Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World

Danny Combs and the TACT Story: Crafting New Paths for Autistic Individuals

• Tony Mantor

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What does it take to turn frustration into a thriving nonprofit that changes lives? Meet Danny Combs, a devoted father whose journey of supporting his autistic son, Dylan, led to the creation of TACT, an organization that empowers autistic individuals through trades and crafts. 
Discover the deeply personal story of Dylan's early autism diagnosis and the signs that led to it, as Danny shares the unique challenges Dylan faces as a teenager, from navigating social situations to dealing with bullying. 
Learn about the critical role of effective communication with educators and the evolving support within the school system.

Hear how a meeting with Dr. Temple Grandin and Dylan's natural talent for trades inspired Danny to start TACT in the back of a '58 Chevy panel truck. 
Now based in Inglewood, Colorado, TACT serves over 600 students annually with plans to expand to Queens and Austin. 
We discuss the impressive placement rates and the organization’s partnerships with major companies, the challenges of maintaining focus, and the continuous need for funding. 
Danny also opens up about the unexpected educational role he has taken on, teaching others about autism and neurodiversity, and the broader mission of changing societal perceptions of what autistic individuals can achieve.

Explore the transformative impact of TACT's hands-on, project-based programs that foster teamwork and social skills, and the vital importance of parental involvement. 
Danny emphasizes recognizing and validating the fears and thoughts of individuals with autism, addressing financial challenges, and ensuring inclusivity through TACT's scholarship program. 
This episode is a powerful testament to the unwavering support of parents and community efforts in empowering autistic individuals and breaking down barriers. Join us for an inspiring conversation that highlights the profound difference one father’s dedication can make.

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intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild
Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI)

Speaker 1:

Welcome to why Not Me, the World? Podcast, hosted by Tony Mantor, broadcasting from Music City, usa, nashville, tennessee. Join us as our guests tell us their stories. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. Their stories Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. Real life people who will inspire and show that you are not alone in this world. Hopefully, you gain more awareness, acceptance and a better understanding for autism around the World. Hi, I'm Tony Miatour. Welcome to why Not Me? The World. Today's guest is Danny Combs. He has an autistic child who inspired him to start his business called TACT. He's here to tell us about his child and his business. Thanks for coming on.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Oh, it's my pleasure. So I understand that you have an autistic son, is that correct?

Speaker 2:

Yes, sir, that's. Correct, Dylan Yep.

Speaker 1:

What age was he diagnosed?

Speaker 2:

autistic he was like two-esque at Vanderbilt down in Nashville.

Speaker 1:

Oh, okay, my neck of the woods. Yeah, what were some of the things that was happening that led you to believe that you might have to have him checked out?

Speaker 2:

It was a lot around his speech. That was a big thing. He didn't say Hello Dad, I love you. Until he was like six, six and a half. Some of his sensory stuff into regards to when we would be out and about, if he was at like a public park for example, he would seem mesmerized by certain things and not really interested in kind of engaging with others and those kind of social situations. When he was he still kind of a little bit of a toe walker just compounded. A couple of those different things were kind of like okay, I mean it was a variety of tests. They ran everything from hearing to sensory and then it went on and on and on a whole bunch of different things.

Speaker 1:

How old is he now? 15. Wow, 15. Yeah, because I've been told that when kids hit 13, 14, 15, it can change their life and impact them in a very dramatic way. So how did it affect him, or did it affect him at all? That's a great question.

Speaker 2:

It's hard to tell if it's the teenage years or if it's just him getting older. Dylan is an exceptionally kind, caring young man. I mean he's always been very thoughtful, really curious about what others are thinking. I think now that he's at the age that he is, it seems, where he's kind of getting lost, where he doesn't necessarily fully understand what people are saying or how they're processing certain things. So there's frustration that comes with that. So I think he's trying to figure out who he is. Right now it's what it feels like.

Speaker 1:

But he's doing great. What's the schooling part now? Is he in public school or do you have him in a private facility?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, it's public school. He goes to a school called Conifer High School just west of Denver in the foothills. The nice thing about the mountain schools is they're a little bit smaller class sizes, more natural sunlight, those kind of things, so not the necessarily inner city Denver schools kind of thing.

