Guest guest Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Very nice article indeed nna > > Sorry if this has been posted already. > > nna > > > How 1 Autistic Young Man Runs a Business > > Poppin' Joe's Kettle Korn shows how special-needs children can fare as > adults > > http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2009/04/02/how-1-aut\ istic-young-man-runs-a-business.html > > > > By Shute > > Posted April 2, 2009 > > U.S. News > > Corrected on 04/06/09: An earlier version of this article misidentified the > high school Joe Steffy attended. The photo caption also misidentified the > woman with Joe. She is a family friend. > > Joe Steffy is off to Overland Park, Kan., this week to do a PowerPoint > presentation on his business, Poppin' Joe's Kettle Korn. He's a 23-year-old > small-business man with a goal of $100,000 in sales by 2012. Joe also has > autism and Down syndrome and is nonverbal. When he gives his talk, he will > push buttons on an augmentative speech device to deliver the words. His > audience will be parents who fervently hope their own special-needs children > will be able to work, too. > > Joe's parents, Ray and Janet, of Louisburg, Kan., didn't agree with the > assessment of the school district in which they lived previously, which had > said Joe would never be able to work or live independently. " I'm one who can > easily get ticked off, " says Ray. " That ticked me off. We saw more in Joe > than that. We set out to prove to the school that he had capabilities. " They > came across kettle corn while on a trip to Alaska and realized that all that > popping, scooping, and serving suited Joe's love of work. > > The path to Joe Steffy's success was not an easy one; Ray Steffy worked > closely with Dave Hammis, an advocate for self-employment for people with > disabilities in Middletown, Ohio, who trains business owners, government > employees, and parents on how to make use of state and federal programs. The > Steffys wrote up a business plan and helped Joe secure $25,000 in grants > from programs like Social Security Administration's Plan to Achieve > Self-Support program (PASS). > > In 2005, Poppin' Joe's Kettle Korn was born. Sales have grown from $16,000 > in 2005 to $50,000 in 2008, both from selling at festivals and from > delivering popcorn to local outlets. Joe has five part-time employees, and > his parents help out with driving and other tasks. " Pop and everyone that > works with him knows whatever Joe wants to do you let him do, because he's > the boss, " Ray says. " If he wants to pop, he'll shove Dad out of the way and > pop. " > > If the business stays on track, it should be grossing more than $100,000 in > three years, and the Steffys are seeking a business partner who can work > with Joe to manage the business. Joe is no longer on Social Security > disability payments; instead, he pays state sales tax and state and federal > income tax. He rents his own house and is helped by caregivers who are paid > by a state program. > > " It's been hard work, from the standpoint of physical work, " says Ray > Steffy, who is 67. " But a parent with a child like Joe has a choice. You can > either kick in and do this kind of thing, or you can sit and fret > emotionally with the amount of energy, worrying about what's going to happen > to them. " > > The payoff for that effort, as far as the Steffys are concerned, has been > priceless. They see their son make a local popcorn delivery, accept payment, > fold it, and put it in his pocket. When he walks out, his dad says, Joe > looks 3 inches taller than when he walked in. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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