(upbeat music) - We're honored to be joined by Dr.

Helen Genova, who is Associate Director of the Center of Autism Research at Kessler Foundation.

Good to see you, my friend.

- Thank you.

You too.

- Do you admit that you were part of a leadership academy that I led at Kessler Foundation?

- I do admit that, and I enjoyed it very much.

- It's easy to say that now you're out of it.

- Yeah.

- Helen, talk to folks about your research.

'Cause we talked a lot about this when we were doing a lot of communication, leadership training and coaching.

You told us about this initiative called KF-Stride.

What is it and how does it connect to your work?

We'll put up the website so people can find out more.

- Wonderful.

So I work with transition age youth who are on the autism spectrum, and if you know anyone who's on the spectrum who is in that age bracket, you know that it can be incredibly difficult for them to obtain and maintain employment.

So there's a huge unemployment rate in this population.

We have studied the specific obstacles to gaining and maintaining employment for autistic individuals, and we've narrowed it down to a few important things that we're trying to help them with.

One of them being the job interview.

And so we know that the job interview is a struggle for anyone who's on the spectrum.

And so what we've done is we've created this program called KF-Stride.

KF-Stride stands for Kessler Foundation, Strength Identification and Expression.

And it basically is a series of animated videos that are fun and engaging and it helps individuals on the spectrum understand what their employable strengths are and then how to talk about them to an interviewer.

- So Helen, you have a close family member dealing with autism.

It matters to you professionally and personally.

- Absolutely.

Yeah.

- What is the most common misconception from your experience, not just as a researcher, as a scientist, as a scholar in the field, but as someone who understands this on a personal level, what's the biggest misconception about those who are on the, as you say, autism spectrum, who wanna live the same happy, healthy, productive life that the rest of us are trying to live?

- I think a lot of people have a lot of misconceptions about autism, partially because it is such a huge spectrum, right?

So you may have people who have cognitive disability, for example, but you may have people who are brilliant and on the spectrum.

And I think that they tend to all get lumped together into one category.

And so you may have an employer who meets someone who's trying to get a job, and they may think that because the person is on the spectrum, they can't do the job, which is absolutely not the case.

So what we're really trying to do is to help them put their best foot forward, to get the message out there that they have these amazing talents and strengths, they can do the job, and we're just trying to get them to make the employer understand that and to put faith in the fact that they're going to be an amazing employee.

- What kinda results have you seen with the research you've done, particularly as it relates to KF-Stride?

- So we're really proud of the results that have recently come out.

So we just published a randomized clinical trial where we had people take KF-Stride program, and we had people who didn't take KF-Stride, just kind of went about their usual services.

And what we found was that the people in the KF-Stride group, the ones who had received KF-Stride, they actually improved their job interview skills from before to after a significantly amount.

And then we found also that those who were job seeking and who took KF-Stride, there were 54% of job seekers in the group that had received KF-Stride who went on to become employed.

And this was really exciting.

When you think about the unemployment rate in the autism population, some people's estimate it's as high as 80%.

So to have a result like that with 54% of them becoming employed was huge.

And we were really excited to see that.

- Helen, you know, I'm curious about this, and I'm not the only one.

There's so much talk about the causes of autism.

That not part of your research portfolio?

- It's not part of my research portfolio.

And I can tell you why.

- Go ahead, please.

- There are millions of people who exist today that are living with autism and have struggles.

And for example, related to what we do, struggle with getting employment, which is such an important part of their lives, really desperately want to be employed.

And so for us, we are trying to help the people who are existing right now, who are living this every single day and helping them to achieve the goals that they wanna achieve.

- I'm sure on some level it's a distraction from the work that you're doing and people can say what they wanna say, think what they want to think, but science is science.

That being said, I've known you a long time.

We've worked together, you've been one of my students and I've learned from you while you were a student.

How personally gratifying is this for you?

- Yeah, it's the biggest, it's the most important part of my career, and I've been a scientist for over 20 years.

And to be able to work directly with this population and to help them and to see the results firsthand has been enormously exciting, rewarding.

I can't even begin to explain it because I know that I'm having a real impact on their lives.

When we hear a teacher say, "I gave KF-Stride to my students, and they became employed," that is just an amazing thing to hear.

And I go to bed every night happy knowing that we've made this difference in their lives.

- Final question.

I know every young person, every child, every young person with autism, they're, as you said, everyone's different, on the spectrum, if you will, autism spectrum.

And I know this is a tricky question because every situation is different, but if you were to give a family member, a parent, someone who cares deeply about a young person on the autism spectrum, give them reason... Share something with them as to why they should be hopeful, even though there are incredible challenges.

- So what I could say is that it may not be apparent to you right now, but your child is capable of so much and has so many strengths within them.

And even some of the things that you find challenging may be an incredible strength that that person has.

So let's say, you have a child at home who's incredibly stubborn.

Well, that child may end up growing into a really powerful leader because they have this ability to stick to what they believe is right.

If you have a child who blurts out something that's truthful in a situation, like, "I don't think that dress looks good on you," or gives an opinion that's honest.

That honesty is so important, especially employment scenarios.

So even though it may not be apparent to you right now, your child is capable of amazing things and it's gonna take time and resources and support, but they're gonna get there.

And yeah.

And we're excited to help you in any way.

- To you, Dr.

Genova, to Roger DeRose the leader of the Kessler Foundation and the great researchers, scientists, and folks doing the work every day to make a difference.

We thank you for your work and there's a lot more to be done.

Thank you, Helen.

- Thank you Steve.

Nice to see you.

- Same here.

Stay with us.

We'll be right back.

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

Funding has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

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And by the Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey Globe.

And by NJ.Com.

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