Hi, my name is Isaac Dealey and I have Asperger Syndrome.
I'm creating jobs for people with Autism and Asperger Syndrome
and I want you to help
If you haven't seen our website,
you can read up about our project at www.AutLabs.com
There you'll find information about
how you can help define a repeatable business model
to create jobs for people on the autistic spectrum.
Right now I'd like to talk to you about an easier way that you can help,
and that's by blogging.
We launched our site about two months ago
and we've had amazing success generating traffic
and getting people involved in the project.
This would not have happened without
the help of people just like you.
We haven't done any fund raising yet
and to date we've spent zero dollars on advertising
and yet we've had a tremendous amount of traffic on our website
and we've had lots and lots of people sign up for our newsletter.
and we've had several people already
blog about the project like Elesia Ashkenazy
who is a licensed speech and language pathology assistant (SLPA)
and also co-director of the Portland Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)
Although it may seem like a really small thing,
blogging is very important.
Blog articles do two things
first they provide social proof
and they also give you an opportunity
to express your hopes for the project
in your own words.
Social proof is a fancy way of saying basically
that people want to be on the winning team
and the way that they know they're on the winning team is
when they see how much support an idea has from people like themselves.
To give an extreme example,
let's say you live near an area
where there are a lot of snakes
and someone designed a pair of boots
that they say are guaranteed to prevent snake bites
Do you grab up a pair of these boots
and immediately go hiking
through the snake infested area?
Probably not!
Most people would probably wait
for some of their neighbors to buy a pair of the boots
and try them out by walking around in the snake area safely
before they decide that they are actually working
and that this product actually makes it safe
to walk around in that area.
Most people do this because it's a smart thing to do.
Wait and see if other people are going to get behind the idea
before they'll throw their hat in the ring.
We're only talking about blogging here,
so there's no physical danger involved
but the scientific evidence really shows that it's not much different
Most people won't be the first to do something.
They want to know the idea has widespread support
before they get involved.
I don't have to be told anymore that there's widespread support for this project
because people tell me this just about daily
via email, phone and instant messengers.
I'm really not the person who needs to hear about support for this project.
The people who need to hear about support for this project are your friends.
They need to hear that you support this project,
so that they'll support this project.
The other thing that blogs do
is allow you to express your support in your own words.
You get to explain why it is that
creating jobs for people with autism is important to you.
This makes it personal and that's important.
I know why it's important to me.
I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome in 2008
and I'm not willing to accept second class citizenship
for people on the spectrum.
What is your motivation?
Are these jobs important to you because you have a friend or family member on the spectrum?
Maybe you have a teenager on the spectrum and
you want to make sure they get the support they need
to succeed in the years ahead.
Whatever it is, this is your opportunity
to make your voice heard on the issue of equal employment.
The AutLabs project isn't just my company.
The AutLabs project is an idea and a movement
and it's your movement.
It's your opportunity to be involved in
improving the lives of everyone affected by autism.
Thus far we've been quite successful
getting people to express their support
by writing blogs and announcing the project on Twitter.
We've been fortunate that a number of people like Elesia
have stepped up and been the first to blog about it.
So if you've been thinking about writing a blog about the AutLabs project
now is the time.
Thank you.
