黑料正能量 Note: Working can mean the difference between a life of passive consumerism and recovery; being one鈥檚 own boss is not only empowering, but some individuals with disabilities prefer working at a pace and in an environment specific to their individual needs. At 9AM on Thursday, September 18, hear Can Truong and Len Statham discuss 鈥淢ultiple Pathways to Employment: Discovering and Creating the Job You Love!鈥 at the 黑料正能量 32nd Annual Conference in Kerhonkson.
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Entrepreneurships the Answer for Some with Autism
AP; AZCapitolTimes: 8/25/2014
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When Matt Cottle asked his boss to let him work in the supermarket鈥檚 bakery, she told him he鈥檇 never do anything more than collect grocery carts.
After six years of bagging groceries and pushing carts, Cottle wanted more. He had already learned how to do some baking.
Cottle is autistic. And today he鈥檚 an entrepreneur, the owner of Stuttering King Bakery, turning out batches of cookies, brownies and scones for cafes and businesses and groups that need catering.
鈥淚 was like, OK, I am destined to do something greater than that,鈥 Cottle says in the kitchen of his family鈥檚 Scottsdale home, where he spends hours each day filling orders. He generates $1,200 monthly. He named the business for Britain鈥檚 King George VI, whose struggles to speak were the subject of the film 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech.鈥
Cottle is one of a few known small business owners with autism, a brain disorder that affects a person鈥檚 ability to comprehend, communicate and interact socially. There are varying degrees of autism, but even autistic people with the greatest capabilities can find it impossible to get a job because they take longer to read or process information, or because they struggle to hold conversations. One in 68 people have some form of autism, according to government figures.
There is a growing movement to help autistic adults find jobs, but for Cottle and his family, the answer was a business of his own.
Cottle had taken training to do search and rescue operations. And he tried working in a bakery. Both times, he encountered people who didn鈥檛 understand him, and who ended up yelling at and insulting him, his mother, Peg Cottle, says. He wanted to enroll in a culinary school, but an administrator gently told him and his parents it wouldn鈥檛 work out. Four years ago, the Southwest Autism Research and Research Center, or SAARC, connected Cottle with a pastry chef who mentored him. In August 2012 he unexpectedly got an order from a cafe operated by Phoenix-based SAARC. At that point, Cottle told his parents he was starting his own baking business.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy as an angel,鈥 he says.
Changing attitudes
Many autistic people can run businesses if they鈥檙e given the chance to discover something they like and develop skills around their interests, says Temple Grandin, one of the best-known advocates for people with autism.
鈥淚f you get them exposed to something, they can get a career,鈥 says Grandin, author of 鈥淭he Autistic Brain.鈥
Grandin, who has autism, didn鈥檛 speak until she was four years old. In her teens, she was bullied by classmates who made fun of the way she spoke 鈥 she repeated the same phrases over and over.
鈥淭hey called me 鈥榯ape recorder.鈥欌 she says.
In her teens, Grandin was exposed to horses at a boarding school and cattle on her aunt鈥檚 ranch, and she began working with farm animals. She eventually created a business designing equipment for handling livestock.
People with the most severe autism aren鈥檛 able to work because their disabilities limit their ability to learn. But it鈥檚 only in the last two decades that society has come to realize that many people with disabilities including autism can work, says Paul Pizzutello, principal of Reach Academy, a West Harrison, 黑料正能量, school whose students include some who are autistic.
鈥淲ith many people with autism, it鈥檚 not their intellect that is a problem, it鈥檚 their ability to engage with their environment and manage social contacts,鈥 he says.
Inspired by a king
When Cottle鈥檚 parents tried to help him get a job, they explained to prospective bosses that because he is autistic, he needs more time to understand instructions. The companies either didn鈥檛 want to take the time to learn how to work with him or they assumed Cottle might do or say inappropriate things. He grew frustrated by the unsuccessful attempts to find work.
鈥淗e was at a brick wall before he started his bakery,鈥 Peg Cottle says.
Soon after starting, Cottle and his mother attended entrepreneurship training classes offered by Seed Spot, an organization that helps socially responsible businesses.
鈥淗e鈥檚 legitimate. The product he produces is the real deal. His disability doesn鈥檛 even come into play as far as I鈥檓 concerned,鈥 says Chris Norcross, general manager of building company and Stuttering King customer Mortenson Construction. He orders as many as 300 cookies at a time.
