Healthcare Employment Opportunities

Healthcare is one of the largest and fastest growing employment sectors in the Bay Area. The great majority of jobs do not require physician or nurse degrees—they are jobs available to adults in the autism community, who may not have these degrees—jobs as medical coders, health care assistants, aides in hospitals and health care facilities. On April 7, AASCEND will host two employment experts in health care jobs:  Michelle Wood, training coordinator at Jewish Vocational Services, and  Aryn Maitland, workforce readiness manager at Homebridge. This is a great opportunity to learn of jobs that offer greater stability and opportunities for advancement than most other jobs in the Bay Area today.

As always, attendees on the spectrum will offer their experience and perspectives throughout the program.

For more information about employment on the autism spectrum, join us at:
Spectrum Employment Community by AASCEND on LinkedIn

Special thanks to the Autism Studies Department at SFSU for volunteers!


Who: Adults on the autism spectrum, families, mentors and professionals all welcome. For more information, please contact: info@aascend.org
When: Sat Apr 7, 10am – 1pm
Where: The Arc of SF 1500 Howard St. @ 11th St. SF, CA 94103 map

Parking is usually available in the garage at 255 12th Street, with a reasonable flat rate for Saturdays. There is also metered street parking for $2.25/hr.

Live at the Roxie + Pacific Crest Trail Challenge

On March 27 AASCEND is co-sponsoring the San Francisco showing of the independent film Keep the Change, a romantic comedy featuring autistic actors, to be shown at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on March 27 at 7pm. AASCEND is being offered a number of free tickets to the event so show up and get your free ticket while supplies last! After the screening there will be a panel discussion of the film, with participation from AASCEND, co-ponsors Creativity Explored, the Disability Superfest, and others. This will be a memorable event: Don’t miss it!

When:  Tue Mar 27, 7pm
Where: Roxie Theater 3117 16th St. SF, CA 94103 map

At the March 17 meeting AASCEND board member Paul Nussbaum previewed his latest outdoor challenge: Conquering the entire Pacific Crest Trail, extending from Mexico to Canada, starting this May! Those who came heard how Paul plans to accomplish this inspiring demonstration of autistic ability, and how to participate!

When: Sat Mar 17, 10am – noon
Where: The Arc of SF 1500 Howard St. @ 11th St. SF, CA 94103 map


(The following event was cancelled due to the speaker being stuck in Sierra snows.)

The event is a presentation by Eric Zimmerman,  creator of the Buddy Project. The Buddy Project is a non-profit organization through which Eric reconditions out-of-service computers and makes them available to people with disabilities. To date he has placed over 400 computers. Come hear Eric tell how he came to create this valuable service, and what he has learned about thriving with autism from his own experience. Eric is also the author of two inspiring books available free online, Anything but Ordinary (pdf viewable online), and Dare to be Different (epub download). Eric has also recently taken up auto racing.

Parking is available in the garage at 255 12th Street, with a reasonable flat rate for Saturdays. There is also metered street parking for $2.25/hr.