On April 2nd, World Autism Awareness Day is celebrated, a date dedicated to increasing public knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and thus combating the prejudice and discrimination that still surround people with the disorder.
Despite the progress and the expansion of the debate about ASD in recent years, especially in new societal spaces, there is still a need to fight for equal opportunities. According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) data, it is estimated that 85% of people with ASD are unemployed in Brazil—an alarming number that reveals the lack of inclusion and unpreparedness of the labor market.
With the purpose of changing this reality, the SoulCode Academy emerged during the pandemic with the mission of developing digital literacy and democratizing access to technological training for minorities. Since then, the edtech has already trained over 800 people with disabilities (PWDs). Among them is Alexandre Caus Haddade, diagnosed with ASD.
“Inclusion is still in its early stages in the technology market, and training opportunities like this show that we are making progress in this fight. A person with Autism Spectrum Disorder is neither better nor worse than anyone else—they just have a different way of viewing the world, which can be very valuable to a company,” says Alexandre.
On the other hand, it is essential that companies are truly prepared to promote genuine inclusion of diverse people—something that goes far beyond complying with the quota law stipulated in Brazilian legislation. An example of an initiative in this regard is the work of Mental Clean, a pioneering company in Brazil in psychology applied to worker health, which develops actions focused on mental health and diversity in organizations.
