Autism Career Training (ACT)

Mission:

At ACT, our mission is to identify the abilities of our trainees and to transform those abilities into job skills desired by employers. We use research-based curriculum and hands-on programs designed to prepare trainees for success in the workplace.

Vision:

Upon completion of our programs, our trainees will be prepared to succeed in meaningful careers. The goal of our program is to enable our trainees to become contributing members of their communities.

History:

Karen Blake has always sought the best for her son Matthew, who was diagnosed with Autism at 18 months in Atlanta, Georgia. Karen and her husband Steve moved to Nashville in 2005, and they realized there was a great need for center-based ABA therapy in Middle TN. In response, Karen founded the Autism Foundation of Tennessee, which later became Autism Education & Therapy Center in 2006. That organization has become the premier provider of center-based ABA therapy in Middle Tennessee. During Karen’s time with Autism ETC, she began to take notice of another missing piece of the autism community in Middle Tennessee. The area lacked a center-based program bridging the gap between the traditional school system and the work environment for students with ASD. She believed that a vocational tract should be available for teenagers and young adults with autism. In 2020, Karen founded Autism Career Training (ACT) in order to meet the needs of these individuals. Karen partnered with Matthew Powell and Dr. Andrew Burnham to craft vocational and prevocational training programs to equip trainees with the necessary skills to succeed in the workplace.

Autism Career Training (ACT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides center-based vocational and prevocational training for individuals on the autism spectrum.

We use research-based interventions to prepare our trainees to succeed in meaningful careers and become contributing members of their communities.

Autism Career Training uses the Six Outcome Domains as a framework to establish baselines and set goals. The six domain system is derived from research reviewed by the Institute of Educational Sciences. This is an evidence review protocol for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the research denotes which interventions will be effective in improving the six domain areas. These interventions are designed to improve the six areas of mental health: academic, behavioral, communication, intellectual, social, and emotional. Our programs use this framework to adapt the existing abilities of our trainees and transform them into vocational and prevocational skills. We employ a goal-setting strategy to build and refine the most important areas of a trainee’s development.

Autism Career Training offers highly individualized programs. Instruction is tailored based on the trainee’s initial skills, learning objectives, vocational aspirations, and life goals. Trainees progress through the program at their own pace, and each milestone is considered a success! Ultimately, trainees are equipped with the specific skills necessary to succeed in a particular career field.