The Trenton Times published the following article on an Employment Training Center that has recently opened in Hamilton for adults with autism.

Employment training center for adults with autism opens in Hamilton

By Alyssa Mease/The Times of Trenton 
on January 22, 2013 at 8:15 AM, updated January 22, 2013 at 8:17 AM

HAMILTON — A new employment training center will open here today to help adults with autism learn job skills and find work.

This will be the biggest training center owned by Eden Autism Services, which also has facilities in Florida and West Windsor. Eden has provided employment training and placement for adults with autism since 1983.

About 60 people over the age of 21 will be served at the new center on Crossroads Drive, spokeswoman Aileen Kornblatt said.

The adults who are helped by Eden are on the more severe end of the autism spectrum, Kornblatt said. There are three levels of employment offered through the training center: center-based, supportive and competitive.

Some adults work from the training centers, where they pack and ship mail or do other work that comes in. One current project involves scanning family photographs into computers to create CDs, Kornblatt said. Some adults work in the community under the supervision of the Eden staff. Kornblatt said these jobs include cleaning and filing paperwork in a doctor’s office or working in a Wawa store.

Workers who have proven they can effectively work with limited supervision are eligible for the competitive employment program. These adults are not supervised by Eden staff on the job, according to the foundation’s website.

All of Eden’s adult services are paid for through fundraising efforts, and the foundation uses most of the money it raises to fund these services, Kornblatt said.

“Over-21 services are not the same as children’s services. For adults, they kind of fall off the spectrum there. There’s no funding available to them,” Kornblatt said.

Part of Eden’s adult services is a residential program that offers group homes and supported living apartments.

Contact Alyssa Mease at amease@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5673.