The Neurodivergent Workforce No One Wants To Talk About | Danny Combs #461 | The Way I Heard It

There’s not much new to say about autism that hasn’t already made it into the headlines. We all know the number of people diagnosed with this condition has exploded. The most recent data says 1 in 31 kids in this country are affected, and 1 in 45 adults. That’s well over 5 million Americans. We also know there is a great deal of controversy as to why autism rates have risen so dramatically. Some argue the stats reflect an improvement in outreach, screening, and destigmatization of autism diagnosis. Others believe it's diet-related, while others argue that vaccines are to blame. I’m sure today’s guest has an opinion on all of this, because Danny Combs is the father of an autistic child. But I didn’t invite Danny on to discuss anything controversial. I invited him on to talk about the autistic community’s role in closing the skills gap and the extraordinary impact of T.A.C.T., a nonprofit he formed several years ago that’s committed to Teaching the Autism Community Trades.

Full disclosure, I’ve known Danny for a few years now and featured T.A.C.T. on episodes of Returning the Favor and People You Should Know. I was intrigued by the fact that so many autistic people related so naturally to the skilled trades and eager to see exactly how Danny was able to get so many “unemployable” individuals working full time in his Denver community. So too were my friends at Stand Together, who I introduced Danny to several years ago and who continue to support T.A.C.T. to this day. I invited Danny onto The Way I Heard It because I think he’s onto something big and, more importantly, something duplicable and scalable.

The skills gap is real, and so too are the rising rates of autism. How cool would it be if closing the former could be accomplished by engaging the latter?

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#podcast #education #skills

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