Speaker 1:

That's great. So how does he handle the classroom areas? Is he an introvert, an extrovert, or does he kind of mingle and get along with everybody? How does that work out for him?

Speaker 2:

Definitely more of an introvert. Yes, he's very introverted and he's in the classroom 80% of the time.

Speaker 1:

So does he have any issues with bullying? Because the situation of where people just don't understand what he's going through Very much. So yes, so unfortunately that happens. But when it did, how did you address it? Did you go to the teachers or the school system? How did you approach that?

Speaker 2:

A little bit of both and it depends on you know which age group you're talking in.

Speaker 2:

It's interesting because as TACT has become more successful and people are more aware of it, the teachers and administrators seem to have a different course of action, which is kind of an interesting way to say it.

Speaker 2:

So when it first started it just became a lot of communication with the teachers, with their support staff, making sure things like his IEP were being met, because most of the time they definitely were not when, like they would say, they were going to have all these things in place and they absolutely did not. And then talking to him and helping him understand. I mean, there's a lot about that. Then there's been therapists involved, psychologists involved, so a lot of those different things. But now it comes to a lot of times when in high school, if you know, the most recent one was him leaving eighth grade and going into high school talking to the teachers about that and they seem to be very dismissive at first. Then high school, talking to the teachers about that and they seemed to be very dismissive at first. Then it seemed like, for whatever reason, they changed course 180 degrees and I don't want to say that's because they're recognizing the impact that tact is having, but it seems like something influenced them all of a sudden, where it was a complete change of course.

Speaker 1:

I don't know, maybe it's just a hot button topic right now, I don't know well, the main thing is that they did change, but that is a very interesting topic on my podcast and that's how the school system reacts and how they address the things that they need to do. Yeah, hopefully they understand that they need to learn more because it's an ever evolving situation of where they're going to have more people that they have to deal with and hopefully they can handle it better.

Speaker 2:

They don't have the adequate tools and I feel bad I mean not to justify them but to understand them and empathize with them Like they're put in a losing situation as educators where they have vastly under-resourced, they have so many kids per class Like there's no win for that for them. I mean it's not that they're not well-meaning, well-intentioned teachers and support staff and paras and therapists support staff and paras and therapists they're just overworked dramatically.

Speaker 1:

Exactly so. What's your five-year plan for him? What do you see in his near future?

Speaker 2:

Well, that's really up to him. What I want for him and what he wants for himself are two separate things. But I would love for him to personally really, really, really get into the creative side of his nature. He's very artistic. He's got a great way with words, even though sitting across and having a conversation, that might not necessarily the best way to get into Dylan's mind. But what he writes down on paper, he can write down some amazing things. He's a very, very good writer. So I would love to see him explore that. What he wants to do. He's still trying to figure that out, so I would love for him to do something that we're doing intact. I mean, the whole point was inspired by him to the hands of project-based learning and keeping the family tradition of the skilled trades going. All of those things were inspired.

Speaker 2:

I don't think he's going to become an auto mechanic. He might be like an architect. I could see him doing that too. Five years, I mean he'll be. If he wants to go to college, we'll support him in going to college. If he wants to go military, I'm working with the military to try to make that possible. If that's something he wants to do, I would love for him to go to trade school. So I just want him to be comfortable in his own skin and know what he wants for himself and then give him the freedom to choose that for himself and support him in that and don't feel like he has to go. What happens to most of our community is they get forced into a certain pathway.

Speaker 1:

So you mentioned TACT and how he was instrumental in you starting this. Yeah, so can you expand on what that is to everyone?

Speaker 2:

So TACT. It's long-winded so that our elevator speech is longer than 30 seconds, but we are a 501c3 nonprofit that works to essentially solve the unemployment crisis for the autistic community and provide a quality of opportunity for careers, actual training and all of the resources to get them set up for success for the future. So we have a variety of different programs but we start as young as five. Obviously we're not putting five-year-olds on welding torches and table saws and stuff. But we work with young students to get them excited about the idea of hey, in my future, is it fun to make things, to fix things, to think creatively, to work with my hands, to problem-solve and fail and then recover and figure out how I did that. And then we document the heck out of all of that. And then when they get to the transition age, then we have a full transition program that we call our Career Tracks program and that program is designed just for that to transition young autistic adults and teenagers into careers if that's what they choose to do. They don't have to go into the trades, but we use the trades as vessels to develop those employment skills because they're very, very hands-on. It's very holistic.

