The Chocolate Spectrum Introduces The Chocolatier Training Program for Adults with Autism

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, July 22, 2014 (Newswire.com) - The Chocolate Spectrum Introduces The Chocolatier Training Program for Adults with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities and One Chocolate at a Time  

The Chocolate Spectrum, LLC is proud to announce the launch of The Chocolatier Training Program. This unique experience is designed for adults who have autism or a related developmental disability. The training program will start with once-a-week three hour classes. The students will learn all facets of chocolate-making including truffles and molded chocolates as well as packaging and shipping.  It was created by the owner and founder of The Chocolate Spectrum, Valerie Herskowitz, who is a mother of an adult son with autism as well as a speech and language pathologist, pastry chef and chocolatier.

Ms. Herskowitz started The Chocolate Spectrum in 2013 as a Micro-Enterprise for her son, Blake, 23 years old, after an extensive search for options after high school in the Palm Beach, Florida community, where they live, resulted in no opportunities. Adults with autism and other special needs often have minimal prospects for social and vocational experiences after they age out of the school system. Herskowitz, who formally owned and operated a therapy center for special needs individuals, decided to try and change that. After having successfully trained her son, Blake, to become a chocolatier, she decided that other individuals with developmental disabilities deserved the same opportunity. So using her skills as both a therapist and chef, she designed the Chocolatier Training Program.

There are no previous skills or experience needed to become a Chocolatier student. Nor is there a charge for the training. In order to pay for the supplies, equipment, and chocolate (only the finest), Ms. Herskowitz relies on sales of their chocolate and donations to the non-profit organization, the National Autism Registry, which Herskowitz and her husband founded in 1999.

To raise funds for the program, The Chocolate Spectrum has created the slogan, One Chocolate at a Time. She has designed a special box of chocolate using that name, in which the proceeds will go towards The Chocolatier Training Program. One Chocolate at a Time is a chocolate assortment that contains 15 chocolates-each one unique in terms of flavor, shape and decoration. No two chocolates are the same. Each chocolate is designed to embrace the sweet uniqueness of each and every one of us.

To learn more about this program, please visit The Chocolate Spectrum website.