College Pragram helps Adults get jobs

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James Molien spent years taking business classes at Glendale Community College but faced difficulty landing a full-time job.

The 27-year-old Glendale resident said he’d take part-time stints to earn cash and help support his mother and grandmother. Pressure increased as he was expected to be the breadwinner for the household.

Molien found relief when a friend told him about a program that launched at the Glendale college a year ago. The Uniquely Abled Academy offers training to highly functioning adults with autism to operate computer-numerical-control machines and work as machinist apprentices and programmers.

The academy is a collaboration between Glendale Community College and the Uniquely Abled Project. It works with educators, nonprofits and corporations to place autistic adults in high-performing, well-paid jobs.

Now, a year after the academy debuted, eight of the 13 students who completed the program have landed full-time jobs as computer-numerical-control operators, while two decided to pursue other career paths, said Ivan Rosenburg, who founded the Valley Village-based project in 2013.

The second cohort graduated this month and will begin seeking jobs.

“When I saw this program, it was a way out of the hole I was in,” said Molien, who has Asperger’s Syndrome. “Employers are happy you’re educated, but don’t care unless you have viable skills. The program really helped with that.”