Video Tour of the Pollari Fulfillment Center

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Pollari Fulfillment Center Joins Forces
With Developmental Disabilities Institutue & Autism Speaks

With our focus shifting to the greatly
underserviced population of young
adults with autism soon to be leaving
the classroom for the real world, the
Pollari Fulfillment Center in Deer Park
may have found a way to prepare our
youth for a promising future following
academia.

At the close of the summer, Pollari
initiated a program in conjunction with
the Developmental Disabilities Institute
(DDI) of Smithtown to provide vocational
training for kids with special needs in
hopes that they can one day join the
workforce. The goal of the program is
for these kids to gradually become
accustomed to working an entire shift
that includes repetitive motion type of
work, such as hand assembly and
packaging. The participants are paired
with a “shadow” (on some occasions,
one “shadow” is assigned to two
individuals) that helps guide them to remain focused on the task at hand. Occasionally, the participants take some of the materials
they work with back to DDI in order to continue their training.  

There is already a process in place for
assimilating these kids into “typical”
schools. Why can’t the same be done
for the workplace? Zach Tesch is one
of the few young individuals piloting the
Pollari program. Zach’s family has
been joining us for the Long Island
Walk Now for Autism Speaks for several
years now as “Zach Pack.” In addition
to the walk, the Tesch family has
remained an integral part of the Long
Island Autism Speaks community. Both
of Zach’s parents, Larry and Stacey,
hold positions on the Volunteer Committee
while his siblings, Jake and
Morgan, serve on the Youth Leadership
Council. Jake, in particular, has
been the Council’s Co-Chair for over 2
years. Every Wednesday, Zach spends
a few hours at the Fulfillment Center
with his “shadow,” working on hand
assembly and packaging skills. According
to Larry, “[Zachary’s] employment
has meant a great deal to us and Zach-
ary. He is provided with transportation
and aided by a staff member from DDI.
The job signifies the beginning of Zachary’s transition from full-time student to a

productive member in the workplace.
It also places Zachary in an environment
where he can live up to his capabilities
in a professional, yet nurturing
atmosphere. Like any job, there are
expectations of how proficient Zachary
is to be at the tasks assigned to him,
but the staff at Pollari Fulfillment Center
are alert to the requirements of their
special needs employees.”

At the start of the school year, Pollari
took this idea one step further and
partnered with South Oaks to bus highfunctioning special needs high school
students into the Fulfillment Center
several hours a week to be trained on
repetitive motion type of work.

It’s the innovation and progressiveness
of companies like Pollari Fulfillment
Center that brings the autism community
hope that there will be a brighter
future for our children.

To download the Autism Speaks Newletter with the Article, Click HERE! Like and Share PFC on

Directions to Pollari Fulfillment Center
For Google Map click HERE (Formerly Prince Co. Building)