Autistic individuals are often excluded from economic participation. In Australia, the unemployment rate for autistic individuals is 34.1 per cent, which is more than three times the rate for people with disability. While there are social enterprises that have a focus on addressing disability unemployment, they are rarely owned or led by people with disabilities. There are also very few autistic owned and led enterprises that benefit from the multi-billion dollar a year autism industry that provides services to autistic individuals. Autistic individuals are generally considered to be commodities within this industry.
Autistic economic self-determination can be defined as the capacity of autistic people to meet their own economic needs. The right of autistic people for economic self-determination is enshrined in Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Article 27 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognises the rights of people with disabilities to be supported to start a business.
There are many benefits for autistic individuals in starting and leading a business, including:
Autistic individuals starting and leading social enterprises benefit society, including:
Social enterprises whose mission is to support autistic entrepreneurship are commonly called Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs). The focus of WISEs ‘is to provide transitional or permanent employment, and/or entrepreneurial opportunities in a supportive, empowering and community-based environment'.
Autistic economic self-determination can be defined as the capacity of autistic people to meet their own economic needs. The right of autistic people for economic self-determination is enshrined in Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Article 27 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognises the rights of people with disabilities to be supported to start a business.
There are many benefits for autistic individuals in starting and leading a business, including:
- autistic individuals are able to control their work environment
- eliminates the sensory sensitivities and social interaction challenges that frequently cause autistic people distress in the workplace
- enables autistic individuals to sidestep the bias and discrimination that they often encounter when seeking employment with an employer
- overcomes the need to advocate for workplace accommodations which research has shown can have a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of autistic individuals
- autistic individuals are able to focus on their passions
- autistic individual can also more easily work from home and have flexible work schedules which many autistic individuals find easier.
Autistic individuals starting and leading social enterprises benefit society, including:
- autistic individuals have lived experience with social and economic challenges which enables them to develop relevant and effective interventions
- autistic individuals have a unique thinking style that can be used to create innovative responses to the world’s most pressing issues
- an identified characteristic of autism is a passion for creating systems change towards greater equality, fairness, and social justice.
Social enterprises whose mission is to support autistic entrepreneurship are commonly called Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs). The focus of WISEs ‘is to provide transitional or permanent employment, and/or entrepreneurial opportunities in a supportive, empowering and community-based environment'.