Autism in WNC
° Haywood – 20
° Jackson – 22
° Macon – 9
° Swain – 5
According to 2002 statistics from The Autism Society

For more information, visit www.fullspectrumfarms.org


Jaime Alvarez was 4 years old when he was diagnosed with autism.

A complex developmental disability, autism is the result of a neurological disorder that affects an individual’s ability to effectively communicate and socially interact.

Characteristics of autism often include an affinity for routine and resistance to change, repetitive speech, desire to be alone, difficulty touching others or being touched, over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain, little fear of danger and weak motor skills. Such characteristics manifest in varying degrees of severity.

“Jaime was so affectionate, so warm, so outgoing when he was little,” said his mother Jean, a part-time special education teacher in Asheville.

As Jaime grew older, his parents noticed that his speech was delayed and his play repetitive. Doctors soon diagnosed the disorder and began treatment, and Jean spent much of her time essentially providing 24-hour care.

When Jaime was 12 the family moved from their home in Maryland to Waynesville. At age 14, unable to cope with the change and perhaps affected by the transitions of puberty, Jaime began refusing to go to school.

His refusal, paired with his tendency to experience violent, emotional outbursts, put the family at a loss for what to do. Unable to get through to her autistic teen and desperate for intervention, Jean took Jaime to a two-year program designed for autistic children with behavior problems.

It was there that Jean learned about the Carolina Living and Learning Center, a residential and vocational training program for adults with autism located on a farm in rural Pittsboro.

The center, founded in 1990 and developed by Division Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped Children (TEACCH), provides residents with vocational training in farming and landscaping. Residents grow and sell organic vegetables, bake bread, clear trails and do landscaping jobs, all of which they are paid for.

“People recognized a need for a different kind of service for adults with autism than what was currently available,” said Carolina Living and Learning Center Program Coordinator Tom Wiebe, of the center’s creation.

The farm concept stemmed from other programs in Europe and one in Ohio, Bittersweet Farms, which effectively mixed gardening and therapy. But for autistics in particular, the benefit comes from farming’s sense of tangible results and routine maintenance.

“The nice thing about the farm setting first of all is the work provides meaningful work,” Wiebe said. “People can understand that what they do results in something useful.”

For example, planting a blueberry bush leads to something edible — blueberries.

The work also gets farm residents outside, engaging in physical activity, which can help alleviate the fact that autistics often can be addicted to certain foods or are geared toward sedentary lifestyles.

Traditionally, work for people with autism involves being indoors, perhaps in a crowded, noisy environment such as an assembly line, said Christine Richardson, Community Service and Summer Program Coordinator for the Asheville Autism Society Branch. That environment can be unpleasant for autistics so outdoor work like farm work provides a viable, peaceful alternative. Additionally, farm work allows for a variety of jobs on different skill levels providing opportunities for low-functioning to high-functioning residents.

“I was just amazed at how much sense a farm situation makes for adults,” Jean said.

The residential aspect of the farm also helps ease the transition of home to work, since work is essentially at home, Richardson said. Autistics can have a difficult time dealing with changes that may seem minor to the rest of the population, but even getting on a bus and going somewhere else to work can be disruptive and confusing.

With that information in mind and a seed of thought planted, Jean returned to Western North Carolina and began discussing taking on a similar project with other members of the autistic service community. The land, with its history of farming and predilection for organics, was prime for an autism treatment farm. In addition, there were few treatment options for autistic adults who lived in the area west of Asheville.

“By doing the farm, it’s not in reaction or dissatisfaction to current offerings,” Jean said, citing Haywood Vocational Opportunities as one of several positive programs geared toward serving autistics in WNC.

Jean formed a 14-member board of directors including special education teachers, workers with the Autism Society, parents of autistic children, fund-raising specialists and grant writers. Together the board drew up a wish list including vehicles, building materials, furniture, appliances, a greenhouse and, most importantly, land.

The group needs 50 to 100 acres of land — either donated or sold at a cut rate — in order to make the farm a reality. Until that land is found, Full Spectrum Farms Inc. is little more than a name.

In the meantime, Jean is forging ahead with plans to become licensed by the state of North Carolina and to open an autistic adult day program at St. Cyprians Church in Franklin. The program will focus on gardening and environmental activities similar to those Jean hopes to implement on the residential farm. The program is expected to be open within three to four months. Residents of Macon and all the surrounding counties are eligible to participate.

“The process will be a learning experience,” Jean said. “We’re going to start very small.”

Full Spectrum Farms has estimated a $130,000 operating budget for one year of the day program, a figure they’re slowly working toward.

“We still have a long way to go,” Jean said.