Burkhart Autism Center Receives $500,000 Grant

A new partnership between local employers, educators and a specifically challenged group of individuals will help more people on the South Plains find and retain jobs.

The Burkhart Center for Autism Education and Research has received a $500,000 grant from Gov. Rick Perry’s office through the Texas Workforce Commission. The renewable grant could garner a total $1.5 million over three years.

The Wagner-Peyser grant, which funds a partnership among Worksource of the South Plains, the Lubbock Independent School District and the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, implements training both for employers and for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to improve job placement and overall success of people with autism in the workplace.

A Win-Win Situation

Burkhart Center Director Robin Lock said they are looking at a two-fold approach.

“We will train employers to work with people with autism and recognize their characteristics and needs. Then we will provide them with some hands-on material and a support system they can access at the Burkhart Center,” said Lock.

For potential employees, the center is building a life skills/job skills training program to help adults with ASD become more self-sufficient members of society in order to function in a vocational setting.

Eliminating Obstacles

Martin Aguirre, director of Worksource of the South Plains, said it is important to remove employment barriers for different populations, so that more people can enter the workforce.

“The aspect of employer training to employ individuals with ASD is necessary so that employers can identify the special needs and conditions that are required to hire and supervise people with autism,” Aguirre said. “The addition of this segment of our population to the workforce coupled with the additional training will increase the number of employed individuals and increase the retention of these workers in their respective occupations.”

Lock said students with autism will complete three semesters of job training and social skills classes to prepare them for the workforce. The first semester encompasses classroom learning, the second provides three months of training on the job and the third semester focuses on social skills training – one of the hardest objectives for people with autism to conquer.

“What we find with people with autism is that it is not performing the tasks of the job that gets them, but the social part of the job,” Lock said. “An individual may not understand that there is a mechanism for how to go to someone and express needs. That is what we’re working toward improving, and that is why we have faith that this program will generate positive results.”

Lock said the partnership hopes to train 30 individuals with ASD in both job skills and life skills and up to 45 local employers who will eventually place the center’s clients in jobs.

 

Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing, (806) 742-2136. Web layout by Jessica Alexander.