The E-gnite™ Program

Empower to Achieve, Educate to Embrace™

The foundation has developed its core E-gnite™ Program as the toolkit to achieve its mission.  Through this program we create a wealth of positive attitudes and overall mental and “social” health among its users as we add more features and capabilities over time.

E-gnite™ focuses specifically on individuals with diagnosed neurological disorders[1]. Our primary target is the young adult (between the ages of 18 to 30). This particular segment suffers today in our society.  Since most special services for these individuals end after high school, unless the families have the means to provide support, most of these young adults are to fend on their own.

Most of these people are finding outlet in the online world. They are excessive users of the internet, prolific social media users, they blog and exchange messages, write stories and try to create personal and social connections the best they can through this medium. They prefer the online world because they can control the level of interaction they can take.  However they cannot easily translate the experiences they gain through their internet interactions to the real world. They are not gaining the basic skills to help them to find a job that matches their intelligence and capabilities, deal with conflict, adapt to rapidly changing situations, and ask for help to manage stress.

[1] ADD,ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, Dyslexia, and other learning disabilities

This is where we believe the opportunity lies to provide a great social good. Leverage these people’s affinity to the online medium to create an environment which would help them to gain the critical “socio-emotional” skills and provide a pathway to carry these skills to the real world.

There is an estimated 25 to 40 million people in the USA that would fit in this definition and over 400 million worldwide. However the service can benefit anyone to instill self-confidence and inspire self-worth.

The E-gnite solution

“Integration instead of Segregation”

There has never been a systematic attempt to deliver a system or solution that would in fact empower the target individuals with the goal to maximize their chances of greater social participation and improve their lives.  This is partly because there has not been a lot of focus on this issue and partly because there has not been sufficient research to understand how to effectively reach these people

Many of the existing support groups and informational websites aimed at these individuals are, perhaps, unintentionally fostering segregation and isolation.  People identified and tagged as different, are assorted to interact among themselves, essentially remaining isolated as individuals or as a group.

Over the past several years, we researched the possibilities and effectiveness of pharmacology-based solutions for these individuals.  Although specific medications do have some benefits to address some of the symptoms (i.e., social anxiety, ability to focus, etc.) associated with these neurodiverse individuals, all latest research points to social therapy as the most effective solution.

Our approach is an integrative one, premised on the notion of leveraging technology and neuroscience to train these individuals to understand and cope with the expected social norms in essential real-life situations (i.e., seeking employment, dealing with rejection, dating, etc.), by triggering and then experiencing the underlying emotions for the given situation. More specifically our approach is three-pronged:

  1. Instruct Individual: Using an innovative technological methodology, teach and train individuals that are diagnosed with neurological differences how to navigate society and help them showcase their unique abilities so they can increase their opportunities to lead more fulfilling lives.  This methodology will be delivered through a social media-style web site, serving as the training ground and “lifestyle” portal
  1. Educate society about the strengths and the unique skills of these individuals and the immense value they can offer.  Much creativity and innovation will be lost if these individuals remain isolated. Obtain sponsorships and secure internship opportunities from leading companies that have embraced the ideals of social responsibilities and have demonstrated an openness to train and take advantage of the unique skills of these people.

3. Provide an inclusive, pull-through mechanism for these individuals to the real world, through a personalized lifestyle portal through which they can be presented with relevant job opportunities and other empowering social activities in which they can shine through their unique skills. We endeavor to encourage, create, and support connections between these individuals and “neurotypicals.”