Marjorie Madfis founded Yes She Can Inc., a nonprofit organization, to help her daughter Isabelle and other women with autism gain job skills and employment. The presentation discusses autism employment challenges, transition programs for youth with autism, existing autism employment models, and characteristics of workplace success for individuals with autism. Marjorie operates Girl AGain, a boutique staffed by trainees with autism that sells American Girl merchandise. She proposes developing a digital tool to provide structured support for employees with autism and their managers to help more individuals with autism find and maintain competitive employment.

1. Autism at Work
Transforming Lives: mine and my clients
Marjorie Madfis
October, 2016
Marjorie@YesSheCanInc.org
1Yes She Can Inc. © 2016

2. Agenda
Meet Marjorie
Autism Employment Overview
Yes She Can Mission and Creation of Girl AGain
Autism at Work
Digital Tool Concept
Discussion
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3. Meet Marjorie
 Grew up in suburban Boston
 Undergraduate: Community Development
 MBA
 Began marketing career - leadership and management roles
 Joined IBM in 1995 to start up interactive direct marketing
 Daughter diagnosed in 1998 with PDDNOS (now called Autism Spectrum Disorder)
 Worked full time at IBM while also full time as Autism Mom
 Chose not to go on management track
 Career in digital marketing and social media marketing
 Created network of IBMers with autism interest
 Pursued ways IBM could address needs of people with autism
 June 2013 IBM “package” and retirement
 November 2013 incorporated Yes She Can
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4. Meet Marjorie’s inspiration
Isabelle started Early Intervention at age 2.4
Special education “career”
 TEACCH and then Inclusion
Working towards High School diploma
 But did not pass Regents exit exams
 Now in “transition” to adulthood
New high school credential for work readiness> internships
Izzie’s career goal is to work at American Girl Place
How was she going to achieve that goal?
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5. What is Autism
Life-long neurological disorder, effecting communications,
social interactions, cognition and emotions
Spectrum disorder – degree of severity, varies on each
dimension
25% of autistics are non-verbal
40% of autistics also have intellectual disability
25% of those diagnosed are women (underdiagnosed)
Disability vs Neurological Difference
Rate of diagnosis has been increasing dramatically
beginning in the 1990s
About 1% of US population (2-3 million), majority are adults
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6. 80% of adults with ASD are unemployed
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Employed

7. Out of the workforce
8 years following high school
◦only 53% of adults have worked for pay (Shattuck, 2012)
◦ Unemployment rates for autism higher than other disabilities
◦ difficult time navigating work due to cognitive,
communication and behavioral challenges (Zager, 2014)
Implications:
◦Cost of caring for adult with autism who is not
working > $2 Million over their adult life (Autism Society,
2011)
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8. Why?
 High schools are not preparing students with
autism to develop vocational skills
Assumption: college or day hab
Government funding policies have not supported
employment opportunities – starting to change
Social service agencies are not incented to help
“consumers” enter employment
Businesses are not prepared to employ people
with autism
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9. Transition to Adulthood
Last year of high school vocational prep (school district responsible)
◦ Project SEARCH
◦ Customized high school internships
College campus programs (private pay)
◦ Accredited college with various supports (Adelphi)
◦ College programs designed for special ed students (NYIT VIP)
◦ Parallel programs on college campuses (Lesley College Threshold, College Steps)
Vocational residential programs (mostly private pay)
◦ Most end at 21 under IDEA
◦ some continue with adult programs in community (Chapel Haven, Vista)
“Day Hab” programs (Medicaid waiver funded)
◦ with or without walls
◦ “full day” = 9-2:30
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10. Autism Employment Models
Sheltered workshops
Agency run businesses
 Revenue funds the organization
 Arc of Westchester: eDocs NY
 Roses for Autism
Family run businesses
 For profit or non-profit
 Long-term employment
 Extraordinary Ventures
 Rising Tide Car Wash
 Spectrum Designs
 Aspiritech
 Autonomy Works
Training for competitive
placement
 Specialisterne
Competitive differentiation
 Ultra Testing
Conventional businesses with
VR supported employment
 Food service, supermarkets, mail
room
Conventional business with
intention
 Walgreens
 SAP
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11. Characteristics of workplace success
Motivation and perseverance
Good social communication skills
Good emotional regulation
Adaptability and flexibility (cognitive and emotional)
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 challenge
 challenge
 challenge
 challenge
• Autistic brain – unique learning style
• Needed: Customized Job skills training program for people
• Staffed with experienced professionals skilled with these issues
• If trainees are able to achieve in these areas, they have a good shot at
job success

12. Needed: immersive learning
Learning on the job
One-on-one teaching
How to and why
 Explore and try, with no
consequence for errors
Stretching
Accomplishments
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13. My approach:
Create an ecosystem for immersive learning
Structure
inputs outputsWork
Job
expertise
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Skill

14. From Passion to Career
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15. 15
American Girl brand
Founded 1986 – mail order catalog
Girls in American historical periods
Attention to authentic detail
Girls who can read – ages 8-11
Collect in depth
Girl empowerment message
1998 opened first retail store
Café, Hair Salon, events
Mattel (Barbie) purchased in 1998
Aspirational, attainable luxury
Shifting to younger aged girls
Doll that looks like self

