# 'Agricultural specialisterne': rural employment revolution for those with Autism **URL:** \ **Category:** Lounge\ **Created:** [June 5, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/agricultural-specialisterne-rural-employment-revolution-for-those-with-autism/50615 "2011-06-05T05:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 395
**Author:** ![Visionary7903](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/45deac/32.png) [@Visionary7903](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/Visionary7903)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/agricultural-specialisterne-rural-employment-revolution-for-those-with-autism/50615/395 "2013-02-03T17:31:37Z")
The subject of the [previous post](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/agricultural-specialisterne-rural-employment-revolution-for-those-with-autism/50615/394) was the _Eden II and Genesis Foundation_. Formerly known as the _Foundation for the Advancement of Autistic Persons (FAAP)_, the organisation’s primary purpose is to provide much needed funds for programs and services that support individuals with Autism. The _Eden II School for Autistic Children_, located in Staten Island, New York, was founded in 1976 after _FAAP_ parents identified an existing successful program–the _Eden Institute_ (located in Princeton, New Jersey). The _Eden Institute_’s new facility incorporates in its design what I described in an [earlier post](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/agricultural-specialisterne-rural-employment-revolution-for-those-with-autism/50615/349)–‘Neuro-typical’ environments that can prepare the Autistic individual for the outside world by potentially helping such an individual develop generalisation skills, which are often poor in Autism. So the _Eden Institute_ incorporates frequent ‘generalisation’ exercises in which pupils venture into the neighboring food court and stores or work in some of the restaurants… > [@](#): > > …At Eden, the balance between the outside world and the school’s safe harbor takes on yet a different character. …Eden is in a mixed-use complex, with retail, offices, a hotel, and restaurants. The site was chosen for a purpose. Eden’s previous home, in a former telephone-switching station, was isolated. …[The mixed-use complex] allows the school to share resources, such as a health-club swimming pool. > > Unique to Eden is its mini Wawa convenience store, staffed by supervised students and open part-time to the public. (The Wawa chain is a corporate partner of the school.) So the interface with the outside world is very real. But at the same time, the building also makes sensory accommodation. > > Designed by KSS Architects, the 38,300-square-foot facility incorporates an existing 12,900-square-foot houselike, gabled structure. KSS retained the intimate scale and form, giving the new section a contrasting flat roof and modest massing. The configuration, which accommodates early-intervention and outreach programs along with the day school for 62 students, aged 3 to 21, centers around a courtyard with a protected outdoor play area and a multipurpose gym. As in all these schools, exercise is important for both its calming effects and motor-skill development. > > While the wide, daylit corridors are straight shots, changes in floor-tile colors signal classroom entrances. The flexible teaching rooms …are designed for round tables, high faculty-student ratios, and ample maneuvering space, rather than blackboard-oriented lecture seating. These classrooms also have rows of small side rooms, offering a scale shift for more focused learning. > > An unusual feature is each classroom’s home-style kitchen (in addition to the school’s professional cafeteria kitchen, where vocational training occurs). Here the daily life-learning curriculum actively involves students in lunch preparation, from grocery shopping to dishwasher loading. > > While Eden’s visual connections to daylight and surrounding greenery are strong, its sensory controls are subtle. They include indirect lighting, high-rated acoustic separations, muted natural colors, a large frosted window in the gym to diffuse distracting views, and an alarm system with a strobe specially synchronized to reduce jarring effects… Some images of the new facility can be viewed via the following links: [http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/Building\_Types\_Study/K-12/2013/Schools-for-children-with-ASD-slideshow.asp?slide=7](http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/Building_Types_Study/K-12/2013/Schools-for-children-with-ASD-slideshow.asp?slide=7) [http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/Building\_Types\_Study/K-12/2013/Schools-for-children-with-ASD-slideshow.asp?slide=8](http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/Building_Types_Study/K-12/2013/Schools-for-children-with-ASD-slideshow.asp?slide=8) [http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/Building\_Types\_Study/K-12/2013/Schools-for-children-with-ASD-slideshow.asp?slide=9](http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/Building_Types_Study/K-12/2013/Schools-for-children-with-ASD-slideshow.asp?slide=9) (sources: [Foundation for the Advancement of Autistic Persons - FAAP | causes.com](http://www.causes.com/causes/415377-foundation-for-the-advancement-of-autistic-persons-faap/about); [http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/building\_types\_study/K-12/2013/Schools-for-children-with-ASD.asp](http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/building_types_study/K-12/2013/Schools-for-children-with-ASD.asp)) --- _[View the full topic](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/agricultural-specialisterne-rural-employment-revolution-for-those-with-autism/50615)._