- Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program as part of our "Making A Difference" series.

Organizations, nonprofits who make a difference in the lives of people every day.

With Karen Millican, who is Chief Commercial Officer at an organization called the Joy Dew Foundation.

Karen, great to have you with us.

- Thank you.

- You got it.

Website is up, what is the organization and who do you help every day?

- So, JoyDew is an organization that's focused on people who are on the spectrum, young adults primarily.

And what we focus on is providing a whole life solution for them.

A lot of people that are on the spectrum are really struggling, especially after they leave high school, to really be able to have work that's meaningful, to be able to be in a community of people that really understand them.

And as their parents age, oftentimes they struggle to be on their own and need housing as well.

So, we try to help them with all the different areas that they may need in order to be successful in life.

- You're talking about the autism spectrum, just to be clear.

- Yes.

- So help us on this.

First talk about the challenges as it relates to employment.

What are those challenges?

- So, a lot of people that are on the spectrum may have challenges in communication.

Some cases, they're not speaking at all.

In fact, a large percentage are not speaking.

And then they have other issues that sometimes can make it difficult to work in a corporate environment or traditional business environment.

For example, they may have stemming behaviors that are distracting to other people or they may need special kinds of accommodations.

They often have sensory sensitivities that make them very sensitive to light or sound or other things that could be challenging for them.

And so, what we try to do is help to, first, get them trained into jobs that are really matching their gifts because they also have incredible gifts, many of them.

To try to figure out what they're best at and to train them up in those areas.

And then once they're ready, we get them employed.

Typically it's in high tech jobs in a lot of different areas and they work inside our location for other organizations in order to be able to do the work.

- We're talking about people dealing with autism 21 and over, correct?

- Correct.

- Let's talk about housing, because the information the producers shared with me about your organization is that you focus on housing design.

What is the connection, Karen, between housing design, the design of someone's place where they live, their home, their apartment, whatever we're talking about, and autism?

- So, for people that are on the spectrum and that need to be in a different type of housing situation when they leave home, oftentimes they struggle with a few different things.

First is many of them also have motor planning challenges because of their brain is literally wired differently than ours.

And that can affect other things.

In some ways it's great because they can be brilliant and be able to do a lot of things that other people can't do, but sometimes it'll affect their gait when they're walking and they'll tend to bump into things or they'll have fine motor pet challenges that are, make it hard for them to work with small switches, things like that.

So when you're designing a home, you wanna make sure that you make it, you know, clear walkways and rounded corners and all the things that make it easy for somebody who has motor planning challenges.

But you also wanna be able to let them customize it to themselves.

So, some people are really sensitive to light, for example, and certain types of light are real problems.

So you don't want, for example, fluorescent lighting.

- Right.

- And then, they need to be able to dim it and make it the comfortable brightness for themselves.

Certainly insulation's a big deal.

You wanna be able to not hear everybody else that's in the home all the time because that can be a real challenge.

But I think the main thing about housing that people really need to think about is they oftentimes are gonna need what I would just call support inside the home.

So, in addition to the physical space, you really need the right staff there who know how to work with people on the spectrum because they do have different needs, and each individual is different, that's why they call it a spectrum, but there are common things that they need assistance with and you really need to have great staff who really care about that and are able to work with them.

- Speaking about caring, why do you care so much?

Why is this work personal for you?

- For me, the founders of this organization, Moish and Anat are longtime friends of mine.

We actually started a software company together 25 plus years ago.

And I watched their boys growing up.

And I have to tell you, it was so powerful for years.

They're both non-speaking, both have motor- - Go back a little bit again.

- Yeah.

- Moish Tov is the father of two artistic sons, now 28 and 31.

- Mm-hmm.

- You experienced, you saw those young men?

- Yes, I saw them.

I saw one of them born and I watched them grow up.

And I have to tell you that, honestly, when they were young I didn't know anything about autism.

And I don't even know that they were diagnosed necessarily initially, but I saw that they were gonna have a lot of challenges because they were both non-speaking, one was deaf, they both had motor planning challenges.

They had a lot of the stemming behaviors and things that people see.

And so, I loved them so much.

I mean, we spent lots of time together, but I really didn't know what was inside them truly, 'cause they weren't able to fully communicate.

And it was when one of them turned about 14 I think it was, iPads had come out and people were discovering that a lot of people on the spectrum can use an iPad to type where they can't use a keyboard because of this issue with switching gaze, which is a common issue.

So, for the first time, especially when they have their elbows supported with what's called facilitated communication technique, they can type for the first time.

And it was amazing.

I mean this kid wrote a five page letter.

It was like a college person wrote it, yep.

You know, four syllable words, so eloquent.

And it was so exciting to get to know him as a person.

It was also heartbreaking to hear from him.

Like, what he had been through was just awful, honestly.

And so, it was at that time that Moish and Anat decided to dedicate their lives to working with these young, you know, young adults, 'cause there were so many others that were in the same situation who, you know, wanted to be able to do something with their lives and they needed a place that could understand them and allow them to do that.

So, for me personally, to watch them develop and then to be able to be a part of this organization has just been a gift, honestly.

- The organization is the JoyDew foundation.

The website has been up, check it out, find out more.

It's an important organization making a difference every day.

Karen, thank you so much for joining us and we thank our friends at Valley Bank for connecting us.

Appreciate it.

- Yeah, thank you.

Thanks, Steve.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, stay with us.

We'll be right back.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Valley Bank.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

South Jersey Industries.

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

Congress Hall.

Holy Name.

New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program.

New Brunswick Development Corporation.

And by IBEW Local 102.

Promotional support provided by NJBIA.

And by New Jersey Globe.

- (Narration) Healing is never just about medicine and technology.

It has to go further than that.

It has to combine science with humanity.

It has to be our best medicine, combined with large doses of empathy, kindness, dignity and respect.

It has to be delivered by people who love what they do and who they do it for.

Holy Name.

Great medicine, soul purpose.