Long Island Cares Promotes Jobs For Autistic Community

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Long Island Cares' Center for Community Engagement held a panel on how to integrate the autistic population into the record number of job vacancies on Long Island, according to a news release. Fields seeking employees include manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain sectors.

The event coincided with National Disability Awareness Month.

With the rate of unemployment for autistic people hovering between 85 and 90 percent, panelists and guest speakers addressed different aspects of finding suitable employment for this underrepresented population, with an emphasis on the benefits of hiring autistic workers and how hiring practices and diversifying the workforce should be rethought, according to Long Island Cares.

Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter emceed the event, which included Town Councilman James O’Connor, Long Island Cares CEO Paule Pachter, and representatives from the Winters Center for Autism, ACCESS-VR, Ignite Long Island and the law firm Campolo, Middleton & McCormick LLP.

"We need inclusion of the autism community in the workforce," Carpenter said at the start of the meeting.

O’Connor, who chairs Islip Town’s Disability Advisory Board and has an autistic son, said the town wants opportunities for "our children and families."

Pachter gave another perspective on working with the autistic and others with disabilities.

“The motivation for working with people with disabilities is to expose them to food insecurity,” he said.

He went on to discuss the benefits of members of the autistic community volunteering
at Long Island Cares.

“Everybody works hard and accomplishes what they want to achieve," he said. "We try to tap
people’s talents where they might not even know they have these talents.”

Michael Haynes, Long Island Cares chief government affairs officer, said the event encapsulated the vision Pachter had when creating the Center for Community Engagement.

"This space addresses the root causes of hunger and poverty which includes unemployment and underemployment," Haynes said. "As we are committed to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, it is important we elevate the voices of people with autism and the agencies working on their behalf."