Denver nonprofit equips people with autism to enter trade workforce
Teaching the Autism Community Trades is a Denver-based nonprofit practicing exactly what its organization stands for.
TACT is making an impact by impact by equipping its students with autism the skills to enter the workforce in an environment that's conducive for them.
Austin Hudson spent three years learning welding and carpentry at TACT. The skills he developed helped him build and sell items to pay the $28,000 for his service dog, Sierra. He relies on her for his ability to work. She's trained to help calm him down, intervene in the event of an epilepsy seizure, and she also knows to distance herself from the welding machine and look away, so she doesn't damage her eyes.
"She'll just hang out in the hallway, sleep, lay on her bed or whatever," Hudson told CBS Colorado. "Whenever I have a problem or something, she will help me out with it."
TACT not only taught Hudson how to weld, but it also connected him with an employer that accommodates Sierra.
"I work at Codi Manufacturing, and I am a welder," said Hudson, who added the company enjoys having Sierra there. It even bought her a bed to lie down in.
Together, Austin and Sierra are an example of what's possible for this community.
"In 2029, there's going to be 42 million unfilled trade positions in the world," said Liam Murphy, TACT's director of development. "But we have a pocket of community, of neurodiverse, that can fill that every night."
According to the CDC, about 1 in 31 children have autism. And many in the community have trouble finding employment when they get older.
"It's one of the highest unemployed groups you could find, upwards of 92%, so there's a big problem," said Brad Armstrong, whose company, General Air Service and Supply, outfitted TACT's welding department with new equipment. "It's organizations like TACT, which is really one of a kind, that's addressing that problem head on."
TACT is providing resources and a pathway for individuals with autism to learn a trade such as carpentry, auto mechanics, electrical and welding.
"And, when you offer one of our kids that is fully educated, accredited and a job, their retention rate with that job or company over 10 years is 95%, with a 91% proficiency rate," Murphy said. "So, in other words, they're not making mistakes, and you have retention over 10 years."