Changing Employers' Perceptions, One Autistic Worker at a Time

Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) brings together college students from different faiths so that they develop respect and appreciation for each other and different traditions. IFYC also cultivates interfaith leaders and organizes campus-based campaigns called Better Together. Some students have received push back from their faith communities, but students and faculty have reported the campaigns for interfaith engagement leads to positive outcomes of increasing tolerance on campuses. The organization has trained students who have run campaigns on 106 campuses.

Despite years of change, African Americans feel ostracized from the medical care community that is dominated mainly by white people, especially when it comes to hospices. Some are trying to remove the stigma of hospice care as well as make health care systems more fair.

Children coming from abusive households are often reluctant to discuss their past experiences. A Mexican foundation is using animated characters to help abused and ill children speak about their lives.

People with disabilities like autism often struggle to find welcoming and meaningful jobs. Companies that place workers with disabilities in jobs that fit their skills will be well-positioned to succeed in the 21st century.

For parents, few things are more terrifying to contemplate than the fate of a disabled child who survives them - will he have to be institutionalized if there is no one ready to take on his care? In Vancouver, the Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network helps parents develop networks of care to help their child continue to live a good life in the community.

Individuals who have Aspergers Syndrome and autism experience difficulty in conforming to workplace norms and find themselves unemployed. Specialisterne, a Danish company, has opened employment opportunities for them. Sixty countries around the world have sought to adopt the company model.

The Jaipur Limb organization based in India has developed prostheses at low cost, and services are free for the poor. The organization’s efforts have recently spread to other countries with impoverished people. Jaipur Limb reaches patients through branch clinics, traveling workshops, and limb camps in cities around the world.

After a policeman shot and killed a teenage African American, a community in Cincinnati blamed law enforcement for racial profiling and riots expanded throughout the city. With the help of the Department of Justice as a mediator, Cincinnati made policy changes. The city now has an African American Police Association that brings police officers in communication with representatives of communities.

The militarization of police forces in cases such as Ferguson, Missouri’s riots has led the state of Utah to question what can be done to prevent such an overuse of force from happening. Utah expanded upon a law passed by Democratic legislature in Maryland, which Utah’s ACLU reworked with some libertarians, to require the police to provide data about SWAT team usage. Utah’s success demonstrates that demilitarization bills passed with bipartisan support are not impossible.

After incarceration, Black men and women have a difficult time re-integrating into society without financial and educational resources. A former Black Panther activist has created the non-profit Oakland &the World Enterprises to offer an urban farm as a prisoner re-entry program and community center. The Oakland project supports self-sufficiency, self-determination, and empowerment for Black people.