Is there hope for the rising number of adults with special needs to live full lives?  

Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) encompass hundreds of diagnoses from autism and Down syndrome to cerebral palsy, and affect 6.5 million people in the United States. The number of children with an IDD diagnosis rose from 1 in 150 in 2000 to 1 in 44 in 2018, and with a dramatically increased life expectancy for people with IDDs, the number of adults with special needs is rising.

And so is the awareness for innovative communities and successful businesses to invite adults with special needs to participate in full autonomous lives of productivity and meaning according to their abilities and potential.

No Labels

“We label wine, not people,” described Yuval of Tulip Winery.

Located in Kfar Tikvah, Galilee, Israel, Tulip Winery was founded in 2003 by Roy Itzhaky who envisioned a company that produced quality products while helping adults with special needs experience meaningful work and integrate into society.

Special needs generally fall under four categories of physical, behavioral, developmental, and sensory.

• Whether caused by hereditary, inherited, illness, or injury, physical disabilities involve long-term or permanent impairments to the body’s mobility or physical functions.

• Behavioral disorders involve patterns of disruptive behaviors outside societal normals that cause issues at home and in social settings, and have a detrimental effect on relationships and doing a job.

• Developmental disability describes a wide range of chronic conditions surrounding mental or physical capacity that pose lifelong challenges, especially in areas of independent living, language, learning, mobility, and self-help.

• Sensory disabilities pertain to the five senses of hearing, sight, smell, taste, or touch. Sensory processing disorder is a significant difficulty in receiving and responding to information provided through the senses. This reaction is often seen as an overreaction to sounds and textures in clothing, food, and the environment.

Beginnings

The idea for an exceptional winery where adults with special needs could find meaningful work began twenty years ago with one container and two helpers. Today, the award-winning Tulip Winery produces some 300,000 bottles annually, proof that businesses can be both economically viable and provide a healthy working environment for a wide spectrum of the community. Honing valuable skills, those with special needs take part in each step of the production process.

Tulip Winery is a part of Kfar Tikva which means Village of Hope. The parents of a child with special needs saw the potential of their child and envisioned a well-lived, meaningful lifetime for their own as well as others with similar situations. A kibbutz-like community, Kfar Tikva is home to more than 250 members ranging in age from 18 to 90 with cognitive, developmental, and emotional disabilities. In addition to receiving personal care, residents are given as much daily choice and autonomy as possible including enriching activities, employment options, and integration into the community-at-large.

Founded in 1964, the village’s duplicatable mission is to facilitate living conditions where residents develop their full potential at every stage of life regardless of their limitations. Run by more than 100 employees such as Yuval, and 20 volunteers, workers come from Israel and from abroad. They make their way to the welcoming settlement blooming with creativity under the clear Mediterranean skies to serve the residents.

Friends And Coworkers

With multi-syndromes, residents range from high functioning to low functioning. “It purifies my heart to work with them,” Yuval said. “They are my friends and coworkers.”

Even the art on the label of the signature premium Black Tulip wine was created by a special needs adult. “He’s very excited about it now, but the artist who won the contest was so overwhelmed when he came into the showroom and saw his work on bottles and posters, he ran back outside,” Yuval said. “He had expected to see his art on the label of one bottle, not on all of the Black Tulip bottles at the opening.”

Additional employment options on the grounds of Kfar Tikva include assembly and packaging for Shraga Candle Factory. Manufacturer of the original neronim candles, the Shraga Candle Factory offers an extensive catalog. Candle types include the clean-burning premium paraffin candles that transform into clear liquid in their glass container. These emit a soft glow.

Kfar Tikva’s residents create a variety of handmade products that are available for sale through their website. “Here they have hope and quality life,” Yuval said. “The residents make and spend their own money. They are excited about what they earn.”

Ages And Stages For Adults With Special Needs

Kfar Tikva offers a variety of living arrangements for each person and each life stage. Residents, along with their guardians and social workers, identify compatible roommates and levels of autonomy in the village or in the neighboring town while integrating social support, therapeutic and medical service, communal meals, activities, and employment. Customized housing for those with Autism Spectrum Disorders address their particular sensory issues. Home-like living areas include individual bedrooms and shared access to communal living rooms and kitchenettes.

Central to the goals of Kfar Tikva are good health, proper nutrition, and physical and emotional fitness. Dieticians and medical professionals monitor the health and wellness of community members. Meals served in the communal dining room minimize artificial additives, preservatives, and processed foods. Residents are encouraged to regularly participate in an array of physical movements from walking, pilates, biking, and sports teams.