Speaker 2:

All of our classes are completely differentiated for each client. So every individual is getting a pathway that's unique to them. It's competency-based rather than timetable-based, and so everything is set up for them to be successful. And then we have another program that works to help identify them a job, where they're going to end up. We have a whole team that helps them with resumes and portfolios and the interview process and then benefits analysis for those kind of things to make sure that, whatever career they choose, they're supported in that. And then we have a team of employment specialists that work side by side in person with them rather than online, and help them as an advocate, as a liaison. However, they need that person to be there, side by side with them as they're in the workplace and advancing in their career.

Speaker 1:

That's great. So what led you to do this? Did you sit down one day and just think man, I've got to do something to help autistic people? What actually caused this to happen? Because it sounds like it's a really great program.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so when Dylan was diagnosed with autism, I spent a whole bunch of time in therapy rooms, hospitals, the settings where he was being told what was wrong with him, where I was being told what was wrong with him, where I was spending a whole bunch of money. Since you're in Nashville, I used to live in Old Hickory, obviously on the northeast side of town In Davidson County. At the time there were very, very few places that you could go to get autism services, so I was having to drive to the next county over and go into Mount Juliet before I was able to find actual resources. And when you're in a metropolitan city and struggling to find resources, it's changed a lot. From what I hear from friends that are still there, which is great.

Speaker 2:

The last decade seems like it's been very good to Nashville, but at the time it was struggling a little bit there. So I kept all. I kept hearing what was wrong with him, what he needed to do different. I never heard what was right and noticing how all these amazing things about my son. It started very humbly where it was just a selfish dad wanting my son to see all the things he could do, to feel encouraged and empowered and recognized for his strengths. The trades came very naturally to him and, being a fourth generation tradesman myself, I just thought maybe that was part of it, maybe that was just our family lineage we were able to do with our hands. So I started looking for a program like TACT and I couldn't find anything at all. I had the chance to meet Dr Temple Grandin and told her about my idea and she said stop what you're doing, put down your guitar, go do this, go work, start this nonprofit. And I did. It's since grown up and pretty amazing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, sounds great. So how long have you been doing this? Now we started in 2016.

Speaker 2:

So eight years old, yeah, eight years. It started in the back of a 58 Chevy, so a car guy had to be done right. So it was a 58 Chevy panel truck on a police car frame with a 350 and 20 inch wheels and, you know, hot rotted it, rat rotted it and would drive to churches and rec centers and anywhere anybody would give us a chance to just like showcase. Hey, what can our kids achieve? And to my job, using the word kids because they were children at the time. A lot of them were, you know, 10, 12, 13, under 18 individuals that we were training. And then it snowballed from there and as we started doing more and more, it grew and it grew and now it's become everything it is and it has.

Speaker 2:

We have a full staff of 20 people. We served 642 students last year we had 12 different school districts, another dozen plus non-profits. People move from all over the country. I mean, it's grown into this amazing organization. It started with one guy driving around in a truck teaching that his plus nonprofits. People move from all over the country. I mean, it's grown into this amazing organization. It started with one guy driving around in a truck teaching that his parents taught him.

Speaker 1:

Well, that was my question. How has it grown in the eight years Now? Where is it located and what areas do you service?

Speaker 2:

Yes, right now it's just south of Denver, in the suburbs of Inglewood, which is like four miles south of Denver. I mean, depending on which way you can go, you can get to Denver in two minutes. So right to south. What happened with Denver is when they legalized marijuana, all of the industrial space got bought by marijuana grow houses. So nonprofits teaching things like trade skills can't compete with big marijuana industry. So Inglewood's been amazing. It's mainly the Denver metro area. We do go further south into Colorado Springs. We've had students as far west as Grand Junction come Regularly. Students drive down from Boulder all the time. We had one student come for one class just from Nebraska, just because he wanted to come try a class and said Mom, I signed up for this class, you're going to drive me from Nebraska to Denver.

