BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — Almost a year ago, Suzann Brucato created living

arrows.com, a Web site devoted to supporting the autistic community.

After receiving plenty of positive feedback, Brucato, a Lincroft resident and Web site designer by trade, decided to step up her efforts and created worksmarternow.com.

“The primary goal of worksmarternow.com is to help businesses do what they do even better, by their improving their community presence, customer relations and business practices,” Brucato said. “We want to connect more with the autism community. That’s a big thing for us.”

One of the unique ways her Web site is trying to help is by having a free online network that can connect employers and with potential employees.

“I just started that segment of the Web site recently, and so I am hoping for the best,” Brucato explained. “It’s often hard for autistic people to find work, and so this will hopefully be a way that can help them just out a bit. I want all of the people involved to benefit from this relationship.”

Work Smarter has also fostered a relationship with KindTree Productions, a group based in Oregon that provides services and helps the autism community through art, education and recreation, according to Brucato. KindTree also helps by promoting and selling their artwork, with half of all sales going back to the artisan.

“If the volume of work is substantial, I plan to contact local libraries to create and provide a traveling art show that promotes the work of this group of special artists,” Brucato said. “We have been with KindTree for about six months now and it has been a great relationship.”

Brucato has also created a new Web site, www.creativeexpressiveactivi-ties.com, which is intended to help people who suffer from Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.

“Autism is a very large umbrella, and Asperger syndrome is just one part of it,” Brucato said. “People with Asperger’s are on the high-functioning end. They can certainly socialize and attend school and hold down a job. Yes, they are still autistic, but they can do many things.”

The site, which has only been up for a month, has already received plenty of hits, according to Brucato.

“My main goal for this site is to provide a network of information so that parents can give their children access to a variety of creative experiences, each of which opens a new world of potential and social development.”

For the upcoming year, Brucato says she will be concentrating her efforts on local preschools, specialty schools and other organizations that she feels could benefit from learning more about autism.

“This is my passion and I am very into this,” Brucato said. “My main goal is to reach out to the community and help out in any way that I can.”