Help Along the Way

Before I was an employee for STEP,  I worked full time as an Administrative Assistant to three VP's at a major bank in Memphis.

My job kept me very busy during the work day as well as after hours.
When word came to one of my bosses, that my son had been diagnosed with Autism and that I was trying to balance work with finding care, ABA services and other therapies for him, he called me into his office.

I knew I looked stressed, cause I WAS STRESSED with doctors, therapists, it was all so overwhelming. I could not find a lot of help for Xavier in Memphis, so Mark and I would travel frequently to Vanderbilt Hospital to their Autism Treatment Center.

That manager that pulled me aside was Dana Leake.  He told me to apply for FMLA, that I would use the time off to handle any issues with Xavier and although I would not be paid, it would not count against my work performance.

The burden had been lifted.  I was able to leave work on my lunch and take an extended hour each day to pick Xavier up from school  and drip him off with the ABA therapist and then return to work. I worked an extra hour each day after the office was closed to make up my pay and the extra time also gave me time to catch up on work while no one was there to interrupt me.

Because of this, I was motivated to work three times as hard. I gained the name "Kim Possible" and I loved my job and tried to make anyone and everyone that crossed my path, feel like I cared and that I would do all I could to help them. Mainly because I knew my own boss would do the same for me...;-)