Speaker 2:

So it's kind of neat to Denver. So it's kind of neat. The goal is going to be growing it. So we just merged with FedCap, which we're very excited about, and they're a New York based nonprofit that is exceeding in workforce development and education and with their support we're going to start standing up other tax across the country. So we're looking at working with them for a couple of organizations that they merged with and within the FedCap group to stand up a second tact in Queens with the Apex group and then likewise in Austin, texas, with the Greenleaf School. So soon that'll be like the get-go right To start getting expansion under works. And one of the trickiest things is figuring out how to fund it in all those different places. Every state has a different set of rules and regulations, so that's kind of hard.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I can understand that. So what's your goals now?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I can understand that. So what's your goals now You've started out and when you think that the autism community by and large has a 90% under unemployment rate, the state of Colorado has a 12.2% success rate, so an 88% unemployment rate for our community with an average wage of less than $200 per week. But TAC is doing with an over 83% placement rate, starting wages of $19.86 on average for our graduates. We're creating real futures for students and we have so many business partners that work with us, business partners that work with us. It's been really neat to have all of the companies like Subaru sponsored us, and Microsoft and Toyota and Mitsubishi that provide these opportunities for our students to have real hands-on experience with the latest and the greatest and authentic stuff to help them be successful in their careers.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's nice. So, as it grows, what are you doing so you can be part of all of this, yet still focus on what you want to focus on, so you can have diversity across the board, so to speak?

Speaker 2:

You know I don't have an answer for that yet. That's been a real struggle. In this room my hair looks brown, but if you and I were sitting at a table across from each other, you would see just how gray it's become. That's something I'm really trying to figure out and, as we're growing, wanting to make sure I mean I still teach an instrument building class every year, because that's something that I'm passionate about, and making sure that I still have that time to actually engage. I don't want my job to ever be where I lose focus and don't know who all our community really is, where it feels like something so compartmentalized that it's completely broken away from that. So it's a balance, but at the same token, it's been so invigorating and exciting to see so many organizations, cities, students I mean just community partnerships jump on board and start recognizing what's possible.

Speaker 2:

It's a really neat moment right now where it feels like our community is finally starting to come together and recognize neurodiversity, and I mean in a top attack. I'm not sure if you're aware, but I co-founded the Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce, which is the first neurodiverse chamber of commerce in the country. So getting to do that, working with the military for autistic service members to take place. It still feels like don't ask, don't tell in a lot of ways there. So just trying to be a good citizen and make sure that our whole community is really recognized. I mean, if my son can grow up into a world that looks nothing like it does now for the better and he's able to be inherently valued for his strengths man, then I've succeeded. That would have been pretty amazing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. So what were some of the hurdles that you faced when you first started out? You were all by yourself trying to get the word out yeah, and now, eight years later, you've grown. So what were some of the hurdles that you faced and how did you approach them so that you could get them to join in and help you?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, oh gosh, there's so many hurdles for anybody to ask me that when they were like you know, if I was going to start this, would you make it a nonprofit again? Oh boy.

Speaker 2:

That's a tough one because starting a nonprofit from scratch that's really hard. A few things Insurance was a really big issue. We were turned down 13 times for insurance. Insurance companies thought the idea of putting tools in the hands of autistic youth and adults was a problem. So we have a great insurance broker 13 times now, but one time yes, and it's been great since. So I mean that was part of it.

Speaker 2:

Part of it was convincing our own community, where a lot of agencies that work within the neurodiversity and autism communities didn't believe that what we were doing was possible, it didn't fit into the molds of the time. Being strengths-based, recognizing the possibility of everybody. Day treatment was at the time and still is in a lot of places. The big thing that a lot of our community ends up into Certainly not career advancement and a quality of opportunity there, it's day treatment centers. So differentiating and recognizing there's a difference, finding programs, federal programs that would fund us because we weren't timetable based was a big one, proving the idea of competency-based education which most colleges have started to explore. In another 10 years Most colleges will head that way where that's going to become the pathway forward. But that way eight years ago everybody thought again, we were kind of crazy Finding the space.

Speaker 2:

Thankfully we've got great team members Becky Mirshan, our COO, she's been with us since the beginning and I think finding somebody that really partners with you well, that is able to get a lot done, and finding worker bees that believe in our cause and able to really support it.

