping and Receiving part-time, but I now work at my own pace running work coming into the lab upstairs to different departments in the morning. I am also in charge of the employee newsletter, which has been so successful that I now have my very own employee e-mail address to correspond with different department heads about story ideas. Employees often ask me when the next edition of the newsletter will be released.

Being in charge of the employee newsletter allows me the chance to be involved not only with the company but the dental lab industry in general. I am now more confident in going to different employees and asking for story ideas or interviewing a subject in the lab for an article.

Although I may not work a traditional 9 to 5 job, I am doing a lot better than many adults who have the same disability that I have.  The company is now using my skill set of writing and research, something that was not happening when I first started working at Oral Arts.

Working at the dental lab encouraged me to try a side job as a freelance writer for Alabama Living magazine. It was after seeing my work with Alabama Living that the company gave me the green light to restart the newsletter after it had been on hiatus for a couple of years.

Although there are times I get overwhelmed and still need a flexible schedule due to my disability, I am proud to say I have fewer meltdowns than I used to by better regulating my emotions. Also, I take fewer mental health days than I used to. Now when I am having a bad day, I suck it up and go into work anyway because I don’t want to lose any headway I have made with the company by taking too many absences. Plus, walking while running cases to different departments usually get the endorphins going and puts me in an okay mood after a couple of hours.

I am proud to be part of the Oral Arts team and the opportunities they gave me to succeed despite my disability. Another good thing about the company is family-owned and has been for 50 years as of this year, which allows the higher-ups to get to know employees better.

Right now, I take each year of employment for one month and one year at a time. Some dream of moving up the corporate ladder, but I dream of being able to show up for work and keep doing what I have been doing for the last five years.

If you have any employment success stories, please comment in the section below.