Autonomyworks offers job opportunities for adults with autism

More than 90 percent of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are either unemployed or underemployed.

There are several businesses that have been created around the country that are specifically designed for qualified individuals with ASD. One of them is Autonomyworks.

Located in Downers Grove, Ill., Autonomyworks was founded by a father whose son has autism. He started the business a year and half ago and now has 15 employees with a goal of expanding.

"Autonomyworks takes operation and back office work from companies, and this is the type of work that they would have sent offshore in the past," said David Friedman, founder and CEO of Autonomyworks.

"The type of work would be processing things like quality assurance, data entry, reporting things that are process-intensive, repetitive, detail-oriented work," Friedman said. "We look for people that have exceptional talent at details, an interest and a willingness to do repetitive and process-oriented work and people that like to work on computers."

All Autonomyworks employees are part time and between the ages of 18 to 35 years.

Friedman said many adults with autism excel at certain things.

"They're very good at detail-oriented work, very good with numbers, very good with process-oriented work," he said. "Sometimes they have difficulty of the complexity of typical workforce - typical workplaces have a lot of unwritten rules, lots of complex social interactions."

Specific accommodations like a sensory room are available to employees.

Ryan Murrary is 20-years-old. He works one to three days per week.

"I like that it's in a quiet office environment, and I like the set-up of the work that we do for our clients," he said. "And I feel proud, we get the work completed and we get more as clients need it."

"We've added three to four clients so far this year, and are always looking for new clients who are willing to give us work because the more work we have, the more people we can hire," Friedman said. "We found that we're able to do work for our clients faster at higher quality and less expensively than other options for them."

To learn more about Autonomyworks, visit www.autonomy-works.com.