Whole Foods Becomes Haven For Teen Diagnosed With Autism

Chloe Bertrand, an 18-year-old senior at Souhegan High School in Amherst, doesn’t speak, but she expresses her thoughts by pressing icons on an augmented communication tablet. Bertrand is diagnosed with autism and is one of Jennifer and Shawn Bertrand’s four children aged 11 to 21. When Bertrand was younger, her parents found it difficult to imagine her holding a job. But with determination and a belief anything is possible, her parents focused on their daughter's strengths to help her achieve her greatest potential.

With help from her school and C.O.R.E Vocational Services in Manchester, Bertrand interned at Marshall’s in Merrimack where she unpacked, tagged and hung up items and at Maverick’s Adaptive Cycle shop in Amherst where she unpackaged and sorted tee shirts. She then toured other job sites, meeting with managers.

Kaityln Foster of C.O.R.E Vocational says she and Bertrand were excited about Whole Food’s online ordering program because Bertrand likes to select items from a list and sort them. However, when they met with the Whole Foods team in Nashua, they didn’t have a position open in the online ordering department; the program was too new.

Store manager Todd McInnis says the team was impressed with Bertrand’s enthusiasm and initially offered her a one-hour a week assignment as a front-runner, collecting carts, cleaning the cafe area, putting toys away in cubbies and wiping tables. He’s now bumped up her two shifts to two hours each a week.

McInnis says Bertrand infuses a positive vibe on the sales floor. “She’s always in a spirited mood. And that’s contagious with the other team members,” he says. Bertrand is training in produce, putting away lettuce and tomatoes and stacking them on the shelves. She lights up when she empties the boxes, says Foster.

McInnis says he hopes to give Bertrand increasing responsibilities as she becomes more comfortable in the environment. She’ll need to work with Foster’s assistance, but he’s careful about setting expectations too low. He says she’ll have opportunities like any other team member.

Foster says Bertrand has found a community at Whole Foods and has developed a close relationship with some of the managers.

“We want her to be as self-sufficient and independent as she can and exercise self-determination,” says Jennifer Bertrand. “Chloe’s job at Whole Foods is a source of socialization, and it is also an important part of her identity, not to mention income,” she says.