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rience. She decided to hire a neurodiverse staff after meeting the founder of South Fork Bakery at a virtual conference. South Fork Bakery, based in Long Island, provides em- ployment for adults with special needs.
As the aunt to a nephew with autism, Pasquina was eager to take a similar approach. “One of the things [my nephew] loves to do with his mom is bake,” she says.
Pasquina ended up hiring two bakers from South Fork, providing a pilot program for the Long Island bakery: “They never had folks work outside their bakery,” Pasquina says. Now, with some patience and the help of a job coach, the Chew Crew is in full swing.
“You just have to understand strengths and weaknesses, like with any position,” Pasquina says. “You definitely have to put a little bit into it, but you get a lot out of it.”
A growing trend
Bardsley and Pasquina aren’t alone in hiring neurodiverse employees. Across Westchester, business owners are also bringing on staff with
Other times, it’s simply economics. “People are finding it harder and harder to find employ- ees,” Novick says. In the Great Resignation of 2021, a record number of Americans — more than four million — quit or changed jobs, ac- cording to The Washington Post.
In this new employment landscape, hir- ing managers are simply having to broaden their reach. “And hopefully when doing that,” Novick notes, “they’re including those on the spectrum and the neurodiverse community.”
Novick adds that this shift is a welcome one, providing opportunity to individuals that have too often been overlooked. “There’s so much besides financial security that comes from working,” she says. “There’s dignity, a sense of pride and accomplishment, and literally what to do with your time all day. It hurts all of us if percentages of our population are not engaged in the economy.”
Novick is optimistic, but cautiously so, that this trend will continue. “There are encouraging signs, but there’s also still a lot of work ahead.”
If more employers listen to folks like
“Companies,
corporations,
and social
enterprises are
starting to open
their eyes a little
more to having
a neurodiverse
workforce for
myriad reasons.”
—Deborah Novick,
Westchester County’s director for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
ASD — and learning that success can follow. According to Novick, there are multiple reasons employers might seek out this demographic.
“[Employers] have a variety of reasons,” she explains. “Sometimes, they have a personal con- nection — someone in their family, or in their community, is neurodiverse and brings to their attention the challenges that this population has in finding employment.”
Pasquina and Bardsley, that work might get done faster. Bardsley says business owners who want to solve thorny problems should count neurodiverse employees as key allies. “Having different kinds of minds to problem- solve and work on tasks really creates a more inclusive culture,” he says. “It’s about compa- ny reputation and employees that add tremen- dous value to your business.”
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PHOTO COURTESY OF CHEWMA; HEADSHOT BY TOSHI TASAKI
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Petra Pasquina and the “Chew Crew”
SPECTRUM