“Autism is a global public health crisis”
“Autistic adults may very well be the most disadvantaged disability group in the American workplace”
"Without gainful and sustained employment,
adults with autism live at or below poverty levels on the welfare system of the state"
FOCUS ON EMPLOYMENT
For many autism related organizations finding employment often becomes ‘the final thing to do’ due to the multitude of other service provided thus the appropriate focus and energy may not be dedicated to solving the employment need. The Spectrum Works' primary focus is becoming the subject matter experts in corporate employment for adults with autism. Being a ‘bridge’ organization enables us to scale quicker and serve more individuals.
CORPORATE JOBS
Majority of autism employment has historically focused on blue collar, non-corporate jobs. Our philosophy is to extend this model to white collar, meaningful corporate jobs. The Spectrum Works believes corporate jobs are an untapped market and the next wave in autism employment. Our goal is to provide the “full spectrum of jobs for people on the spectrum.”
FULL INTEGRATION
Our approach is unique in that it fully embraces integration. The roles and jobs we pursue in corporations fully integrate the person with autism (neurodiverse) with other neurotypical employees. This philosophy aligns with the autism community’s current thought leadership and advocacy for integration.
CORPORATE-CENTRIC
Our organization will be akin to a consulting organization, providing a service to corporations and the autism community, as opposed to a traditional non-profit organization. We will start with the corporation first: getting the buy-in to our vision, identifying appropriate roles, and educating the corporation around the benefits of a neurodiverse workforce. Then we will find, screen and train the appropriate autistic adults for the given roles at these corporations.
ECOSYSTEM OF PARTNERS
We acknowledge many other individuals and organizations are much more knowledgeable about autism; its challenges as well as its strengths. Our goal is to develop and leverage relationships across a broad range of people and organizations that will fill the gaps in our offerings. We will outsource many tasks to others who have already established expertise in such areas
A UNIQUE APPROACH
Our approach to addressing autism employment is unique in several aspects: