Partnership Educators,
Autism is a developmental disorder that can affect how the brain processes information. People with autism have a spectrum of abilities and disabilities. Some are unable to speak, or care for themselves, while others can live on their own and have skills of excellent memory or attention to detail. Many people with autism also struggle with social interactions or communications. They don't often get social cues correct nor react to back and forth conversations.
Erik Rolan has a bachelor's degree in sociology but yet he couldn't get a job. "I just kept receiving one rejection after the other," Erik says. Erik is autistic and he just couldn't get past the interview process to be considered. "I felt useless. I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere with life."
Step in David Friedman. David has a son who is autistic and was seeing a pattern. He recognized that once a child with autism turns 18 or 21 they end up with few or no options. "What ends up happening is they transition from a structured school setting into their parents' house with really very few prospects." David also stated that this isn't what he thought would happen with this son, "He's really talented with numbers, really good with detail, so we figured that there had to be jobs out there for him. What we found was horrifying. Like there's - there are no jobs." Mr. Friedman also noticed that in his current work there were lots of data errors that were costing companies money. He started Autonomy Works and specifically targeted people with disabilities. Autonomy Works employees monitor more than 2,300 websites a month for accuracy and quality. Friedman says their extreme attention to detail has led to a 90% reduction in product and pricing errors. They are so good at sustaining focus, productivity is up 30%.
Sarah Klaich, an employee of Autonomy Works and who is autistic herself, said it well, "The lack of or the ability to communicate doesn't equal intelligence." Many large companies are now changing their hiring practices in order to accommodate and hire the best people for their jobs regardless of outward appearance.
I am very proud of our partnership for its continued work to learn about each and every child to help them use their unique gifts while they learn. As major companies are finding out now, the accommodations that we put in place to support the rise of each child's gifts will help us all discover the power within all the students we work with.
Update: The health and safety of our students and staff have been and always will be our highest priority. Turtle Bay School has had and continues to have COVID cases of students and staff on the Turtle Bay campus which have required multiple classes to be quarantined. With an increase in pending Covid-19 cases at the school, it is out of an abundance of caution for students and staff that the decision has been made to move to a Distance Learning platform starting Monday, November 9th through Friday, November 20th. This is for the Turtle Bay Campus Only. Staff and students at Turtle Bay School will return to in-person instruction on Monday, November 30th, 2020 after the Thanksgiving Break (November. 23rd - 27th).
have a fantastic weekend,
Rob