16. Market Demand
New carries a high price tag
 Dolls: $115
 Outfits: $22-$40 each
 Furniture: $30 - $300
 Huge secondary market
 Girls who want to add to collection
 Girls who want a first doll
 Collectors who want discontinued
merchandise
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17. Product Supply
American Girl (Pleasant
Company) was founded 30 years
ago
Oldest cohort now late 30s
Sources of merchandise
Donations
 National via website SEO
 Local through collection drives
Purchases - new
 AG Publishing
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18. 18
Merchandise
• Marketing
• Donations
• Purchases
Customers
• Marketing
• PR
• Events
• Customer service
Operations:
• Store management
• Retail processes
• Accounting
• Marketing
Training program:
• Workplace processes
• Social skills
• Emotional regulation
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Exit strategy and
placement
Non-profit management
Supply
Demand
Job
Trainees

19. Edge of downtown White Plains
walk to Metro North train station and bus hub.
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20. The work: on the job training
Merchandise
◦ Research, sort, assess, analysis, decision making, collaboration
Sales
◦ Communicate, sell, transactions, social
◦ Events – demonstrate, lead
Marketing
◦ Website content updating
◦ contact database
◦ Social media
Operations
◦ Accounting: Quick Books
◦ Store maintenance
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21. 21
Job coaching
Job coaching
Typical peer modeling Peer-to-peer collaboration

22. Girl AGain – a laboratory
We provide a work environment in which:
Social communication skills are practiced in a safe place
with a range of people
The Hidden Curriculum is directly taught.
Where genuine honest
feedback is provided
We realistically address their
strengths and weaknesses
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23. Societal impact
Introducing our customers to women with
autism in responsible positions
“grease the skids” for conventional employers to
hire women with autism.
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24. Scalability
Girl AGain cannot employ all women who want
to work
By creating an incubator with constant thru put
(“graduation”) more women can participate
Conventional employers need to absorb Yes She Can trainees
 Future vision: Yes She Can will have a portfolio of
businesses that meet the criteria of viability
 Not all women have a passion for American Girl.
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25. Getting and Keeping a job
It takes both a qualified employee
and a willing employer
Where can our clients get jobs based on
their profiles?
How do employers hire and support
employees with autism?
How can employees be successful in a job
and retain it?
How can we help businesses be more
successful employers?
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26. What works for Autism at work
Individuals with ASD perform best in
 structured environments, clear and detailed processes
 clear expectations of performance requirements
 processes for addressing situations that deviate from routine
Businesses
 have established processes to perform work
 may not be presented in a structured or easily accessible way for ASD
 Expectation to use intuition for variations and anomalies, apply discretion.
Employers may want to hire people with autism but are concerned about
how to best manage them so they are effective, and so they are not a burden
to the manager.
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27. Problem Statement
Our trainees have potential to work in the competitive workforce if
they had the supports we provide in our program.
Vocational Rehabilitation agencies do not provide full time
continuous supported employment (job coaches) for employees with
autism.
To scale ASD employment opportunities, employers need to have
efficient ways to provide appropriate guidance, training and support
so that ASD employees have means to be successful and confident in
their roles.
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28. Opportunity
Create a more automated approach to providing support for employees
with autism on the job.
Develop a digital tool that will enable business managers and autistic
employees to be effective at work.
Structured supports for the business manager and for the employee can
lead to a better more productive employee and sustained employment.
Workplace accommodation will enable greater scale of employment of
individuals with ASD and contribution to diverse organizations.
Ultimately, tools to enable people with ASD to be effective in the
workplace will benefit all employees in similar positions.
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29. Digital Tool Concept
 Create a digital tool accessable by both manager and employee that
provides
 structure to work tasks
 real-time feedback to both employee and manager
 employee access to a library of content relevant to job performance
 personal social and behavioral management support
 control to manager to assign work, to modify work schedules, and to provide feedback
to employee.
Easy to use administrator interface.
Ability to be updated, with enhancements.
Tool to be licensed for use at business sites.
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30. Approach
Identify key needs of prospective employers and employees
 will clarify and make visible the support strategies needed for adults
employed with ASD to be successful at work
Identify opportunities to partner in definition, design and delivery of
such a program
Create an initial definition and prototype to be tested in early 2017 with
greater insight and confidence based on observation, interviews and
iterative protoyping in Fall 2016
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31. Digital Tools: Initial High Level Stories
Employee Needs:
1) To know exactly what is
expected of them to perform
work responsibilities
2) To have access to processes to
perform work
3) To have neutral reminders &
cues so confusion is minimized
4) To know social rules
5) To access personal emotional
support strategies
6) To know how and when to
request manager help
Employer/Manager Needs:
1) To assign work tasks and provide
detailed guidance* on how to do
2) To know if tasks are completed to
quality and time standards
3) To know that my employee has
ways to manage emotions
4) To know and be reached when
really needed
5) To provide work assessments
6) To provide appropriate feedback
on social/behavioral expectations
7) To ensure the employee is part of
the team
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Sample Only - For Initial Discussion
* Task Analysis

32. Where are we
Defining initial requirements
◦ Employees – our trainees
◦ Employers – to do
Create mock up / something to show employers for reaction– to do
Explore Partners
Jolt https://joltup.com/
seems to have processes, format
Seeking volunteer support and assistance to move forward
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33. Discussion
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34. About Yes She Can
Yes She Can is a 501c3 non-profit organization
 http://YesSheCanInc.org
 35 Hubbard Drive, White Plains, NY 10605
 914-428-1258
 Operates Girl AGain boutique: http://GirlAGain.com
Board and Management team:
 Marjorie Madfis, President
 Allan Friedman, Treasurer
 Patricia Salner, Secretary
 Sheri Baron, Director, Program Development and Job Coach
 Randi Rios-Castro, Director
 Pat Rowan, Program Management and Job Coach
 Maria D’Albert, Digital Consultant
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35. Trainees
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36. Meet our trainees
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More videos at Yes She Can website

37. Women with autism. We work. With you.
Yes She Can
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