Speaker 2:

And then it took a few donors at first that recognized what we were doing, because a lot of personal money and assets went into making this possible at first, and when you're doing a nonprofit, a lot of times they want proven results before they invest hard. As a startup nonprofit, it's really just taken some time to just continuously, steadily be persistent. And so I think that persistence and being positive in that persistence because we get told no all the time I mean like going to businesses at first and be like hey, look at the amazing things our graduates are doing, do you want to hire them? I can't tell you how many times we were told no. I mean more than I could ever recall. But once they started saying yes, they started recognizing how amazing our community is and they would tell their friends and their other businesses. And then it's grown and grown and grown. Yeah, it's come to very organic the way it's happened.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's great. So, as we all know, 2020 hindsight is always perfect. So is there anything that you look back on now and you say to yourself well, I wish I'd done this or I wish I'd done that, or are you happy with just the way things turned out?

Speaker 2:

No, I mean there's always things. I mean, you know there's definitely been bridges burnt for sure, as we've approached things. We approach things very differently than others and while we try to incorporate our values into our program of grace and integrity and discipline and empowerment and respect, there are just sometimes when you meet other you know people in our community that their ideas are just different than yours, and so there have been partnerships with different organizations that have been lost. You know, there are definitely some organizations that when we started working with them, we were very hungry to get students coming to our program, found ways to get scholarships for students and we'd get them to come to us and then we would go to report on all this data and those partner organizations would take credit for our work because they were clients from their program they were sending to us. It was sad to see how the community wouldn't work together for the kids and they still were very much fighting for their own program and I get right, I mean like they're running their own program. But I think I naively looked at it as a dad rather than a businessman in some fronts, like why can't we all do this together, rather than like why are we all still fighting each other over these different things, so that part's been hard.

Speaker 2:

There are some other trades I would have loved to teach for sure, and I would like to, when I look back, recognize we have very, very low turnover of staff. Most of our staff sticks, which is amazing. I can't take any credit for that. That's all Becky. I mean she's an amazing leader working with the staff on the day to day. I get to do fun stuff like talk to you. She's the one you know really making sure that the staff is happy. I think we try to, really we're trying to really build an actual community, recognizing that it's not just a training program, it's not just an employment program, but we want to be the hub that works together. So we're trying to really share resources with contacts, with ideas, with businesses. At the end of the day, it's a dad that's trying to make this world better and I want to make sure that happens. And if that means I'm the person in the driver's seat, great. If that means I'm the person in the passenger seat, that's fine too, like, as long as we get where we're supposed to go.

Speaker 1:

I think one of the biggest thing is understanding. Most people don't even realize what autism is. Because of that, a lot of people close their minds on what autistic people can actually do. It's pretty sad actually. So what you're doing really is you're a teacher. You're not just going out into the community and helping your kids. You're actually teaching these people that you're talking with what autism is and what they can do. So because of that, you're actually teaching them an understanding for autistic people.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Yeah, that's an unexpected part of the journey. That definitely is the part of the journey, for sure. Yeah, thank you for noticing that.

Speaker 1:

Sure, pretty obvious actually. So what has come to you? When you first looked at it, you said to yourself I don't think this is going to work. Then, all of a sudden, it just turned around and turned into a success.

Speaker 2:

Man. That's really the things that I've thought that wouldn't work the most were about. A lot of it was around money and funding, where I've been just the ideas of the way that we're doing things. It just doesn't fit into the box of a lot of traditional molds and I think that's the thing is, like we're kind of creating a bridge as we're walking across. It is what it kind of feels like.

Speaker 2:

There's definitely been that part the communication with parents. There's a lot of times that's been one thing where parents myself being a dad and just going on and on about how making my kids in a world better have gotten into the habit of speaking for their child and trying to do the exact opposite and empower the child to speak for themselves. That didn't go the way that I thought it was gonna go. Mind you, sometimes we meet advocates that are doing amazing things not to take away from anybody but there have literally been conversations where we'll have to look at the advocate that's highly regarded or whatnot and be like would you please stop talking and let the person next to you actually talk. I didn't expect for things like that to have to take place, but that has to take place and it's not that they're not well intended. That's just breaking down some of the traditional things that have taken place place.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I've talked with a woman that had a really rough time with just what you said. She had a son that was autistic and was talking to someone and he wouldn't talk with the son. He kept talking with her and she kept saying talk to my son. Yeah, she said she had a real difficult time getting him to talk to her son because he just didn't understand that, just because her son was autistic, that he wasn't capable of carrying on a great conversation.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh yes, yeah, well and I mean not to backtrack but talk about your earlier point, like the teacher education piece, you know, with the Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce for the whole first year of that, I can't tell you how many emails we got and the number one question we would get was what is neurodiversity? Wow, but not surprising misinformation too, about autism, that we're having to retrain people's minds and help engage their thoughts and hearts in a way that stop looking at our you know community as lesser than unable to do things and start recognizing all the things that they can do.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So there's a reason why that the autism spectrum exists. Because you have so many individuals that's all over the spectrum. So you have some kids. They'll have meltdowns. So when that happens, how do you approach that in the workforce so they can deal with it in the correct way, so that it won't be a deal breaker and it can allow your company to still move forward to help the person that needs the help?

