Danny's Farm! Sustainability on the Spectrum Inspiring a Nuerodiverse Workplace ! #autism

And I'm so excited to be here with Danny Gott, with Danny's Farm. And Danny, this place is unbelievable. Now tell me a little bit about what goes on here. Well, Danny's Farm was established back in 2007, and we're a petting zoo for those on the spectrum. So tell me, what's your favorite thing to do here? My favorite thing to do here is just socialize with the animals. I love interacting with the chickens, honestly. Chickens? Why chickens? Because they're so docile. They'll do what you tell them. Or more like they're just fun to interact with, and they're so sweet. Okay, that's great. Now tell me a little bit about your family. Well, we're the Gott family. There's me, there's my dad who used to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and there's my mom who's an advocate for autism, like me. So you're excited to spread the word about how you're integrating into society yourself and hope other people will too. Yep. I also want to spread the word about autism and how smart we are and how capable we are and how we shouldn't get the short end of the stick. An important message. Now I'm here with Kathy and Jim Gott. Now you guys, tell me a little bit about how this all got started. Kathy, I'll start with you. Well, when Danny was in high school, it's time to start thinking about that transition to adulthood and what is going to come after high school. He went to an incredible vocational school called Exceptional Minds Studios. But in terms of employment, it was, what's he going to do? How can we be creative and harness his passion for animals and all his social capabilities? And so then the idea of Danny's Farm, a petting farm, just to serve neurotypical people, do special outreach to the special needs community, and more importantly, hire adults who are neurodiverse. That's the word of the day, by the way, which I like because it doesn't use a word like disabilities implying any kind of judgment or less than. It's just a different way of thinking. It's diversity. And there are, you know, the latest statistics just came out from the CDC. It's one in 44 children today in the United States are diagnosed on the spectrum. So it's a lot of people who are neurodiverse. It's just the way of our society, the way we're evolving as human beings. That's so important. And Jim, tell me a little bit about what this enterprise has meant to you. So much, and I've been doing the heavy lifting. I've just been here to support Kathy, and Kathy's been the brains and the heart behind all of this and all of the different things that Danny has needed throughout the different stages of his life, whether it's getting into the proper school, making sure that the proper classroom to be able to really push him to his ceiling. And we know now, as you heard from him, Danny really believes that there is no ceiling for him and that there's so much opportunity for him. And it was easy when it came down to the petting farm. The great part was, was that throughout our whole life, when we went to the fair, all of a sudden, Danny, it was too loud, too many noises, too much action going on. He gravitated towards the petting farm. We would go to friends' houses and we would wonder, where's Danny? And next thing we'd know, he'd be in the dog shed with their dogs or their animals. And then Kathy got him down with the Humane Society down in Pasadena. And he was a cat socializer. And it was just wonderful for him because not only did he feel a great sense of accomplishment because of what he was doing and giving back, but he would come home and just was so grateful for the opportunities that the animals gave him. So, Danny, what's going on? Yeah, that's beautiful. As you can see, Jasper's a little upset that his best friend's not here. But now she's coming back and she just got groomed. And who's Jasper? Jasper's the horse right behind me. He's an American miniature horse. American miniature. So tell me, Danny, there's something special about Jasper. Tell me what that is. Yes, there is. In fact, he has heterochromia idiom. What? Heterochromia idiom. Tell me what that means. Heterochromia idiom or heterochromia is when someone is when someone or something has two different colored eyes. Right this way. Tell me, tell me what we're going to go look at. Well, we're going to look at the rest of the animals. So is this the main petting area? Yes, it is right behind me. And now it's on to the pony. And she's a pretty young girl. She's about seven. Show me some more. And over here and over here and over here and over here, the one walking away right now, this is Glitter the miniature donkey. She's a Nubian. And Danny, I can't thank you enough for what you are doing here along with your family. I really appreciate you coming down here, Pat. I think just thank you very much for for gracing us with your presence. Thank you for having me here. And Danny's starting his own show and YouTube channel. Check out more information at Danny's Farm dot org.