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'Perfect place': Bakery expands program for teens with autism

Foster's Daily Democrat - 12/12/2019

Dec. 11--ROCHESTER -- Bryn Hoyt had recently finished high school and was unsure what he wanted to do. He knew he wanted to work for the first time, but, as a person with autism, felt overwhelmed and overstimulated every time he went into a business to chat about a job or pick up an application.

Enter Potter's House Bakery and Cafe. Right from his first moments inside the laid-back 10 Chestnut Hill Road bakery last summer, things felt different. Calmer. More empowering.

Roughly three months of on-the-job training later, Hoyt, then 19 years old, had demonstrated a keen talent for precision and enough aptitude that Potter's House hired him full-time. Hoyt's now performing the bulk of the bakery's mixing, working 30 to 35 hours a week all thanks to a program offered by Potter's House and the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities New England (CARD NE).

"I never thought I'd get a job at a bakery," said Hoyt, now 20. "It never crossed my mind I'd be working somewhere like here."

Potter's House co-owners Sue and Tim Wilson said Hoyt's successes are among the reasons why they'll soon expand the programming they have in place to provide opportunities for people with autism to develop work and life skills.

Starting Jan. 14, the Wilsons and CARD NE will partner to offer a new seven-week introductory to job skills program for people 17 years and older.

The program is designed to fill the gaps between the existing 10-week CARD NE program that Potter's House has offered twice a year since it opened in May 2018. Dozens of teens have participated in the 10-week programs and Potter's House's other offerings, and a number of them have used those experiences to secure jobs and careers with other local businesses.

"We want them to realize they have purpose and they have so much to give back to society if people just give them a chance," said Sue Wilson.

The Wilsons created Potter's House in 2018 specifically as a way to help provide life and job skills training for young adults on the spectrum, allowing Tim to use his extensive pastry and food service experience to "bake with a higher purpose."

In collaboration with CARD NE, Potter's House has provided various opportunities, both in the bakery and in a classroom space next door. Those opportunities have included waiting and busing tables, serving coffee, food prep like squeezing lemons for the bakery's homemade lemon filling, stocking, cleaning, and other things that develop coping skills and build interpersonal skills like eye contact and the ability to follow instructions. CARD NE's certified staff have worked alongside the Wilsons to tailor the opportunities around each student.

The Wilsons have also provided opportunities through partnerships with local social service agencies like Easterseals, Community Partners and the Seacoast Learning Collaborative.

The Wilsons said the hope is to run the new seven-week CARD NE program year-round.

"The bakery is a means to an end," said Sue Wilson. "This population, kids with autism, is the highest unemployed population in our society. They really just need an opportunity to acquire some skills that will help them once they leave here and find other jobs."

Hoyt said the program and subsequent job at Potter's House have been a great fit for him, his precise mindset and his sweet tooth. He has a direct hand in much of the menu, and odds are if you've had one of Potter's House's fan-favorite whoopie pies, Hoyt made them.

"The hands-on experience itself really helps," Hoyt said Wednesday as he scooped marshmallow fluff and other ingredients into a large mixer to make whoopie pie filling. "It applies to any job."

Hoyt's mother, Christine Jacobson, said she's eager to see the impact the new Potter's House and CARD NE programming will make, given what she's seen with her son and the students who have traveled similar paths to other businesses in the area.

"I knew it was the perfect place for him," said Jacobson. "It's doing exactly what I wanted it to do for him. It's given him a way to gain confidence and give him a way to utilize talents he might not have known he had. It's been great."

Hoyt said he's grateful the Wilsons gave him a chance and said he'd strongly recommended the program to anyone else, even if they aren't interested in a career in food service.

"It's great for pointing out what you're good at," he said. "If they think going through the program will help them in the long run, then definitely do it."

Tuition for the new seven-week program will be $350. More information about Potter's House and its CARD NE job skills program is available online at pottershousebakery.com, by calling the bakery at 948-1229 or messaging the business through its Facebook page.

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(c)2019 the Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, N.H.)

Visit the Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, N.H.) at www.fosters.com

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