Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenna Taylor. She and her team share their story with us below:
Jenna Taylor’s passion for working with teenagers and adults with autism began when she was still a teenager. In high school, she became a “Peer Buddy” in a program designed to provide chances for students with and without disabilities to work together in inclusive educational settings. The Peer Buddy program led her to her friend Geoffrey Zaragoza, who at 18 months old was diagnosed with a seizure disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder- PDD-NOS. Her friendship with Geoffrey was genuine and profound and ended long before she was ready. Unbeknownst to his family, he was born with an enlarged heart, and in 2003 it stopped beating, leaving everyone who knew and loved him heartbroken.
This devastating loss led Jenna to her decision to study special education after graduation. After earning B.A. in Special Education from the University of Texas at Austin, she taught high school life skills for several years, eventually returning to earn a Master’s Degree in Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis from Texas State University. Jenna’s advanced degree meant that she could finally make a deeper impact in a field where she felt she belonged, doing one-on-one therapy for individuals with autism. Her vocation was centered in service, and she worked with her clients, she also supervised graduate students who wished to follow the same path.
After over a decade of experience teaching and providing services to individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities, Jenna felt called to do more. After years of seeing clients age out of the support system, she felt an urgency to help these individuals at a critical time in their lives. Imagining what Geoffrey’s life might have been like after high school shook Jenna to her core. Once more acting as a guiding light in Jenna’s life, Geoffrey became the inspiration for Independent Identity.
When Jenna founded Independent Identity, she took her experience as an ABA provider, autism program manager, and high school life skills special education teacher and applied them to working with transition-aged students and adult clients. Independent Identity fills a critical gap in care and services for individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities—helping adults to minimize challenging behaviors, learn vital life skills, and develop independence as neurodivergent adults.
Through a blend of expert-led ABA therapy, appropriate goal setting, and regular assessments, Independent Identity is making a difference in the lives of adults with autism and other developmental disabilities. Through life skills acquisition, vocational training, and behavioral interventions, Independent Identity allows individuals who might otherwise be confined to their family’s care to live fulfilling lives. Bringing this too-often invisible population into the community has the power to shift public perception, infuse the workforce with dedicated employees, and alleviate the pressure on caregiving families.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Obstacles to opening Independent Identity have been mainly financial. The program provides high-quality services to clients with low ratios, making services expensive. The state funds provided to those with disabilities are minimal making sustaining a business difficult. The cost of services then falls onto the family. Independent Identity is a 501c3 in order to be able to collect donations to alleviate some of the cost for families. Getting the word out about a new startup program, explaining the need, and finding donors and clients has been difficult.
Independent Identity is also working to find other funding sources for tuition assistance.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The number of Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities seeking services far outstrips the current availability. Almost a quarter million (217,786) of these individuals are on waiting lists for Home and Community Based Services (https://caseforinclusion.org/data/state-scorecards). Additionally, only 6% of these adults are employed, compared to a national average of 20%.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) treatment has been shown to be effective for enabling adults with ASD to live with independence and autonomy to the extent that is possible. In the Austin area there are currently no high-quality or ABA day programs for adults with moderate to severe challenging behaviors. In fact, there are no intensive ABA day programs at all for adults with autism in the Austin Area.
Without access to resources, adults with autism are left with little hope for independence, and their families are forced to shoulder the responsibility of care alone. Many adults with autism will never leave home. We have seen how ABA programs and interventions can serve adults with ASD and their families—leading to lives of more independence and fulfillment.
Independent Identity will serve adults with challenging behaviors while working to further develop current and new functional skills. Serving this population will reduce the burden on caregiving families while giving adults with autism the skills to achieve their potential.
Our mission is to promote vocational, social, leisure, and independent living skills for our neurodiverse clients while reducing challenging behaviors.
We envision a community where adults with autism live, work, and play side by side with and at the same level as typically developing adults. We seek a world where people with autism are respected, happy, and satisfied with their lives.
Program Activities
Independent Identity is a center and community-based day program in Southwest Austin. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) will assess and create individualized programming for each client based on current skill levels, challenging behaviors and barriers, and family/individual goals.
BCBAs will thoroughly train behavior technicians and other staff on behavior intervention plans and intervention strategies.
Based on their current skill level, each client will be assigned specific goals that address vocation, social/leisure, independent living/self-care and other such current barriers.
Clients will be arranged into groups based on level of need. Staff to client ratios will include 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4.
Clients will work on goals at II facility or in the community, based on their current ability levels.
II will partner with local businesses to provide community access for addressing job skills, shopping, leisure, transportation, etc.
Our goal is to decrease challenging behaviors and increase functional skills in order to fade the level of support and increase independence and access to the community.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Starting Independent Identity has been a major risk for me. There is no program like Independent Identity (II) in central Texas, but it is SO needed. I am a behavior professional with no business or non-profit experience. The whole process has been overwhelming and I am figuring it out as I go. In December 2021, I quit my full-time job in order to focus on opening Independent Identity. I am living off my savings as I try to raise funds for II and recruit families to serve. The timeline is uncertain and this is the biggest risk I have ever taken in my life. This has been a dream of mine since high school and I know if I didn’t take this risk and try, I would regret it.
Contact Info:
- Email: jenna.taylor@independentidentity.org
- Website: www.independentidentity.org
- Instagram: @independent.identity.atx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Independent-Identity-355945418379367
Image Credits
Headshot by Chad Adams Photography
