COLLEGE TOWN, Fla. — A local nonprofit is offering a summer program to neurodiverse youth ages 11-22, teaching filmmaking, podcasting, and digital marketing while creating job skills and community.
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A local nonprofit is launching a summer program designed to teach real-world skills to neurodiverse youth through creative media, including filmmaking, podcasting, and digital marketing.
The Infinite Spectrum Foundation (ISF) will offer its summer upskilling program for youth on the autism spectrum between the ages of 11 and 22. The program focuses on digital creativity to help participants develop job placement skills.
"ISF is designed to build legacies for people. That's the purpose of the attention, so that other fathers or mothers who felt the same way that I felt feel like, 'You know what, even if I leave this world, I know that my kid would be good,'" Juming Delmas said.
Delmas, a local father and business owner, founded ISF after his son was diagnosed with autism.
"It wasn't something that I knew what it was. I didn't care to look into it. It was completely created because of my son, but because of that, I've learned to start diversifying what I consider, like, what I don't know, because I think right now ISF is definitely needed even just beyond my son," Delmas said.
"We want to create a program that allows individuals on the spectrum to be creative, so you know, creative to a point where they'll be able to use their creativity in the actual workforce, really creating job placement skills for individuals on the spectrum, not only that, but getting businesses to be more autism friendly," Delmas added.
According to ISF, 1 in 36 kids in the U.S. has been diagnosed with autism.
Delmas says those numbers make community-building initiatives important.
"Creating resources like this where you have a community of people who come together and are being that resource to one another and creating an environment where you're not alone," Delmas said.
Along with learning new skills, Delmas hopes the program will create a community where neurodiverse kids feel valued, included, and ready for what's ahead.
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