Rita Faust: Employing autistic adults

Thank you so much for publishing the Feb. 27 Point of View “Time to change how we think about autism” by Luanne Welch. Autism will affect all of us in one way or another, and more education and ongoing conversations about this puzzling disorder are needed.

The Power of the Dream is just one local organization working hard on increasing awareness, advocacy and, more importantly, show the community that people with autism can make valuable employees.

In our North Raleigh HANDmeUPs store, we employ 22 adults, most of whom have autism or other intellectual developmental disabilities. We hope that employers will work with us to create more jobs for this population.

Here in the Triangle 1 in 58 newborns has autism, which is higher than the national average. Once children with autism age out of the public school system, most services stop abruptly.

Long-term successful employment for these individuals will save all of us money and will significantly improve the quality of life for those with autism and their families.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Rita Faust: Employing autistic adults."