New training center helps individuals with autism find jobs

There is a new training center called the Entrepreneurial Training Center and Workforce Development Programs at Arizona Autism Charter Schools that helps individuals with autism find jobs.

The entrepreneurial programs at this center will give students a safe and supportive environment to practice real job skills.

Diana Diaz-Harrison, M.Ed, a Founder and Executive Director at Arizona Autism Charter Schools, explained the purpose of the program and its importance.

“I’m so thrilled because we started our charter schools 10 years ago as Arizona’s first and only Autism-focused charter school network, tuition-free for families,” Diaz-Harrison said. “Now that our students are graduating, many families, including myself, wanted a longer opportunity for job training and transition training. We have a new contract through the Division of Developmental Disabilities that will make our job training program tuition-free for young adults who want this career-based, career-readiness training in real businesses.”

Diaz-Harrison said students can stay in the program for as long as they would like, but some students may go on to secure jobs with industry partners.

“It’s kind of a transition, in-between opportunity that students can use for as long as they need,” Diaz-Harrison explained.

The center will have four businesses called Essential Piece Enterprises: a café, a shirt retail and production shop, a shipping and receiving store and a tech repair studio. Diaz-Harrison said they selected these types of businesses because they are essential.

“We really looked at the skillset that our kids were acquiring in our schools, and a lot of the skills are science, technology, engineering, arts and math,” Diaz-Harrison said. “Our kids develop coding, animation, robotics, what better way to apply those than in a real tech-repair and coding businesses, where their talents can be applied and put to use?”

The school already had an on-campus café and coffee shop, but now they are able to have a separate business that is open five days a week.

“Hopefully we’ll give Dutch Brothers and Starbucks a run for their money,” Diaz-Harrison said. “We’re actually partnering with Press Coffee on that one.”

Essential Piece Enterprises stands out from other job training programs with its mission to help those living with autism be career-ready. By offering more visual support, sensory-friendly environments and embedded job coaching, students can feel confident in their job skills.

Diaz-Harrison shared that the unemployment rate for people with autism is up to 80%, and they commonly don’t even get through an interview despite having the technical skills for the position. Once they’re employed, people with autism sometimes have difficulty with the social nuances of an adult workplace.

“Our Essential Piece Enterprises will be an on-the-job training for all of that,” Diaz-Harrison said.