We had the good fortune of connecting with David Aspinall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
auticon provides high-quality technology careers to autistic adults, who experience high rates of unemployment and underemployment. We also help companies become more inclusive of autistic and neurodivergent employees. Our model is that we hire talented autistic technology professionals and integrate them into client companies, performing as software developers, data analysts, QA engineers, and more. Then we ensure success by providing ongoing job coaching and project management support to both the employee and client. This way, autistic employees get the support they need to thrive in their roles and build long-term careers in technology, while the client companies gain experience in working with autistic colleagues and creating more inclusive workplaces. We call it a win-win-win situation for autistic professionals, companies, and society.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
There are more than 250,000 autistic people in Texas. 85% of these people are either un-employed or under-employed. That’s more than 212,500 Texans that have no income, do not make income related to their capabilities and skills, are on welfare or are dependent on family. The lifetime cost to either family or society to support over 200,000 Texans is over $42.5 Billion dollars (over $2M per person). I want to fix this by finding meaningful employment with market level salaries, healthcare and 401k for this amazing community of people. And not by charity. We will use the principles of business, supply and demand in the needed skilled workforce to solve this Texas problem. Texas businesses will become more inclusive by taking what was previously seen as a barrier to employment and leveraging it as a performance advantage.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Monday – Pickleball at Courtside Kitchen, burn the calories for the beer and great food after the game!

Tuesday – Family and friends Rummikub tournament with one inevitable winner, lol

Wednesday – Lunch at The Fort Worth Club, catch up with business and civic leaders vested in making Fort Worth the best place it can be for this community

Thursday – BBQ at Heim on Magnolia, with ice cream from Melt afterwards

Friday – Grab some steaks from Central Market, grill at home, open a bottle of Harebrained and invite our neighbors from Trinity Heights and our old neighbors from Bent Trail Circle in Southlake for a hang out

Saturday – Morning at the Fort Worth Aviation Museum. One way bike rentals from Downtown Fort Worth to the Stockyards for afternoon hang out and drinks at Mule Alley. Catch an event at Dickies Arena, a fantastic place for a concert (not too big, great acoustics for an arena)

Sunday – Morning walk with coffee along the Clear Folk of the Trinity River with a stop at Mutts for a doggy play date, brunch at B&B Butchers

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Executive MBA program at TCU Neely School of Business has been exponential in my journey. It brought me closer to the community as a transplant to DFW, provided me with education and mentorship in a senior level in my career (which is not always easy), provided me with connections to organizations like YPO where I now serve on the board of the Fort Worth chapter, and offered me friends for life.

Website: https://www.auticon.com/us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auticon.us/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/auticonus/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/auticonUS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/auticonus/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC04oErXCzdYWsnmTcPy7_lQ

Image Credits
First photo: Women in IT Summit & Awards Other photos courtesy of auticon US

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