--- title: An Autistic Restaurant Worker Went Almost a Year Without Pay description: The total wages he is owed by Applebee's equals hundreds of work hours canonical: https://time.com/4084593/caleb-dyl-applebees-autistic-wages/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-23T05:34:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:23.163Z article:section: Health og:title: Applebee's Hasn't Paid Autistic Worker for a Year: Report og:description: 21-year-old Caleb Dyl has worked hundreds of hours, his family said. og:url: https://time.com/4084593/caleb-dyl-applebees-autistic-wages/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Applebee's Hasn't Paid Autistic Worker for a Year: Report twitter:description: 21-year-old Caleb Dyl has worked hundreds of hours, his family said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Applebee's Restaurant Hasn't Paid an Autistic Worker for Nearly a Year > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=fb7d00f8-1f04-400b-a8d6-7f89791b28e8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'Sesame Street' Adds Julia, Its First Character With Autism [Watch (HLS stream): 'Sesame Street' Adds Julia, Its First Character With Autism](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zS2j7RAe.m3u8) (1:24)  _Published 2015-10-22. Julia is a part of the "Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children" campaign aimed at changing stigmas about autism._ by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 23, 2015 5:34 AM UTC by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 23, 2015 5:34 AM UTC An autistic man who worked at a restaurant in Rhode Island until around two months ago was not paid his wages for nearly a year, an [investigation](http://wpri.com/2015/10/20/autistic-restaurant-worker-goes-unpaid-for-a-year/) by a local news channel revealed on Thursday. Caleb Dyl, 21, started a job as a prep cook at an Applebee’s franchise in Middletown, R.I., in August 2014 and worked three days a week until July this year, but is yet to receive a single paycheck, local news channel WPRI reported. He was offered the job after being placed in an unpaid training program by local NGO Resources for Human Development (RHD), but was supposed to start earning minimum wage — $9 an hour — after getting hired on a part-time basis. “We were told by RHD that Applebee’s was going to hire him, and he was going to get paid,” his father Bob Dyl told WPRI, adding that the family set up a direct deposit and filled out W-4 tax forms but didn’t receive any money. The organization, which sent a work coach to supervise and aid Caleb Dyl with procedures like logging work hours, told the family in November last year that the documents had been misplaced. Despite filing it again, no money has been forthcoming. “He was enjoying the job, so we really weren’t focused on the income so much,” the young man’s father added. “But after that amount of time, you kind of wonder what’s going on.” The Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, the government entity that oversees RHD’s funding, said the agency should have informed the state if Dyl was not getting paid. However, there is no official indication that any RHD representative did so. Senior management from Applebee’s claim they were never informed about Dyl’s lack of compensation by RHD, and only found out about the transgression when contacted by WPRI reporters for their story. “But this is on us. We feel terrible,” said Eleanor Clancy, the restaurant chain’s regional director, adding that they will send Dyl a check for the equivalent of 166 hours worked — based on records kept by the work coaches, since he never clocked in and out of the job. “We have to make this right,” Clancy told WPRI. Dyl’s family, however, estimates that he worked closer to 350 hours over the one-year period. \[[_WPRI_](http://wpri.com/2015/10/20/autistic-restaurant-worker-goes-unpaid-for-a-year/)\] ## Transcript That's what makes us wonderful. We're different as can be. But in some real important ways we're still the same you see. For 45 seasons and counting sesame street has been an integral part of teaching little Little kids about the world around them, and that's continuing with the addition of Sesame Workshop's newest member, Julia, the first character with autism. Julia was part of the Sesame Street and Autism See Amazing in All Children rollout. The campaign aims to break the stigma of autism and help kids find common ground despite the potential barriers in communication. Jeanette Betancourt, Senior Vice President of Community and Family Engagement at Sesame Workshop told People children with autism are five times more likely to get bullied. And with one in 68 children having autism, that's a lot of bullying. Our goal is to bring forth what all children share in common, not their differences. Autism Spectrum Disorder affects brain development in children, mostly causing difficulties in verbal and nonverbal communication throughout their lives. Boys are up to five times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism. Sesame Street has used its furry friends to tackle tough issues before. In 2002, the show added Kami, who was HIV positive. Give me a hug. 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