On April 2, World Autism Awareness Day is celebrated, a date dedicated to expanding the population's knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and, thus, combat prejudice and discrimination that still surround people with the disorder
Despite the advances and the expansion of the debate on ASD in recent years, especially in new spaces of society, it is still necessary to fight for equal opportunities. According to data from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), it is estimated that 85% of people with ASD are unemployed in Brazil — an alarming number that reveals the lack of inclusion and the unpreparedness of the job market
With the purpose of transforming this reality, a SoulCode Academyemerged 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 more than 800 people with disabilities (PWDs). Among them isAlexandre Caus Haddade, diagnosed with ASD
"Inclusion is still just beginning 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, it just has a different way of seeing the world — "and this can be very valuable for 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 the fulfillment of the quota law provided for in Brazilian legislation. An example of an initiative in this regard is the work of theMental Clean, pioneering company in Brazil in psychology applied to worker health, that develops actions focused on mental health and diversity in organizations
