Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Judi Uttal. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Judi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea for the Autism In Entertainment Workgroup was inspired by my background and a need that I saw in the industry. My career has been high technology marketing executive working in networking and operating systems. In that role, we often worked with competitors and formed workgroups to collaborate on new industry standards. As president of the Orange County Asperger’s Support Group I have been focusing on employment of individuals with autism seeking employment, primarily focusing on college graduates. This population is 80-85% unemployed or under employed. When my son who has high-functioning autism graduated from Cal State Fullerton University with a BA in Television and Cinema I started thinking about the problems he might have finding a job. As I realized that the standard job development was not going to work. I also became increasingly aware that the number of people on the spectrum interested in careers in entertainment was quite large. I decided that a Workgroup focused on Autism In Entertainment might be the answer. One day, Patricia Turney the Chair of Exceptional Mind’s Academy appeared in one of the OCASG meetings. I approached her and discussed the idea of the Workgroup. With her onboard, I now had a partner. Together with the help of Zavikon, a job development organization who I had been working about for a while, we formed the Autism In Entertainment Workgroup. We reached out to parents and people in the industry associated with autism in entertainment and created a group of about a dozen people.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As I previously mentioned my background is high tech marketing. On a personal note, I am also a mother. My son Josh was diagnosed with autism when he was three. As a parent, I was focused on helping Josh achieve the best life possible. My approach was always to be inclusive and not only advocate for him but for the community. When Josh turned 18, he participated in a UCLA Pilot of the PEERS program. This was a program that taught social skills. We had to drove about 100 miles each week to participate. One of the things that they encouraged the young folks was to join clubs. At the time, one of the clubs I was involved with was Toastmasters. I had started a Toastmaster club at my company to help my team improve communication. I found the program very supportive and realized that this would be an excellent club for individuals on the spectrum because it helped with social skills in a supportive way and was located all over the world. I wanted to test the idea and contacted the Orange County Asperger’s Support Group. I have been running a Toastmasters Gavel Club at OCASG for 11 years. It was not long before I was asked to join the OCASG Board and about a year or so later, I became president. As president of OCASG, has grown the organization focusing on the mission of helping teens, adults, and their families improve their quality of life. We do this through education, support, social activities, and advocation.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Once the Autism In Entertainment Workgroup was formed, we discussed potential ideas. We came up with the idea of a Conference. This was in May 2022. During that summer we learned of a Department of Developmental Services Grant that was being solicited looking for creative ways to increase employment of individuals with disabilities. We applied and got a grant for $154K to fund the conference.

As we worked on the conference, we found a need for additional funding that was out-of-scope for this grant to pay for SWAG and Contests. We reached out to entertainment corporations and individuals for donations and were able to raise an additional $15K.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

When we started working on the conference, we did not have a database of companies or individuals on the autism spectrum interested in careers in entertainment. To have a successful conference, we had to create awareness among these two different communities.

There were a number of strategic relationships that helped us achieve this goal.

First Zavikon, had access to database to do the employer outreach. They build a database using Salesforce that drove awareness with the target entertainment industry executives.

As we started working on the conference, we realized that there were a number of organizations that, like Exceptional Minds, was focused on training autistic adults in entertainment related fields. As we learned of an organization through participation in grant meetings, social media, and word of mouth. We reached out to those organizations. We developed an “Educational Partner” program to develop a synergistic relationship. Partners were used as speakers, providing access to potential students and graduates, as well connections with industry represenratives.

Finally through the grant we were required to work with four Regional Centers. In California, there are 21 Regional Centers who work with disabled individuals in particular regions. We worked with the four that best served the area when studios were located in Southern California. We had them send out flyers and do outreach to the trained autistic talent.

In the end we had so many people interested in attending, that we had to turn some away.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.autisminentertainment.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autisminentertainment/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AutismInEntertainment/
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/company/autisminentertainment
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZZGMCyXMOJwRasdn6agakw
• Other: OCASG – www.ocaspergers.org

Image Credits

Autism in Entertainment Conference Album © 2024 by Zachary Silva (1za.ch) is produced and owned by Zachary Silva (1za.ch) and licensed under CC BY 4.0 (Attribution 4.0 International)

For all uses please attribute Zachary Silva (1za.ch). On instagram please tag @1za.ch. These works may be published commercially, modified, and remixed under the CC BY 4.0 Terms.

OCASG and conference organizing groups are exempt from the attribution requirements, though attribution is appreciated.

Autism In Entertainment Conference © 2024 by Staff Photographers

2024 Disability Friendly Community Award, Irvine Residents with Disabilities Advisory Board. Photographer Joshua Copelan