Asperger's and Autism: Achieving Independence After High School

Holly Robinson Peete is an actress, singer and philanthropist. She started by introducing herself as the daughter of Sesame Street's original Gordon.  For any of us old enough to remember watching this iconic PBS television show, you will remember Gordon who was Big Bird's human friend that helped him to understand the world around him. But as the keynote speaker on Thursday morning, she spoke as a mom with autism in her family.  Wife of football legend, Rodney Peete, Holly spoke of their son RJ.  The first day that RJ was diagnosed has forever been called the "The Never Day."  The reason for this title was because the specialist who reviewed all of the test results told the Peetes that RJ would never..... do this and do this and do that.....etc, etc, etc.  So it is always called "The Never Day". She spoke of the level of pain and understanding of RJ's diagnosis that had to come in their own family before they could speak to the world about ...

In support of a vision for a more neurodiverse workplace, SAP launched the annual Autism at Work Summit in 2016. The partnerships of an ever-growing list of companies have come together for the third year who place an emphasis on hiring people with Autism. The Autism at Work Summit creates a platform for academia, public and private sector, philanthropy, civil societies, service providers and the community to come together and to inspire imagination, ideation and collaboration by sharing from all of the wisdom and expertise that is assembled under one roof for three days. This is the only annual meeting of its kind in the world. The town of Redmond, WA is where it all started for Microsoft. And Microsoft, in turn, has played a significant role in the development of the Seattle area. The commute to work is made easy with Wi-Fi powered shuttles, and once on campus the lunch options are nearly endless with more than two dozen world-class cafes and restaurants. On any given day, emp...

This week placed me at several days of meetings in a little-known company in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington called Microsoft. The focus of the entire three-day symposium is Autism at Work. The keynote on day one was Tom D'Eri, who co-founded a company called Rising Tide Car Wash.   His presentation not only spoke about the trials of setting up this social enterprise that currently employs over 80 individuals with autism but he spoke about the autism advantage that he has been recognized for as his company has more than doubled with now, 150 employees having been employed.  Initially, the enterprise was to provide an on-going employment opportunity for his brother who is on the autism spectrum. However, RTCW has become so much more than that.  It not only serves as a job for a number of years for some of the employees but it also can be a first-time job for many others who go onto college or a career after only a year or so. Tom has proven that you can run...