“Necessity is the mother of invention.” – Plato. When Oliver Thornton, who himself was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at a young age, learned during his capstone project that the autistic community faces an alarming rate of 80% unemployment, he came up with an idea to address the unemployment issues for the autistic community. Oliver co-founded Coding Autism, an organization that trains adults on autism spectrum in fundamental skills as a developer/coder/programmer and to get them ready to confidently pursue employment in various IT industries. The students are also trained in soft skills that will help them succeed at work. We wish Oliver and his team our best for his endeavor.

How and when did you get the idea for Coding Autism?O: I discovered the concept behind Coding Autism in April of 2016 when I was in my New Venture Development capstone course at California Lutheran University. As an individual who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome shortly after my older brother was diagnosed with autism in 1994 (I was 2 years old), developing some type of initiative that improved the lives of individuals with autism was one of my bucket list priorities in life. Throughout my college experience, I had pondered the thought of developing an autism related initiative but the concept came to me in my capstone course where I researched autism in further detail and discovered the alarming 80% unemployment and underemployment rate of adults with autism in the workforce. This motivated me to pursue the business model behind Coding Autism.

How is Coding Autism is helping the people on the spectrum?O: Coding Autism is helping adults on the autism spectrum by navigating them to employment in the technology industry through our advocacy, vocational training, and mentorship services. We designed an autism specialized coding immersive that includes not only the technical training required to obtain employment in the tech industry but also the soft skills training such as social skill building, financial management, and career counseling that help adults with autism successfully obtain tech employment.

What type of courses are available in the training program? How are these courses specialized for people on the spectrum?O: As of now, we have one course offering, which is the Coding Autism ASPIRE Program. The ASPIRE Program is described in further detail below.
The Coding Autism ASPIRE Program is a 15-week, full-time course where students will be learning the fundamental skills necessary to secure an entry-level web developer job. We cover both front-end and back-end skills, along with Quality Assurance, cybersecurity, and SCRUM principles. Additionally, we incorporate soft skills training into the program, where our students will develop social skills, financial management skills, and career counseling. By the end of the course, students will walk away with a portfolio of full-stack web applications which they can use when applying to their first developer jobs.
We will also have workshops as well as online & hybrid course offerings in the near future as well.

What kind of job prospects are available for individuals who complete the Coding Autism training?O: Graduated Coding Autism students have a plethora of job opportunities within the tech industry ranging from internships to part time and full time employment. Coding Autism has been in contact with many of the large tech companies that have autism hiring initiatives such as Microsoft, SAP, and Hewlett Packard as well as many other tech companies such as Google, Uber, and LinkedIn. We are developing a career portal for our graduates where tech companies that we have been in conversation with can have access to our students and attend career fairs, reach out personally, and recruit from our pool of Coding Autism graduates.

Where do you see yourself in next ten years?O: In the next 10 years, we see Coding Autism being a nationwide and potentially global business. With our in-person courses, online courses, hybrid courses, and workshops, we will be able to educate the masses of the autistic population. In addition to these services, we see ourselves building out our own diversity and inclusion recruiting agency, our own software testing and freelance coding companies (both that hire Coding Autism graduates and talent on the autism spectrum that didn't learn their skills with Coding Autism), partnering with academic institutions to create degree offerings for autistic students, international business seminar offerings, and most importantly building out children, teenager, and low-functioning autism based program and service offerings as well. We can see ourselves becoming a business that is not only incredibly lucrative, but also creates significant opportunities for the autism population.

What is your favorite place to visit? What do you love about that place?O: My favorite place to visit is Barcelona. I love the energy in Barcelona, the incredible weather in the summer time, and the nightlife there.

What are your other hobbies?O: My other hobbies consist of tennis, working out, hanging out with friends, real estate (my other job), traveling, attending music festivals, and freestyle rapping.

Who is your inspiration?O: My inspiration is my brother. My brother was diagnosed with a more severe version of autism than I was and was told by doctors that he would not live a normal life as he would be non-verbal and low functioning. Not only did he learn to speak when he was 7 years old, but he ended up doing very well for himself as he graduated from high school, obtained his real estate license, is in the process of obtaining his architecture degree, and much more. By him overcoming his personal obstacles and defying what medical personnel had told him and my family at a young age, I learned the lesson that no obstacle is insurmountable if you put all of your effort in to be the best that you can possibly be.

What do you like to do when you are with your family?O: I like to play board games, play cards, socialize, go on hikes, discuss our goals, watch tv, and enjoy life with my family.

Any special message for our community?O: My advice to the autism community is to not be afraid to open up about your autism to your community and to always chase your dreams and vision. When I started to be more transparent about my Asperger's, more people started to respect me and as a result more doors started to open up. I channeled my autism as a unique advantage rather than as a hinderance to my productivity. By being comfortable in your own skin, you are more prone to accomplishing more with your live and being more satisfied with your life overall. Regarding dreams and vision, by containing the optimism, ambition, and passion to chase your dreams, you are putting yourself in a position to become successful. Never give up and aim to incrementally improve everyday and you will be just fine.