Inside Howdy Homemade Ice Cream on Inwood Road, founder Tom Landis scoops sample after sample. He brags about their famous Dr Pepper Chocolate Chip flavor as well as his employees, both former and current
He recalls Benjamin Rubarts, who, at 17 years old, joined the staff at Howdy Homemade when Landis opened the first store in 2015. Landis smiled as he recalled Rubarts’ ability to rattle off baseball statistics at the drop of a hat.
Rubarts, now 26, who is on the autism spectrum, said the skills he mastered and the confidence he gained working at Howdy Homemade helped him through college to his current job as a contractor with Icon Consultants in Bank of America’s support services department.
Employees like Rubarts inspired Landis in his venture into the ice cream business after working with brands like Texadelphia and Pizza Patron.
“I’ve heard that it seems like jobs are kind of the final frontier for people with IDD [intellectual and developmental disabilities], and then also kind of the fastest track to inclusion,” Landis said. “They have a lot of friends coming out of high school and if there aren’t jobs available, they watch their friends go to college, get their first jobs, and they’re trying to find those points to connect. My employees can meet up with their friends that recently graduated college and are working, and talk about how much they don’t like their boss.”
Rubarts’ parents remember him being diagnosed with a developmental disability, which was later specified as autism, at age two and a half; however, he was unfamiliar with his diagnosis until shortly after he began working at Howdy Homemade.
Howdy Homemade became Rubarts’ first job, as is the case with many of Howdy Homemade’s employees, Landis said. Rubarts faced an adjustment period when he first started working.
“It was very different, a little difficult for me to get used to,” Rubarts said. “I had not been employed by anyone else, not even had an internship before that time, and so having a job at Howdy Homemade, it was my first job.”
Rubarts wanted work experience to prepare himself for work he really wanted to do. A self-proclaimed gamer, he explored everything from online computer games to handheld and console games. He particularly enjoys Nintendo games.
“Making gaming such a big hobby of mine has really held in me wanting to study computer science so I could assist more with the development of such games, but I also knew that computing was about much more than the games,” Rubarts said.
His general interest in technology expanded through classes he took while receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the University of Texas at Dallas. Rubarts graduated in May 2022 with his bachelor’s degree and in May 2024 with his master’s degree, including a graduate certificate in cyber defense and a designation in cyber operations transcript notation.
Landis recalls the first time Rubarts stepped in to work the register at Howdy Homemade. He not only mastered the point-of-sales system, but pointed out ways to improve the payment process for customers.
“He comes in and he goes, ‘Okay, I think I’m ready,’ because he’s gone online and read the entire manual,” Landis said. “And then he comes over and is like, ‘Oh yeah, guess what? In here, you haven’t calculated in sales tax.’ ”
Rubarts said he often researched the technical systems used by Howdy Homemade to find more efficient ways to utilize their features. The research practice helped in his college classes. Rubarts also nods to the communication skills he learned at Howdy Homemade as especially helpful in his college life.
“I did have to speak up more when I noticed some issues with lecture material or if I had questions about the type of homework that I had to do, and pretty much every class left me with no choice but to have to self-study and do online research to try to find the answers to the homework questions,” Rubarts said.
Katherine Bellone Mount, the director of psychological services at the Center for Autism Care and an associate professor with UT Southwestern Medical School, points to communication, problem solving and flexibility as important skills that can be picked up while working.
“It certainly helps them build social skills in terms of interacting with other people, interpreting other people’s needs, responding to someone who has questions,” Bellone Mount said. “Learning to be flexible on the job is a huge skill for everyone.”
Bellone Mount, who is also a pediatric psychologist at Children’s Health, points to other workplace initiatives, like the Texas Workforce Commission, that offer jobs or internships to those with disabilities, including those on the autism spectrum. The positive outcomes, she said, have been amazing to see.
“That’s been an incredible thing to get to watch firsthand how much pride and success these young adults are able to have when they get their first paycheck or start meeting work friends,” Bellone Mount said.
Both Bellone Mount and Landis see the point of pushing the narrative toward understanding neurodiversity.
“In business, and in life, there is no ‘they.’ In fact, there is no ‘normal,’ ” Landis said. “Leading by example, proving God created everyone for a purpose, Howdy harnesses the overlooked so that customers leave uplifted, thinking how they can expand their lives to be more inclusive.”
Rubarts has already seen this push for inclusivity in his workplace, one that hires and promotes employees on the autism spectrum. He encourages others with autism to seek out these workplaces and understand what they bring to the table.
“My autism may be a lot different from someone else’s autism there and even if we have the same autism, we might think differently about not only how things should be done, but also how we approach each situation,” Rubarts said. “In an environment that’s more promotional of people with neurodivergence, you have more room and emotional capital to be yourself.”
For Landis too, it is personal and professional. It was his mother, who faced challenges due to polio, that inspired him to open Howdy Homemade.
Landis also hoped to target the high turnover rate in the restaurant industry as well as employment needs for people with special needs. That focus has earned Landis the 2016 George Washington Medal of Honor and the 2025 Employer of the Year Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress.
“When you have entire industries, like the restaurant and hospitality industry, that have a 125% turnover rate, that’s ridiculous,” Landis said. “And then in North Texas, there’s 280,000 adults with special needs that are looking for work. How phenomenal is that number?”
