Meet Valerie Herskowitz

What inspired you to advocate for our community? 

I have been a practicing speech pathologist for over four decades. I would have to say that would be the first road to advocacy for our community. The next event was when I had a son with autism. He brought the world of special needs to my doorstep. Next was recognizing that because I had a child with autism who is older, there was always a lack of services for him. So, when it was hard to get therapy services, I opened a therapy center. When I could not secure appropriate summer camp services, I started one. When there was a lack of community-based programming, I started a nonprofit geared toward community-based programming. And then, 10 years ago, when there was nothing for my son to do after he graduated high school, we started a business that focused on job training called The Chocolate Spectrum. The next hurdle is going to be residential. So, stay tuned. 

Tell us more about the work of the National Autism Registry and the Chocolate Spectrum.  

The mission of the National Autism Registry is to provide support for community-based opportunities. Initially, we started by offering families of individuals with autism business-size cards that helped them to queue in lines at restaurants and attractions. The second card was used to explain why their children exhibited certain behaviors to individuals unaware of autism. From there, we began to offer recreational programs in the community and field trips for sometimes over 400 individuals. We covered the cost and the transportation. We contacted the venue beforehand and made special arrangements for our group to be comfortable. We were the first group in the country to offer sensory-friendly movies. From there, we supported camp programs.  

In 2013, I started the Chocolate Spectrum from our home kitchen. I did this for my son so he would have a purpose in life after high school. Since many other individuals in a similar position became interested in joining us in my home kitchen, where I sometimes trained up to 14 individuals for free, I realized I needed to formalize this training. So, in 2016, we opened The Chocolate Spectrum Café and Academy in Jupiter, Florida. Since then, we have provided job training to over 100 teens and adults with autism. We made this training highly low-cost to the families, and we use fundraisers to subsidize the expenses through the funds raised by the National Autism Registry. The students we call apprentices join us in our commercial kitchen one to three times a week and learn to make pastries and chocolates. Additionally, because we are a shop, they can develop critical customer service skills, which follow them in their life after they are no longer with us.  

What do you believe is still missing regarding independent living resources for people with autism?  

My number one issue would be residential. At least for me at this point, but if you talk to others, they will say there’s still a massive lack of after-high school programming. Because I see the lack, we are trying to expand our program to become a full-time rather than just a once or twice-a-week experience. 

What does being a supporter of the autism community mean to you?   

I'm a proud member of the autism community. It's not just about training people with autism. It's about inserting our influence in the community. One of the things that I am a big proponent of is teaching the community to understand us. We do a lot of shows out in the community, our apprentices and mentor instructors do a walk around in our shopping center once a week, and I do presentations in the community about what we do. I've seen a significant, massive change over the last 11 years since I started this, and I hope that the understanding of our population continues. I have been lucky to work with Autism Speaks. I was asked to be a speaker at one of the kickoff dinners a few years ago. Autism Speaks gave us a community grant one year ago, which was terrific, and we're grateful for it. 

What important message would you like to share with the community?  

Please come to the shop. We'd love to meet you and for you to be our support. We do not profit from this, and I do not take any compensation, so I am comfortable asking people to support us. Please look us up online and buy our products. Proceeds of all our purchases go towards apprenticeship programs and our staff. 

Learn more about the Chocolate Spectrum here.