VOA常速英语2019--特殊需求，特殊工作（在线收听）

Special Needs, Special Jobs

And you just walk, and spread it around. This is my favorite task!

你只要走着，把它撒在周围。这是我最喜欢的工作！ 

We employ people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and we offer them a welcoming community.

我们雇佣有智力与发展障碍的人，为他们提供一个友好的社区。 

We also grow organic vegetables along the way, and through all of that, we teach our growers basic employment skills.

我们也种植有机蔬菜，通过这些，我们教授种植者基本的就业技能。 

Jack, why do we start our seeds in trays?

杰克，我们为什么要把种子种在托盘里? 

So they can grow faster.

这样它们就能长得更快。 

Then what do we do?

然后我们该怎么做？ 

Put them outside when they are partially grown.

当它们长出一些的时候，把它们放到外面。 

Yeah!

好的！ 

I’m always showing the employees how to do everything step-by-step.

我总是一步一步地向员工展示如何完成每件事。 

So, I really try to stick with it until they fully understand.

所以，我真的努力坚持这样做，直到他们完全理解。 

Then, I slowly back off and my goal is to get to the point where I can be, like, all right, so and so, can you please go transplant.

然后，我慢慢地放手让他们去做，我的目标是到达这种程度，就像是，好的，那个谁谁谁，你能移植了吗？

They know how to get their tray and what tools they need.

他们知道如何在托盘中种植以及他们需要什么工具。 

Other days, we just have to get the job done. Like today we had to spread seed though it’s raining, but we had to do it.

其他时候，我们只需要完成工作。就像今天我们必须播种，尽管下雨了，但是我们必须做。 

I am a big fan of chickens. Clean coops out, get eggs and get fresh water. I have a big coop at home, like 10 chickens.

我对鸡很感兴趣。打扫鸡舍，拾鸡蛋和喂给鸡水。我家里有一个大的鸡舍，大概有10只鸡。 

He does love it. He loves to get his hands dirty. He likes to be involved. With that comes success. When he plants something and he sees it growing, he’s very proud of himself.

他确实很喜欢。他喜欢干活把手弄脏。他喜欢参与其中。随之而来的是这方面的成功。当他种下某些东西，看到它成长时，他为自己感到非常自豪。

This is buckwheat, which is a quick growing cover crop.

这是荞麦，一种快速生长的覆盖作物。 

Feed the soil.

给土壤提供肥料。 

So, 2015 we spent that year learning how to farm.

所以，2015年我们花了一年时间学习如何种地。 

So, I signed up for all those classes, beginning farmer classes, how to get your hands dirty, the financial part of things.

所以，我报名参加了所有那些课程，农民入门课程，如何让你的手变脏的实践课程，财务方面的课程。

And then, I read a lot of books, and we spent our first year just experimenting and throwing a lot of seeds in the ground.

然后，我阅读了大量书籍，第一年我们只是做试验，把很多种子撒在地上。 

We have a severely autistic child named Max, our son.

我们有一个患有严重自闭症的孩子，名叫麦克斯，是我们的儿子。 

Max is 11 years old, turning 12 in November. He is a high-energy boy. He’s nonverbal.

麦克斯今年11岁，11月份就满12岁了。他是个精力充沛的男孩。他不用语言和人沟通。 

Being out here also gives him an opportunity to burn off some of his energy in a way that we couldn’t give him, when we lived in the middle of Washington D.C.

来到这里也给了他一个机会来消耗他的精力，以一种我们无法给予的方式，因为当时我们住在华盛顿特区中心。

So, Max was the inspiration for the farm, but he wasn’t the whole reason we did the farm.

所以，麦克斯是农场的灵感来源，但他不是我们建造农场的全部原因。 

People with those developmental, intellectual disabilities have an over 80 percent unemployment rate and we’re trying to change that.

那些有智力与发展障碍的人的失业率超过百分之八十，我们正在努力改变这一状况。 

When people are not in the employment picture, you know, they end up being socially isolated as I mentioned, and it also puts a financial burden on families.

当人们没有工作的时候，你知道的，他们最终会被社会孤立，正如我提到的那样，而且它也会给家庭带来了经济负担。

Sprinkle fertilizer on top.

在上面撒上肥料。 

Yeah. Why do we add fertilizer?

好的。我们为什么要施肥？ 

So this thing can grow.

这样它就可以生长。 

Farming really helps people with developmental, intellectual disabilities,

耕种真的能够帮助到有智力与发展障碍的人， 

because it’s a lot of small tasks that you need to do with your hands, which a lot of people might not have great hand-eye coordination or something like that,

因为它是许多你需要动手操作的小任务，很多人可能没有很好的手眼协调能力或者类似的， 

and it’s also a lot of fine motor skills which can also be really difficult.

而且它也涉及很多精细动作，那也是很困难的。 

They can learn that, all right, the world maybe set up this way, but I can make accommodations for myself.

他们可以了解到，好吧，世界可能是以这样的方式建立的，但我可以自我调节。 

I can go outside the box and create a tool that’s going to help me get the job done no matter what.

我可以跳出条条框框，创造出一个帮我完成工作的工具，不论它是什么。 

Hey Josh, want to give me a hand with the goats?

嘿，乔希，想帮我一把，处理一下山羊吗？ 

We want to be a stepping-stone. If somebody wants to continue to work here, that’s great, but if they get another job outside here, we’re thrilled.

我们想成为一个跳板。如果有人想继续在这里工作，那很好，但如果他们在这之外找到另一份工作，我们会很高兴。

We moved out here to, kind of, build our own tribe and surround ourselves with similar people and I think we’ve succeeded in that.

我们搬到这里来建造自己的部落，让自己身边都是和我们差不多的人，我想我们已经成功了。