Changing society’s view on people with autism through business

Before his youngest son was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Danish technical director Thorkil Sonne had never thought of starting his own business. But watching the boy’s ongoing hardship and looking at the poor work opportunities for people with ASD, Sonne realized that his son’s future did not look too bright. It was not, however, that his son lacked skills. In fact, the boy had a highly unusual ability to concentrate on details and submit to an exact standard. It was just that the labour market was not geared for harvesting these special skills. And so, in 2004 Thorkil Sonne started his own IT company Specialisterne (The Specialists) with a business concept centered on utilizing the special skills of people with ASD.

 

When Sonne started his business, which tests software and conducts quality controls for companies like Siemens, Microsoft, Cisco and CSC, he had no idea that his social business model would receive numerous prizes and international media attention. Nor would he have believed that Specialisterne – only four years after its foundation – would become a Harvard Business School Case Study.

 

Nevertheless, all this has already come true, and today Sonne is upscaling with a license concept in Glasgow, Scotland. He has a short-term goal to start licensees in three major European cities by the end of 2010 and a long term goal to create one million jobs worldwide for people with ASD and similar challenges like ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

 

The business potential of Specialisterne is huge, but for Thorkil Sonne it is about more than that: ‘In the traditional market the goal is to make products attractive enough so you can sell them with a profit. In my case the goal is to create a better future for my son and all the others with ASD and other invisible disabilities. We want to change society’s view of the large group of people with ASD.’

Sonne’s business model may be unique, but his motivation for starting a commercial company is not. He is a textbook example of the growing number of social entrepreneurs who engage in commercial activities to create sustained social value. For them, generating their own revenue streams is becoming a high priority because it paves the way for economic sustainability, independence and the opportunity to accomplish more of their social mission.