Valerie Herskowitz never imagined she’d become an entrepreneur until her son, Blake, was diagnosed with autism. And though John D’Eri had several company launches under his belt, he too was motivated by his own autistic son to look to a new business model.
Herskowitz’s endeavor, The Chocolate Spectrum, grew out of an informal therapy program she had been running from her home kitchen in Florida. In 2016, she opened the doors of her new chocolate shop and job-training center to the public.
Nearby, John D’Eri, along with his son Tom, had launched Rising Tide Car Wash in 2013 as a means to boost the employment opportunities for his autistic son, Andrew. Today the enterprise has grown to two locations in Florida that employ more than 60 people.
Statistics show these kind of work programs are sorely needed. Approximately 80 percent of people on the spectrum are unemployed or underemployed. The good news? Herskowitz’s shop and D’Eri’s car wash are just two of a growing number of businesses working to create job opportunities for adults with autism.
Herskowitz met John D’Eri at an autism fundraiser. Through Rising Tide U — D’Eri’s related initiative that offers online courses to help aspiring entrepreneurs launch similar companies — she was able to turn The Chocolate Spectrum into a viable business.
“If we can really prove to the business community that there’s real value in employing people with autism, we’ll close the unemployment gap,” says Rising Tide’s Tom D’Eri.
Watch the video above to learn more about Herskowitz and the D’Eris — and the power of this new business model.
Tag: autism spectrum
Upstanders: Employing the Full Spectrum
John D’Eri set out to find a job for his son, Andrew, who is autistic. His journey led him to open a car wash where 85 percent of the employees are on the autism spectrum — and business is booming.
Upstanders is a collection of short stories celebrating ordinary people doing extraordinary things to create positive change in their communities produced by Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran. These stories of humanity remind us that we all have the power to make a difference.
This Professor Uses His Autism to Teach Others Like Him
In the 1960s when Stephen Shore was just a toddler, doctors thought he was so sick that they recommended institutionalization. Diagnosed with “atypical development and strong autistic tendencies,” he couldn’t functionally communicate until he was four.
But as Truth Atlas reports, young Stephen was special. Despite having autism, he was able to defy what many other people thought he was incapable of. At the incredibly young age of four, he could take a watch apart and fully put it back together. When he was in the third grade, he was reading books on astronomy completely on his own. And, with the help of his devoted parents and teachers, by the time he got into higher grades he was able to succeed academically in school. Eventually, he attained a masters in music at Boston University and later earned a doctorate in education. (Learn more about his fascinating journey in the video above.)
MORE: This Director Made an Ambitious Movie About Having Autism and Falling in Love
Now a special education professor at Adelphi University, Dr. Shore uses his own experiences with a learning disability to help people with autism live fulfilling lives.
With autism being one of the fastest growing disabilities in the country (about one in 88 children fall somewhere on the spectrum), educators such as Dr. Shore are invaluable to the autistic community because he knows exactly what it’s like to suffer from the disorder. He told Truth Atlas, “It’s my desire to share my personal experience, combined with educational, practical and research and putting it all together to do what I can to help people with autism lead fulfilling and productive lives to their greatest potential.” Going by his own remarkable story, he’s proof that anything is possible.