For aging community members, the ElderCare Campus is in a central location. The ElderCare Campus consists of residential and therapy rooms, an outdoor musical and physical fitness activity garden, a laundry, warming kitchen, and multi-purpose rooms for activities and programming.  

Active With Activities

Residents learn to feed and care for animals at the therapeutic animal farm. They nurture and harvest vegetables at the organic garden. They operate audiovisual equipment, research, and interview at the television and media club. Leisure activities on the village grounds feature academic classes, athletics and sports teams. Also, a cafe, clubhouse, computer rooms, creative arts, library, and pool, as well as music, dance, orchestra, and choir.

Additionally, residents visit neighboring towns for bowling outings, movie nights, festivals, sporting events, concerts, and lectures. Based on abilities, interests, and personal preferences, they take mini-vacations camping, hiking, or touring.  

In The States

Similarly, Exceptional Minds in Sherman Oaks, California, is an academy and studio preparing young adults on the autism spectrum for careers in animation, visual effects, 3D gaming, and related fields in the entertainment industry.

Parents of children with autism founded Exceptional Minds in 2011. The group recognizes that all individuals have intrinsic value as human beings. They are capable of independent thinking and autonomous judgment. Providing respect to adults with disabilities as well as the necessary support to maximize their abilities and nurture their talents, Exceptional Minds reinforces their belief that every individual is entitled to a quality of life and to receive assistance in a manner that preserves his or her dignity.

Exceptional Minds is comprised of a vocational academy, post-graduate program, and professional post-production. Neurodiverse, the students and employees have provided effects and clean-up work on nearly 100 TV shows and some 50 films including the Oscar-winning Black Panther and Captain Marvel, as well as Oscar-nominated Green Book, Solo A Star Wars Story, First Man, and Marvel movies since Age of Ultron.

Better Medical Care For Adults With Special Needs

With improved health, adults with special needs are living longer and better. The Association of American Medical Colleges recently initiated curriculum training physicians in the unique challenges faced by adults with autism, Down syndrome, and similar disabilities. 

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCD), one in four adults, or 27 percent of the adult population in the United States, have some form of disability. These adults have higher rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Additionally, adults with special needs rank higher in practices that compromise health such as smoking, inactivity, and infrequent preventative check-ups.

• 1 in 4 adults with special needs, ages 18 to 44 years old, do not have regular health care  or a regular health care provider
• 1 in 4 adults with disabilities, ages 18 to 44 years old, experienced an unmet health need in the past year due in part to the cost of healthcare
• 1 in 5 adults with disabilities, ages 45 to 64 years old, did not have a routine check-up in the past year

Resources

“Supporting adult family members with special needs may involve collaboration, and a variety of support systems and community-based services,” said Military OneSource. “Assistance may include access to nonclinical case management, referrals to mental health services and public benefits, and provision of assistive technology and adaptive equipment to help with overcoming limitations.”

Military families can find support for the adult with special needs in their family. The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFFP) is a valuable resource.

Volunteers of America supports people with intellectual disabilities. The offer 24-hour residential settings licensed and certified through state agencies operating under Medicaid guidelines. Living spaces can be single-person apartments or group homes housing up to four people. Embedded within communities and close to family members and friends,

Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey explored the value of work done by teens and young adults with special needs . Listen in to Episode 852 titled The Toy. The episode introduces the topic for conversation and consideration. Adults with special needs can make contributions to their community when they are involved according to their abilities and potential. Such integration, as Yuval noted, enhances life for everyone involved.

Hope

Kfar Tikva and Exceptional Minds are particularly innovative in improving life for adults with special needs. Many communities are developing awareness. They offer support to facilitate fully engaged and meaningful lives for people with enduring developmental, intellectual, and physical disabilities. To encourage those offering complementary efforts to benefit adults with special needs, their families, and caregivers, Tulip Winery donates five percent of sales to customer-selected charities.  

For more information about Tulip Winery visit their website: http://www.tulip-winery.co.il

Kfar Tikva’s website is a resource at https://kfar-tikva.org.il/?lang=en

Find more information about Exceptional Minds at https://exceptional-minds.org

There is growing hope for the rising number of adults with special needs to live full lives. Groups including Kfar Tikva and Exceptional Minds live the value system that every individual is entitled to quality of life. Valued to receive assistance in a manner that preserves his or her dignity.