Seven years ago, a brilliant student in my introductory writing course forever changed the way I teach. She was an animation major with an incredible eye for detail. Over the course of the semester, she turned in pages and pages of image-rich writing that crackled with life. Her final portfolio of writing even included a four-minute short film she made based on a piece she wrote in class. I’d never had a student go this far beyond an assignment before. The extra care she put into her work was exceptional. Halfway through the semester, I learned she was on the autism spectrum, but as the semester continued, I realized that her diagnosis was more like a superpower than a disability.
Today, my former student has a master’s degree, owns her own business and has built a successful career in the animation industry. She even mentors other young animators who are on the spectrum. Working with her that semester showed me that when I give students with or without disabilities the proper support and the space to be themselves, magic happens.
The following semester, I took a course about teaching students with disabilities and learned about “people-first language,” which is a way of speaking that prioritizes the person over their disability or diagnosis. It describes what a person has, rather than who they are, and avoids labels or adjectives that define someone. As an educator who has always put his students first, learning about how people-first language honors a person’s dignity and humanizes them over any stigmatizing condition encouraged me to double down on my practice of revering each student individually in all their respective glory.
In the last six years, I have had nearly two dozen students on the spectrum, and I have seen how capable they are — inside and beyond the classroom — when given the right tools and encouragement. Fortunately, several organizations across Southern California are assisting neurodiverse adults in finding work and building sustainable careers.
Here are a few groups doing this important work.
The Help Group
The Help Group is a Sherman Oak-based organization that helps people with disabilities find work and maintain employment. Its vocational programs serve individuals 16 and over. “We have clients that are well into middle age in addition to young adults,” says Senior Director Heather Humphrey. “Our programs offer vocational assessment, paid work experience, job prep, job search and job retention services.”
The Help Group also provides services funded by the California Department of Rehabilitation, Department of Mental Health and Regional Centers, and many of their services are offered at no cost to the client. The programs have a wide service area, Humphrey says, depending on the funding source. The Department of Rehabilitation services work with clients as far north as the Antelope Valley, as far south as Inglewood and Compton, as far west as Calabasas and as far east as Glendale and Pasadena.
ClearWeave Careers
ClearWeave Careers has been working both behind the scenes and in public for more than 10 years to get its clients employed with small and large businesses.
ClearWeave’s Executive Director Ryan Patrick Casey is passionate about helping companies tap into this talent pool and become more neurodivergent friendly. Casey has designed and taught classes such as “Neurodivergent 101” and “Neurodivergent Interviewing” at companies such as Oracle, CVS and the Guggenheim.
“What many companies don’t understand,” Casey says, “is the value that a neurodivergent individual will bring to their team — and with little accommodations needed. In addition to being loyal and hard-working, there is research that shows that productivity can go up. Even with this, though, there is still great apprehension, and that is why we give companies a roadmap for hiring one of our employees.
“The roadmap includes ClearWeave staying active in the mix until the employee can be on his/her own,” Casey says.
Casey tells me that the neurodivergent talent pool is growing. Moreover, the work ethic and loyalty of these employees often exceeds the average worker, especially in this era of “quiet quitting.” ClearWeave’s motto is “weaving talent into the workforce,” and this is a process starting to pick up steam across not only California but America and the world at large.
Shemesh Farms
Opened in 2013 at the Shalom Institute in Malibu, Shemesh Farms was created as a social enterprise meant to provide meaningful employment and community to adults with diverse abilities. The farm is built upon a foundation of sustainability, inclusion and interconnectedness. The Shemesh Farm fellows, volunteers and staff handcraft and harvest their herb blends, jar their own honey and cultivate a whole slew of other organic products.
Shemesh’s program initially began with young adults in their early 20s, but over the last decade the founders have expanded their farm fellow cohort to include people who are 18 to 55.
Exceptional Minds Academy
Offering workshops, private lessons and longer running programs, Exceptional Minds Academy is an academy and studio preparing young adults on the autism spectrum for professional careers in animation, visual effects, 3D gaming and other jobs in the entertainment industry.
The academy provides technical and work-readiness training customized to help students achieve their full artistic and professional potential. The organization consists of a vocational academy, post-graduate program and professional post-production studios. Focusing on cultivating skills for artists on the spectrum, the hands-on training envisions “a future where the neurodiverse perspectives of artists on the autism spectrum are vital to the advancement of our shared goal for a more empowered and inclusive society,” founders say.
David Siegel, executive director of Exceptional Minds, shares a sentiment that corroborates with the other organizations mentioned here: “We believe in a world where neurodiversity is embraced as part of a truly inclusive culture.”
Mike Sonksen is a third-generation L.A. native, dad of two, poet, professor and author of “Letters to My City.”