Speaker 2:

That's a great question. This is actually really good information for anybody that's listening. I think in a lot of ways that you know, just autistic individuals have meltdowns, or neurodistinct individuals have meltdowns. Everybody has a point, for whatever reason, where they need a moment, like I can't think of a human being on this planet that hasn't been in a point where they're just like you know what, give me five, I need to go walk, have a glass of water on Netflix and just chill for a second, like give me a moment, kind of thing. I think it's the humanity and helping businesses understand what it actually is.

Speaker 2:

I think a big part of our job is reframing communication with businesses and helping them articulate and ask questions in a way that's clear and concise, and trying to seek information rather than push an opinion or project some kind of idea onto somebody else. So before we get anybody put into a job, we work with those businesses to help them put those practices in place. A lot of times it's again reframing the way things are communicated articulated, structured and simple things from like okay, you're going to have a business meeting tomorrow. How about the day before? Give everybody the agenda so they have time to process what's going to take place.

Speaker 2:

I mean little things that are big things, right.

Speaker 2:

I mean, like, does that really take that business leader that much more time to shoot out a quick email the day before?

Speaker 2:

And helping them recognize that small accommodations and support enablers like that lead to overall productivity, less HR costs for rehiring and retraining individuals, and so it's a big part of that. And then also again, just recognizing that people need grace and different managers handle that differently. What's really helped us get a lot of businesses to start have been parents or autistic adults themselves in those businesses, because I think what's happened a lot and one of our fears is that, you know, our training is so much a lot with tact on individuals themselves getting ready to step into their career. There is a number of autistic adults already working that are struggling, that don't have the resources that they need in their current workplace. That's a great thing where the chamber comes in and supports those individuals and those businesses to help them be successful in recognizing for businesses you already have autistic adults working for you. This is how you need to set them up to be more successful and everybody wins from that.

Speaker 1:

And so I mean I think a lot of it, yes, is advocacy no-transcript misinformation out there and sometimes parents will look at it as if a child has a death sentence and really they don't. So how do you teach those parents that their child can grow up, learn, be educated, work, live a fulfilled life just like anyone else? And this way the parent can have a better outlook and more positive that their kid can actually live a great life.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's another great question. It's not as simple as one thing. It's a few different things. First, recognizing and hearing that the individual expressed their fears, thoughts. Recognizing and understanding and validating for them that those things are real. And then helping them understand beyond that what it really means. Because I think the way that it's expressed by a lot of times from doctors or therapists or whatnot, when people first get that diagnosis, that's a room for growth, I think, for the community to handle that better in a lot of different ways. It used to be. Here's a book. Good luck, I mean, could you imagine anything else in life getting something like that? That's no good.

Speaker 2:

And so then two, the amazing thing about TACT being a hands-on, project-based program is that our students are building and making things that demonstrate and showcase their talent and ability. So there's usually a physical, tangible item that they've made or achieved that they can showcase. And when people see that, that's so much more real, right, when you see, like I was telling you about my son writing, when I read his papers, I'm like, wow, look at what my son can write, look at what's in his mind and his heart, finding those ways of getting that. Because what I saw before starting.

