Jonathan’s Landing Hopes To Bring Independence To Central Florida Adults with Autism

Jason Eichenholz and his family. At left is Jonathan, whom Jonathan’s Landing is named for.

Photos courtesy of Jonathan’s Landing

In three years, 18-year-old Jonathan Eichenholz will hit the “service cliff” for his autism spectrum disorder, meaning most healthcare services he now receives will stop.  

Unlike many parents of aging autistic children, Jonathan’s entrepreneurial father has the financial means to provide for him in his Baldwin Park home for the rest of his life. But Dr. Jason Eichenholz, co-founder and chief technology officer of Orlando-based Luminar Technologies, chose to give his “exceptionally social” son a chance to live a “full life of dignity and purpose with 499 of his closest friends.”

Jonathan and Jason in earlier days.

That vision—still largely in its formative stages—refers to Jonathan’s Landing, a proposed self-sustaining residential community in the Orlando area, where 500 adults with autism, including, of course, its namesake, will be able to live permanently, if needed, with access to meaningful work and increasing independence.

Autism spectrum disorders carry a broad range of developmental delays that impair socialization, communication and behavior, affecting an estimated 1 in 36 children today in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Jonathan tests on both ends of the spectrum. His father says Jonathan’s walking and talking was initially delayed, but after intense therapy he showed explosive language skills by age 8.

Jonathan Eichenholz (right) and his father, Jason, today.

“He would charm you completely if you met him,” Eichenholz says. “What the doctor (who diagnosed him) missed is his goodness and purity in his world.” 

Worried about what would happen to his son in the future, Eichenholz began “transitioning from a career of success” as a technology executive to “one of significance,” creating an extensive organizational structure for Jonathan’s Landing.

There’s a clear need. Not only has there been a national spike in children diagnosed with these neurological disabilities in the past 20 years, the CDC also estimates that Florida has the highest prevalence of autistic adults in the country, many of whom are unemployed and rely on parents and others for care. Moreover, the situation is expected to worsen.

“There’s a tsunami of kids coming out of the system, like Jonathan, who are aging out of vital services at age 21,” Eichenholz says. “We’re sleepwalking into this crisis, a crisis that Jonathan’s Landing seeks to address through providing equal pillars of ‘live’ and ‘work,’ from day one. Otherwise, you’re basically institutionalizing these kids,” he says.

In the coming months, Eichenholz and his small core team plan to launch a capital campaign to raise at least $75 million. The money will go to fund social programming and workforce development, seed money for the landing’s non-profit foundation and the early stages of housing development, once a suitable 50-acre site can be found. Although a tentative spot has been identified in East Orlando, Eichenholz says, it lacks sufficient transportation to the city’s urban core, a prerequisite for making residents of Jonathan’s Landing feel they are truly an inclusive part of the community in the future.

Not yet having a physical presence for Jonathan’s Landing has not deterred Eichenholz and his organizational team from actively pursuing partnerships and strategic alliances, which focus essentially on two career pathways, now under development. One involves cell phone and tablet repair, considered ideal, given many autistic individuals’ skill at repetitive tasks; the other is in the culinary and hospitality space, cooking and preparing food. “Not everybody needs to live at Jonathan’s Landing, but they may need support on the work side,” Eichenholz says.

One organization, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), which represents the U.S. wireless communications industry and companies throughout the mobile ecosystem, has signed on to help within the last year. The trade group’s certification program, which fits the industry standard, will allow qualified residents at Jonathan’s Landing to earn income, with profits going back to ease their parents’ financial burden, while also providing each autistic adult a sense of self-worth. 

“It’s not just dropping off a phone as a consumer,” Eichenholz explains of this unique social entrepreneurship model. “We’ll get school districts or companies, like Disney, to have our kids fix their phones.”

Another initiative involves Eichenholz’s alma mater, the University of Central Florida. He envisions a training center on the landing’s campus where about 50 students from UCF and other area schools will do internships in occupational and physical therapy, as well as behavioral sciences, earning college credits along the way.

As this ambitious project moves closer to completion, with the first beds expected within two to three years, a design plan by the Orlando design firm Baker Barrios is already in place and was donated for free. To Eichenholz, it’s just one example of how “we’re leveraging the whole community to circle around our kids.”

As to his own role, Eichenholz readily admits he’s not an expert in autism. But he’s confident his business savvy over the years and, most importantly, as a father of an autistic child, he can help others ease the painful gap between their children’s “autism world and our own.”