Canada is the latest country to join an ambitious global campaign to educate companies and governments about the benefits of hiring people with autism in the work force, with a goal of seeing one million autistic people employed by 2020, including 10,000 in Canada.
Danish founder Thorkil Sonne announced his organization Specialisterne is teaming today with business management software giant SAP Canada Inc., whose parent company has set a company-wide goal of having 1 per cent of its global work force compromising people on the autism spectrum by the end of this decade.
In an interview from Vancouver, the 53-year-old Sonne said he was inspired to advocate for autistic employment and empowerment after his youngest son was diagnosed at age 3. “In Denmark, I saw the labour market getting more and more rigid, basically sending the message if you don’t have the social skills then there’s no room for you. I felt that was quite unfair.”
