Philadelphia Front Page News TV-Radio News In Brief: Eva Blackwell: Changing the game by giving independence to the autism community Forward news by KYW Newsradio frontpagenews1@yahoo.com

Philadelphia Front Page News TV-Radio News In Brief: Eva Blackwell: Changing the game by giving independence to the autism community Forward news by KYW Newsradio frontpagenews1@yahoo.com

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Giving people with autism a voice and an opportunity to become independent is Eva Blackwell’s passion. In 2009, she founded the Verge of Independence Project to support young adults on the autism spectrum through multimedia advocacy, using her 20-plus years of experience in the industry.

“You have some young adults who would prefer to write. Some of them like to vlog. Some would prefer to create a video short. So all of those things, I’m able to support them,” she said.

Blackwell is familiar with the needs of the autism community. Her 35-year-old son Branford was diagnosed when he was 7.

“He is very verbal and has always been someone to very expressively share what his needs and wants are, and also able to advocate for himself. So there is a lot of frustration that I saw with some of his classmates, that if they’re not able to express themselves, they do get frustrated,” she said.

The Verge of Independence Project facilitates workshops, both in-person and virtually, and collaborates with other organizations to educate and train the autism community to address real-world issues.

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