Federal grant aids people with Asperger’s

PROVIDENCE – The Groden Center in Providence has been awarded a $333,000 federal grant to provide vocational training and employment services to people with Asperger’s syndrome, a neurological condition on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum.
Asperger’s is characterized primarily by difficulties in social interaction, interpreting social cues, and labeling and communicating feelings. Young adults with Asperger’s are usually intelligent, capable, and eager to work, but they may need help finding an appropriate job and learning to master the challenges of a social world, Grodon experts said.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, helped the center obtain the funds, which support an ongoing program.
“The Groden Center has been treating and educating kids and families in Rhode Island for more than 30 years, and they do an outstanding job,” he said. “I am pleased to have secured this funding to help the Groden Center assist individuals in acquiring the vocational and social skills they need to enter the work force.”
According to Dr. Patricia Wisocki, project director of the Job Club, in the first year of the program, all participants were successfully placed in either paying jobs or internships for further training. Placements included jobs in inventory control in a national organization, baking in a school cafeteria, auto detailing, a library, offices, and horticulture, as well as a self-designed computer business, assistance with a local radio program, and historical research for a church.
Once employed, individuals in the program continue to receive training and support.
“We are very encouraged by these results and are looking forward to this next year working with more young adults with Asperger’s Syndrome,” Wisocki said. “This year we have added an academic component that will help some participants continue their education and work through the social challenges of college life.”