Autism home offers 'A Better Chance'

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 21, 2007 | by Tom Lochner

Devon Carmans is fond of game shows. A sometime comedian, he has performed at the Punch Line in San Francisco. He hopes to go to Contra Costa College to study computers.

He is enrolled at the California Autism Foundation's A Better Chance school at Richmond's Hilltop Office Park, where he studies reading and math.

Since August, Carmans, 21, who has autism, has lived at the foundation's federally subsidized ABC Apartments on Corte Arango in El Sobrante, a "supported living" residence where "consumers," as the foundation calls them, live independently with the support of a service provider of their own choosing.

Most have picked A Better Chance Supported Living Services, a component of the California Autism Foundation.

Though not affiliated with any national organization, Supported Living Services is part of a national movement away from "programs" and toward entirely individualized supports, said John Clay, founder and executive director of A Better Chance school.

On weekdays, an East Bay Paratransit van takes Carmans from his home to the school, which enrolls 45 students across the street from a former produce center where the foundation has its offices and runs an industrial vocational program, which includes packaging merchandise for stores such as Costco. The vocational program enrolls 70.

Carmans is one of 14 developmentally disabled adults who live in the 10-unit El Sobrante complex, which held an open house in September. The place is "very good, very friendly," he said, but compared with the school, which is "fine, very good, very friendly and very educated," the apartment complex is "just OK."

"It's different," he said. "There are many different people."

Carmans has a roommate, with whom he gets along, but, he said, "I don't have friends. I keep to myself.

"I watch game shows every day," he said, citing "Wheel of Fortune," "Jeopardy," "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and "Family Feud." Carmans goes to the driving range at the Franklin Canyon golf course from time to time. His favorite golfer is Phil Mikkelson.

Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life, according to the Autism Foundation of America. It is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain and impacts social interaction and communication skills.

Autism affects about one in 166 children, and according to the national foundation, there is no cure.

But many experts and advocacy groups, including Cure Autism Now, believe there are effective therapies today and that even better ones are on the way.

To the question about the nature of Carmans' disability, Clay defers to Carmans, inviting him to describe himself.

"I describe myself as a family-type person," Carmans said. Once a month he visits his mother and grandmother in Richmond; his other grandmother and an aunt live in Texas, he said.

"Devon does not consider himself disabled," Clay said later.

The hallways outside Clay's office are covered with paintings of cartoon figures and caricatures ranging from Homer Simpson to Osama bin Laden, signed by Owen, full name Owen Bragg.

"His ambition is to be a cartoonist for Pixar," Clay said, adding that Bragg takes animation classes at Contra Costa College.

Tibetan terriers roam the foundation offices.

"They make excellent animal-assisted therapy dogs," Clay said.

A Better Chance has raised $3 million of the $4 million it needs to build a 20,000-square-foot chocolate manufacturing facility inside its 60,000-square-foot Hilltop quarters, Clay said.

The process is labor-intensive, involving a lot of wrapping and sorting. A Better Chance already makes and packages chocolate products, albeit on a smaller scale than will be possible with a new facility.

"Not interested," Carmans said emphatically. He would rather work in a thrift store.

"I like thrift stores; it's a good place to shop," he said.

Joyce Lawson, 48, however, looks forward to manufacturing chocolate.

"Everything's all candy," she said.

A Better Chance's chocolate workers can eat as much of the sweet as they want, an amount that declines with time.

"After a week or two, you don't overeat it, no matter how good it is," Clay said.

Blanch Smith, 33, works four hours a day at A Better Chance.

"I do packaging and stuff, put lids on top of wine bottles," said Smith, who lives at ABC Apartments and takes East Bay Paratransit to work every day.

She said she likes it at ABC.

"I like to cook, clean and do the laundry," she said. She also likes to watch TV.

Officials of A Better Chance praise the apartment complex's neighbors, whom they have found very welcoming.

"We're totally accepted there; we're part of the neighborhood," said Ahmad Robertson, the property manager. "Our guys walk up and down the street.

"They get up; they go to work; they feel; they hurt; they get upset," he said. "They have good and bad days. Just like me and you.

"We're breaking all the stereotypes here," Robertson said. "We're trying to make history."

Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@bayareanewsgroup.com.