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Chefs on the spectrum: For people with autism, can restaurant kitchens be a haven?
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Mr Joseph Valentino (left), a cook at Point Seven in Manhattan, and Franklin Becker, the restaurant’s owner, on March 29.
PHOTO: JAMES ESTRIN/NYTIMES
Pete Wells
NEW YORK – For three Halloweens in a row, Mr Joseph Valentino was Emeril Lagasse.
He was not the only kid in New Jersey who idolised chefs and wanted to be one when he grew up. For Mr Valentino, though, the dream seemed especially hard to reach. Diagnosed with autism as a toddler, he still had not spoken by age five, when he first dressed as American chef-restaurateur Lagasse.