The Cottles recently moved to a home with a larger kitchen, one that will allow Cottle to bake more and increase his revenue. He wants to expand.
鈥淚 hope I can set up shop and hopefully start interning and mentoring other people with autism,鈥 he says.
A family affair
Autistic owners don鈥檛 run their companies by themselves. Support from family members to interact with the public, take orders and handle marketing and billing is vital.
Peg Cottle takes orders and does marketing for Stuttering King Bakery. Cottle is able to speak, but talking on the phone can be difficult. If a customer gets chatty and strays from the basics of placing an order, it can be hard for Cottle to understand.
Vinnie Ireland has little language ability but owns landscaping company Weed Whacking Weasel in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The autistic man does leaf-blowing, hedge-trimming, mulching and other tasks, and works with an assistant trained to help the autistic. His mother, Lori Ireland, handles marketing and billing. The business has between six and 10 residential and commercial customers, depending on the time of year.
鈥淲hen we tell him it鈥檚 time to go to work, he jumps up,鈥 Lori Ireland says.
Autistic business owners are much like other entrepreneurs who concentrate on creating a product or delivering a service, and delegate the administrative work to others, says Vinnie鈥檚 father, Gregg Ireland, a mutual fund portfolio manager and co-founder of Extraordinary Ventures, a group that finds opportunities for autistic people.
鈥淚n my business, I wouldn鈥檛 be marketing. I wouldn鈥檛 be able to keep the books,鈥 Gregg Ireland says.
Ireland鈥檚 parents wanted to find a way to keep their son occupied and to build his self-esteem. They got the idea for Weed Whacking Weasel because he enjoyed doing gardening.
鈥淎 small business is so flexible and adaptable, and it鈥檚 just suitable to solving our problems,鈥 Gregg Ireland says.
Overcoming autism and more
Joe Steffy is autistic and has Down syndrome, a congenital condition that affects a person鈥檚 ability to understand and learn. He鈥檚 unable to speak. But he has owned and run Poppin Joe鈥檚 Gourmet Kettle Korn in Kansas City, Kansas, since 2005.
Steffy loves to work, his father Ray says. His family didn鈥檛 believe teachers and counselors who said when he was in his teens that he鈥檇 need to live in a group home, that he wouldn鈥檛 be able to work because he has a short attention span and can鈥檛 focus. Instead, his parents looked for something he could do. They found the answer in a popcorn company.
About two-thirds of the company鈥檚 revenue comes from events such as fairs and festivals. Customers also include convenience stores and corporations that give popcorn bags to employees.
鈥淭here isn鈥檛 any job he can鈥檛 do,鈥 Ray Steffy says of his son. He pops, seasons and bags the corn. And he supervises five part-time workers, all of whom he helps interview before they鈥檙e hired.
Joe Steffy responded in writing to questions asked by a reporter. He said he loves his work and the independence it gives him.
鈥淚 have choices. I pay for things I love (skiing, swimming, flying),鈥 he said. Steffy loves taking flights, especially to visit his sister in Milwaukee, his father says.
But Steffy also feels the stress that any business owner feels at times. When asked what he finds difficult about being a boss, he responded, 鈥淭he intensity of producing (a) product when busy.鈥
He oversees the entire process of popping the corn, paying close attention to details, says Christy Svoboda, one of Steffy鈥檚 employees.
鈥淗e wants the bags looking presentable, like they come from a big manufacturer,鈥 Svoboda says.
Playing to his strengths
Although Christopher Tidmarsh graduated from college with a degree in languages, environmental science and chemistry, he was in the same limbo as other autistic people. A post-college internship didn鈥檛 work out because co-workers didn鈥檛 make the accommodations he needed, like labeling drawers where he could find supplies, or communicating with him through emails rather than by talking. Job interviews were nearly impossible because he needs time to process the questions and come up with answers.
鈥淧eople in the traditional work place don鈥檛 know how to work with people with autism like me,鈥 Tidmarsh says.
The solution was starting Green Bridge Growers, a company that grows vegetables in water, a process called aquaponics. Tidmarsh has been building the business in South Bend, Indiana, with his mother, Janice Pilarski, the last two years. They came up with the idea for the business because it would allow him to use the knowledge he developed in college and internships with organic farmers.
While the company is still in its early stages, Tidmarsh is already thinking ahead to expand it beyond its current one greenhouse.
鈥淗aving my own business makes me feel as though I鈥檝e accomplished something,鈥 he says.
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