Meet Adam

Introducing…(drumroll) Adam! The inspiration for Give Good Parties and pretty much everything else I’ve ever done in my life! He’s an influencer, alright!

Known for his impeccable comedic timing and uncanny ability to assume larger-than-life characters with precision, Adam is a LEGEND. Some might know him better as, “The Godfather” or WWF’s “The Undertaker” or my fave, Jim Carrey’s, “The Grinch.” He’s also affectionately nicknamed, “Peckerhead” and “Bubbalicious” and also, “A handful!”

Adam is known for joining any marching band he can find. He is especially fond of drum majors and is a badass flag twirler. He can play trombone, tuba, drums and the guitar and loves to learn different languages like Russian, Hebrew, and his latest, Tagalog. Rituals are his jam: weddings, baseball playoffs, religious ceremonies. He can be a Catholic at breakfast and a full on Jew by sundown. Shalom!

DREAM JOB: Marching Band Drum Major, Radio Station Associate or Pet Shelter Attendant

A

dam is kind and full of heart and very, very loud. He never forgets a birthday and is always the first to call and serenade you with a song. If YOU forget to call someone on their birthday he will bitch you out until you do. He LOVES dogs, all public transportation, Doritos and cheesecake, sewing and sequins, weather apps and radio apps and also radios and getting on the radio. He’ll do just about anything for a T-Bone steak, a massive jar of peanut butter, or a meatlovers pizza (with extra meat). And he loves himself! Adam is pretty sure he’s the best thing that ever happened and I couldn’t agree more.

Adam is also a 43 year old man with multiple disabilities who lives in a 24-hour care home. He is chronically unemployed. While he’s had a few short stints as an employee, he has been “job training” his entire adult life.

His list of diagnoses and deficits and areas that “need improvement” is very long. And yet, look at that BIO! Give Good Parties is interested in the very long list of awesome; the positive, the strengths, the content of one’s character. This IS the good stuff. Interested participants are met right where they are at today. Ready. With Give Good Parties, if you’re ready to party, you’re ready to work.

Let's Do This!

Interested in Becoming a Participant?

“Companies embracing disability inclusion, and hiring individuals with intellectual
disabilities, reported 28% higher revenue and twice the net income compared to their peers.”
(Accenture, Disability:IN and The American Association of People with Disabilities, 2020)

Give Good & Party Hard

Autumn believes in the power of inclusive communities to create meaningful opportunities.

Raised in Iowa, Autumn attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles where she began developing a one-woman show about her younger brother, Adam. Embodying his off-the-charts personality, in addition to a complex mix of disabilities, “GORK!” aimed to break down misconceptions about people with disabilities while shedding a humorous and compelling light on often undervalued members of our communities. “GORK!” (directed by Dean Strober) won “Best Solo Show” at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival.

Simultaneously, Autumn and her sister, Devon, began producing a documentary film of the same name. “Gork!” A Documentary (directed by Devon Terrill) tracing Adam's early years as a foster child, through his high school graduation, to his life in a group home. “GORK!” painted a darkly comedic portrait of one family's experience with disability while also depicting two parents who had been beaten down by a flawed system of care that they resented and yet relied upon. Released in 2010, “GORK!” raised important questions about how we treat people with special needs and their families.

Autumn spent years working for agencies and schools, supporting children with special needs in Los Angeles and New York but always preferred working with families. In 2005, Autumn developed Storytime with A.D.A.M. (Adaptive Dramatic Affect Method), aliterature-guided, creative play session for children with autism and other disabilities which inspires learning and elicits language through performance, music and art. Autumn worked with countless families in their homes wheeling her big red bag of tricks through the streets of Manhattan. She received the Catherine B. Reynolds Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship at New York University to further develop A.D.A.M. as a strengths-based intervention. She earned her Masters of Arts from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2008, shortly before welcoming the first of three daughters.

 

A social entrepreneur at heart, Autumn is passionate about making connections across sectors and giving back. Autumn serves on the board of New Canaan Mounted Troop (NCMT) where her three girls ride horses and participate in a youth development and leadership training program and offers extensive therapeutic programming for people with disabilities. She also serves on the board of the Rye Youth Council, whose mission is to promote social-emotional learning, strengthen resilience and support mental well-being in youth. Most recently, she is co-founder of Pitch Your Peers Westchester which engages women in local philanthropy and collectively funds grants to charitable initiatives that serve Westchester County.

 

Autumn is thrilled to officially begin her newest adventure, Give Good Parties, providing eco-friendly party-planning services and job-training opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Above all, she’s the proudest mom to three incredible girls who inspire her every step and is honored to be the “dumb blonde” sister to Adam who taught her that every day is a good day to party.

“75% of employers who hired individuals with intellectual disabilities reported enhanced team cohesion and
stronger workplace culture.”

  (Society for Human Resource Management, 2023)

On a Mission to Party:

At its core, Give Good Parties aims to demonstrate how people with disabilities can contribute to party planning efforts, while learning new skills, and simultaneously raising awareness about important causes and unmet needs in our shared community.    The Give Good Parties model allows people with special needs to serve as ambassadors to the earth, to be part of the conversation about how we can all do our part to make smarter, safer, more ethical choices to support the health and recovery of our shared planet. In this way, Good Good Party participants are put in a position of increased value and power, disseminating important and powerful information, while contributing their skills to a valuable service.  
“Right now, 85% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are unemployed. Many of them want to work and have skills to contribute. Among those who are employed, people with IDD are working fewer than 13 hours a week on average and less than one-fifth of them are getting workplace benefits. But research shows that disability inclusion is a proven good business decision.”
www.thearc.org

"You Gotta Fight For Your Right... TO PARTY!"
– Beastie Boys

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