Neurodiversity Experts to Help Disability-Jobs Nonprofit Launch $8M…

Two College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ neurodiversity experts have been tapped to help Melwood, one of the largest employers of people with disabilities in the country, execute a five-year, $8 million project to expand a skills-based training program that leverages the untapped potential and talent of neurodivergent people for careers in information technology and cybersecurity

A grant from the U.S. Department of Education and approximately $2 million from the nonprofit’s donors and operating funds will extend the program to participants in Hampton Roads, Va., and Oregon.

Kathy Dow-Burger, the Friedman Family Director of Neurodiversity and Autism Transition Services
in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, and Nancy Forsythe, a disability inclusion specialist in BSOS’ Feller Center for Advising and Career Planning, have been helping Melwood connect with area employers and neurodivergent individuals—including some students from UMD—for years. They will continue to make connections between Melwood and employers and potential program participants in their role in the new project.

“This public-private partnership will enable us to implement a strategy to solve national labor shortages in the IT and tech industry while strengthening the ability of regional nonprofits to provide critically needed programming to advance careers for people with disabilities,” said Melwood President and CEO Larysa Kautz. “We are thrilled to have the University of Maryland and others as important partners on this project.”

The pair will also lend their support to another part of the project that to use surveys and observations to measure participants’ satisfaction with the program and workplace, and employers’ assessment of how the program is impacting their workplace.

Dow-Burger hopes the project will ultimately provide more opportunities for individuals with neurodiverse needs, and for UMD to continue to make strides in the field.

“The University of Maryland is playing a leading role in the neurodiversity space, as being a part of larger grants like this gives us the opportunity to showcase our expertise in the employment, research and outreach parts of the neurodiversity at work movement,” she said.