Speaker 2:

Tact is my son was always on the sideline. Thus I was on the sideline, it was always a waiting room and the sibling was always in a waiting room. There was never that camaraderie, that teamwork, and when you're building things and projects as teams, it inherently puts people in a position, holistically, where they have to work together and socialize and problem solve and do all these things together. And if they don't want to, they need a place to move away. Then they get that opportunity. The way that we've structured it, that's one Helping, giving those parents that. And then we also have classes just for the parents, where we do trainings for parents as well, where they get to come in and then they get to do the same projects that their kids are doing, where they can then compare theirs. And when they see how good what their child did and what they did, that's a real moment for a lot of parents, like wait, this is how I made it, but this is how my child made it. Like theirs is so much better than mine, you know.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, Okay, so is there anything I've missed that that you'd like to address?

Speaker 2:

I think it would be great if we could talk about. You know, as a parent. The cost to parents and individuals is very expensive for services, so we've set up our program where 98.5% of the students that come through our Career Traps program are on scholarship of some sort. We work very hard to work with governments and state, county agencies, federal agencies to make sure that resources are available, including foundations, grantors, community partners, businesses that make this possible for students.

Speaker 2:

I think that's something that really separates us, in the sense that a lot of programs focus on one portion of the spectrum too, and I think that doesn't just fall on how the pie chart of autism truly exists, because it's not just a linear line, it's truly a pie chart, not just focusing on that, but recognizing that socioeconomic impacts for families are very real too, and I hear of programs a lot of the time that are amazing but they're expensive and all of a sudden then excluding families based upon their economic and socioeconomic standing.

Speaker 2:

That's horribly exclusive in its nature. Why should only families that have access to financial resources have the ability to provide programming and opportunities to their child or to themselves? So I think that's something that really differentiates us, and likewise we have the full spectrum. So when you come to TACT and I would love for anybody to come go to our website, set up a tour and come see you'll see that we teach the full spectrum. So we have students that are using iPads or other forms of alternative forms of communication to the exact opposite. So I mean and recognizing a spectrum if somebody is verbal or using words to communicate that you know there are supports in place for everybody and I think that's important, that the whole community is being represented and given the opportunity, not just a portion of it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay, that's really good. What's your next step? You've got your home base and now you've expanded to New York. So what's the timeline that you have in your mind that makes sense to expand and continue to grow?

Speaker 2:

So I break it down in five years and 10 years. So in five years I would definitely like to be having the TACT New York completely up and running, TACT in Austin completely up and running and at least a handful of other locations. Those are things that I definitely would like to see happening in the next five years. I want to see it in the next 10 years where it's not felt as just a training program and employment program. I want it to try to be just so much bigger and I personally would like to be more in a position to where I could work with other organizations to help them on a variety of different levels. That's why I do things with the chamber and the Air Force, volunteer and other boards and city council or commissioner for the Denver Commission of People with Disabilities and a variety of different fronts, recognizing that still very much and all of what I've seen in every state and everywhere I travel and been traveling a lot as of late to various states everything is still so siloed and atomized that until we start bridging that and getting everybody talking and working together and making it about the actual community, our future generations, our kids, the autistic adults that are currently working, and start making it about them and not ourselves, and there's a long way to go. My goal I mean to be truthful, because I like conversations like this ADA has been out for 34 years this July, and when you read ADA, one of the top things in that is employment.

Speaker 2:

Employment has only moved 1% in 34 years. With ADA 1%. There's a variety of other things that society has benefited from. When we go on from Braille to handrails, to ramps, to et cetera, et cetera, that's awesome. However, employment hasn't changed. If something like what started out of the back of the 58 Chevy is able to have more than a 1% impact, that'll have done more than any other program that exists. That would be a cool legacy.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, and it's happening. That's the great part of it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I mean it takes people supporting us and helping us make it possible. So I hope people listen and want to dive in with us.

Speaker 1:

So when you first started this, did you see this expanding like it has.

Speaker 2:

No, I saw a dad that believed in his son and put everything into the fact that my son can you know, and he still can. He's going to do amazing things and, you know, when the world is better, when he's ready to step into his career, and it will be the place that he deserves. That's the best gift I can give him right.

Speaker 1:

Yes, absolutely the best gift you can give him, and thanks for coming on. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:

Oh, it's been my pleasure. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to listen to our show today. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. If you know anyone that would like to tell us their story, send them to tonymantorcom Contact then they can give us their information so one day they may be a guest on our show. One more thing we ask tell everyone everywhere about why Not Me, the world, the conversations we're having and the inspiration our guests give to everyone everywhere that you are not alone in this world. Bye.