The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation

Meaningful Employment for Adults with Autism

Grant Information
Categories Community
Location United States
Cycle Year 2020
Organization Information
Organization Name (provided by applicant) The Spectrum Works
Organization Name (provided by automatic EIN validation)
Secondary Addressee
EIN
Website http://www.TheSpectrumWorks.org
Contact Information
Contact Name Jessica Lee
Phone (858) 395-7886
E-mail jessica@thespectrumworks.org
Address
3579 E. Foothill Blvd. #220
Pasadena
CA
91107-3119
Additional Information
Used for The Spectrum Works respectfully requests a grant of $10,000 to provide employment readiness, skills training, coaching and self-advocacy and empowerment education for a minimum of 200 individuals with autism. To prepare clients with autism for integration into businesses, we implement a screening process to identify the best job match for each individual based on cognitive abilities and skills, and provide training and support for the job interview and the human resources process. Our organization serves as a strategic partner for corporations by introducing the business value of inclusion and neurodiversity (a diversity of minds) in the workplace to help change perceptions regarding what it means to have an employee with autism in the corporate workforce and identify employment opportunities for our clients.
Benefits Adults with autism are uniquely gifted, educated and qualified for corporate employment but are unemployed, underemployed and marginalized unnecessarily due to certain barriers that can be overcome. Our organization serves as the bridge that connects the employment divide - developing essential talent for corporations by leveraging the talents of adults on the autism spectrum and, at the same time, creating a neurodiverse workplace which benefits society as a whole. Located in Southern California, The Spectrum Works has been able to place autistic individuals with living wage jobs throughout the United States, thereby improving quality of life one person at a time.
Proposal Description

The Spectrum Works is taking a systems approach to reducing barriers to employment for individual talent with autism, creating equity for people with a developmental disability, and encouraging thoughtful business practices for inclusion.

According to the CDC, 1 in 54 children are identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Children with autism are provided with ample services throughout their school-age years, but upon graduating from high school/college, they are said to drop off the 'service cliff' because much fewer services exist to support them in adulthood. The skill set to be hired and successful in a career are highly social-based, which poses a steep and difficult learning curve for this neurodivergent community. Estimates show that 80% of adults with autism are unemployed. Furthermore, of those who are employed, over 50% of them are underemployed--meaning their skills are higher than what their job requires.

The Spectrum Works takes a comprehensive approach to workforce readiness and reducing barriers to employment for people with autism by creating a bridge between corporations, autism-serving organizations, and individual talent through the following:
1) Corporate readiness: Providing education for our partnering corporations. This training is key for businesses to educate all employees about what autism and neurodiversity is, how it fits into organizational efforts toward diversity and inclusion, how to work with colleagues living with autism, and how to build inclusive management practices for autistic team members. We support businesses to ensure they are able to accommodate for special needs and are compliant with government initiatives, including the American Disabilities Act, Section 503 Rehabilitation Act, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act;
2) Talent readiness: Candidate intake process, tools and training to equip persons with autism for finding meaningful employment. We screen talent to make the right match between job function and job skills, and to identify unique gifts and traits that autistic talent have. Training includes instruction on how to be competitive job candidates, creating resumes and cover letters, interview preparation, job-specific skills training and self-advocacy empowerment.
3) Job matching and sustainment: Placing candidates on the autism spectrum into jobs with corporations. We are working with numerous businesses and putting in the work to find potential job opportunities that leverage the gifts and abilities of our candidate pool. We expect to build credibility, gain traction and apply lessons learned as we continue to refine our work with different employers to maximize hiring programs. Current jobs for persons with different abilities include: engineering, software development and testing, human resources, customer support, data analysis, research, cybersecurity and personal banking.

With the increase in remote work opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been able to place individuals into positions across the country. However, our services are more than job placement--we are working to establish an equitable society that provides individuals with a disability with fair and equal opportunities for employment nationwide.

Funding from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation will support program costs to conduct the following:
1. Screen and assess youth with autism for skills, abilities, and interests to properly match them to appropriate jobs;
2. Identify appropriate workplace accommodations that will optimize function and efficiency, providing business value to the corporation;
3. Provide job readiness and corporate workplace training for adults with autism to help them assimilate in the workplace;
4. Provide on-going support and coaching for adults with autism and corporations to ensure sustained employment and long-term business value and growth.