The W in our logo represents a picture of Drew raising his arms after earning his purple belt in Karate. It is his progress, his accomplishments, his wellbeing, his happiness encompassed in an expression of pride and joy in achieving something he’s worked hard to get, overcoming all the obstacles many of which others don’t face. It captures a feeling all parents, guardians, caregivers, teachers, etc. understand deeply when they see someone they care for express happiness in accomplishing something that is meaningful to them. Neon green is Drew’s favorite color.
The E represents all those people, with arms outstreached, who have supported Drew and enabled him to remain safe and learn and grow and find happiness. To his aides who work with Drew daily and who are the backbone of the team, to his behavior therapists and language therapists who build the programs that keep him safe and help him learn, to his karate teacher and his family who are great role models for us all, to the doctors who have helped Drew mentally and physically, to his teachers and coaches who have taught him so much, to his OPWDD team who helped him transition to adulthood, to the school administrators who worked with us to put the appropriate programs in place, to the lawyers who have helped us fight for Drew, to his peers who he adores and have shown so much kindness towards him, to the people who know Drew and always say “hi” to him, to the Chefs and kitchen teams who enrich his life through work and friendship, to the owners of the clubs and restaurants who have taken a chance on him and welcomed his aide into their kitchens with him and who are the personification of empathetic leadership, to the whole team at BOCES who were so essential to preparing him for the world outside school, to his sitters who keep him safe and happy, all the people who plan and attend the autism hackathon for their kindness and generous spirits, to the people in the community who understand if he’s too close or stares too much or makes noises or talks to himself and give him grace, to those who don’t judge him, to those who judge but understand when I say “he’s autistic”, to his brother who has become a great advocate for him, to his family and all those families of people like Drew driven by love to help them live safe, happy, purposeful lives.
Our Story
Our Journey With Drew
Drew is a sweet, funny, and beautiful person. He was diagnosed with autism at 16 months of age. We tried everything to help him develop and learn and faced all the challenges confronting new parents of children with autism. There are so many options and advice which lead to an overwhelming array of decisions, all the while facing legal, school, financial, and insurance issues.
We eventually settled on an approach which worked best for Drew. Our goal is to keep him safe and happy and work to ensure he will be well taken care of when we can no longer do so. It is a journey and there is a long way to go but every day we try to take a step closer towards helping him. A behavioral approach worked best for Drew and through it he has learned some amazing skills which enrich his life such as Karate and cooking.
Drew is verbal, but has severe challenges with communication and social. He needs constant supervision (1:1). Fortunately he as some amazing people in his life who care for him. His brother helps him and worked with him over the pandemic assisting with his program. His teachers, therapists, and technicians are kind people who care deeply for Drew and we are so thankful that they share in our love for him.
During my time at Microsoft I was responsible for helping enterprise customers understand how technology could digitally transform their business. As the parent of a son with autism it was very apparent to me that there was a big technology gap. In many cases pen and paper were still being used, and data collection and sharing left a lot to be desired. There were so many opportunities for technology to help Drew.
We discovered one clear need when we added a cooking class to Drew’s program in high school and were faced with challenges on how to communicate with him in a crowded kitchen. We needed to teach sanitary and safe behaviors while fostering independence, so we developed a solution for him.
The solution allowed us to help Drew engage in activities which enrich his life, such as Karate, while enabling independence. Drew is now a master green belt, and frequently practices karate in his downtime. During the pandemic we adapted the solution for remote work which helped Drew participate in group classes allowing his behaviorist to communicate with him without disrupting the class.
We love Drew but worry about his future. We want to ensure his safety so we build solutions to help him acquire the skills he needs to remain safe. We want him to be happy, so we build solutions to help increase his independence and social skills. We built this company to help other parents do the same.
–Leo Junquera, Drew’s dad
Who we are
Drew Junquera
Drew is the Chairman of the Board
He has 22 years of experience with autism and is the ultimate consumer of the solutions we develop.
Allison Junquera
Drew’s mother and President of EnableWear
Allison has also spent over 20 years in technology sales, operations, training and recruiting. She is owner and president or a boutique IT Recruitment firm, The Dedicated Recruiter. First and foremost, however, she identifies herself as a Mom. She has been working countless hours over the course of Drew’s 22 years of life with him and his multidisciplinary therapy teams helping to define programs and implement them.
It has been her dream to marry her professional skills with the one thing she is most passionate about; helping her son with autism become independent, safe and happy in life.
The development of EnableWear has dramatically supported Drew in accomplishing these goals. He is able to participate in activities that were once extremely difficult, develop new hobbies and be more independent in social settings and the community than ever before.
Allison’s dream was to scale this product in such away that other families can realize their dreams too!
Leo Junquera
Drew’s father and inventor
Leo has spent over 20 years in technology, starting out as a developer eventually becoming a Chief Information Officer of a Capital Markets Group prior to joining Microsoft. At Microsoft, he worked in the Financial Services vertical covering Azure for the largest financial services companies in the US, and the world. The focus of his job is helping companies digitally transform through the innovative use of cloud services. He has been a Managing Director at EY and Accenture and is currently a Key Account Director at Google focused on the financial services industry.
Leo has been an advocate for autism topics from legislation to employment. He was the founder of the Financial Services Autism Hackathon, an annual event which brings together developers from the financial services industry to work with the latest technology innovations on projects which will be most impactful for families of children with autism.