MIAMI, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — The numbers are staggering! Up to 85 percent of college-educated autistic adults remain unemployed in the United States. See how one woman created a sweet way to get those on the autism spectrum to work!
David Bennett loves working at a bakery.
“I like packaging macaroons,” Bennet said.
The 24-year old has autism along with all of the employees at Miami Is Kind bakery.
“We bake macaroons and cookies to employ bakers that have autism,” Silvia Planas Prats, CEO& Founder of Miami Is Kind Bakery, said.
Planas Prats created the bakery with her son in mind.
She told Ivanhoe, “My oldest son mark that is now a teenager has autism. He was the one that inspired me.”
With a high unemployment rate among autistic adults in the U.S., Planas Prats set out to make a change.
“We don’t see the disability we only see the abilities,” she said.
But not everyone agreed. An insurance agency wanted to add a clause preventing her employees from using the oven.
Planas Prats said, “I cracked up laughing! C’mon how can you ask a baker not to touch an oven?”
In fact, she says workers on the spectrum are less likely to make mistakes because they don’t take shortcuts.
“They just follow the procedure one step after the other,” she said.
Each employee has a specific job based on their unique personality. Silvia says Michael, who boxes the cookies, is a perfectionist.
Becoming a baker taught Lexus a lot about business.
“She taught me how to be responsible and how to be on time,” Lexus said.
Now she wants to work events.
“I want to sell more,” she said.
Creating a sweet way to expand the workforce.
Silvia says all of the cookies are Gluten-free and made with natural ingredients. Each box comes with a personalized tag written by the employee who made them. She says her goal is to sell one million cookies by next year, so she can hire more employees on the spectrum. To check out Miami Is Kind’s goodies please visit www.miamiiskind.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Silvia Planas Prats
Contributor(s) to this news report include: Janna Ross, Producer; Judy Reich, Videographer and Robert Walko, Editor.
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