They’ve hired around 10 people with autism or Down syndrome since they opened 12 years ago<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nPisces Sushi and Global Bistro in Dunedin hires people of all abilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabby Collazo is a busy busser.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever we don’t have a lot of customers or there’s nothing for me to clean tables, this is what I do often,\u201d Collazo said while setting up the menu holders.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s switching out menus, seating customers or clearing tables, Collazo\u00a0has it under control.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to meet nice people here, both employee and customer,” Collazo said. “It’s a really nice workplace.”<\/p>\n
She\u2019s been working at Pisces\u00a0Sushi and Global Bistro\u00a0for more than three years, but Collazo said it was difficult at first because she has autism.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not used to talking to new people because I get nervous easily,” she said. “And it’s hard for me to get a get along, because you don’t know what they like. You don’t know if they’re comfortable talking to you.”<\/p>\n
The restaurant has been in business for 12 years, and the owners\u00a0estimate they\u2019ve hired\u00a0close to 10\u00a0people with autism or Down syndrome. Angelica Galvin, who has Down syndrome, has been a hostess at the restaurant for eight years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey make me very, very happy, like a gift,\u201d Galvin said.<\/p>\n
One of the owners has a son is on the spectrum, which led to the realization that there is\u00a0a need for employment opportunities for people like him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a thought, it was like, ‘OK, what is he going to do in the future?’\u201d said co-owner Elizabeth Perez-Keene.<\/p>\n
Perez-Keene said it\u2019s rare for people with different abilities to be a part of the day-to-day busy restaurant operations, and since their son has autism, she said they figured, why not let him try?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to give them a chance, and not just automatically put in our heads that it’s just hard for them to do a job,” Perez-Keene said “Let them do it, let them try because they’ll prove you so wrong.”<\/p>\n
The industry, Perez-Keene said, teaches them multitasking and patience, while\u00a0Collazo said it\u2019s helped her socially.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe employees here are all so nice,” Collazo said. “That’s what helps me get through the day. Helps me chat, at least talk a little more, make eye contact. It’s been easy, it’s been helpful.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUNEDIN, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Finding a job can be challenging \u2014 and if you have a disability, it can be…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":272748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[7363,59713,7448,64,141405,420,50,141404,9073,52,135282,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-272747","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-app-community","9":"tag-app-local-business","10":"tag-app-top-stories","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-disability-employment-awareness-month","13":"tag-jobs","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-pinellas-county","16":"tag-tampa","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-tyler-oneill","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115306471380028311","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}