Autism Startup!

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Hey everyone!

It has been a while since I have posted here, because since the beginning of the year I have been trying to launch an autism startup in The Hague, in the Netherlands, while working full-time as a freelance translator - it has been insane!

I've made a rambling YouTube video about it that you can watch below, but let me be a bit more specific so that I can hear what you all think. I'm pushing really hard with all of this, but it is because I would love to work for a company that was designed and owned and run by a person with autism, and it seems like if I want that, I have to do it myself! I have to be the change that I want to see in the world


(Before 05:22 it is mostly just bitching and moaning but watch it all if you want )

I'm envisioning a translation company that will be staffed by people with autism - remote and on-site work will be possible, and chances are that we can make this work across multiple time zones. Translation will be split up into discrete tasks governed by very specific process flows - for example, as a translator, I often have to look up the official translation of certain documents - that is a task that I can outsource to someone else in real-time (e.g. we work off a common server, and communicate via Skype or some text-based platform, but this could also work in an office setting, and I say "Look up the translation of XX", you do it (according to the predefined process flow), and send it back to me, and I move on with the translation). Obviously it is somewhat more complex than this and I don't want to share too much of the idea at such an early stage, but I want to get a sense of what people think... My vision is that people could sign up to work for a few (or many, up to you!) hours a week, and get paid an hourly rate - obviously I would need to have a large pool of people to pick from to ensure that I can always find someone, but in the Netherlands in particular, there is an added benefit that people diagnosed with autism could work purely for pleasure, because they are already being supported by government grants, so it's not like I would needs to employ them full-time... I hope that makes sense? The social support system is very good basically

Another advantage is that if I can prove that this business concept will work, I can hopefully patent the business processes, and then used them to teach traditional corporations how to work with people with autism - obviously my company will have things like a meltdown room with weighted blankets etc. to calm myself and my team down when things get stressful, and not every company can do that, but they can definitely learn how to treat us all better, dammit!

1. Do you have any questions about this? Questions help me to refine my idea!
2. Are you multilingual? Would you be interested in something like this?
3. Once the business concept and business processes have been refined, would you be interested in being part of the pilot team to test them out? It doesn't matter if you are located somewhere else in the world, as long as you have the Internet, we can find a way to make it work!

Feel free to DM me, or comment - I will take long to reply because I am still keeping up with my normal work, but I will also be travelling to business meetings in The Hague (and other cities in the Netherlands), but I will reply!!

Hi, excellent to hear about your startup. It really lifts my spirits hearing positive autistic stories; and I am certain does for others with autism.

I recently heard about an all autistic IT company - called auticon(.co.uk) Might be worth checking them out for ideas (for example employees have mentors to help them cope with any day to day problems so they can focus on what they are good at).
Plus looks like they have a lot of European business so might want translation services.

Best of luck with your endeavours!

That sounds like an amazing idea and if I was more comfortable with my other languages I would happily sign on. I might have to come back later after I brush up. I think things like this would be huge boon to the autistic community to show some of our strengths especially with the recent upsurge in negative news in America again.

Thanks for this hot tip - I think this is a good organisation to speak to in order to gain some experience and since we won't be in competition, I hope that they will be keen to engage!
I am hoping that I have the skills to pull this all together, because the further I go down the road, the more I realise that planning does not help you to deal with curveballs.
Hope I have good news to report soon!

I'll definitely get back to you on this because I am looking for people who are interested in languages, not just "really good at them" - there have to be roles available for people to contribute purely on the basis of interest and enthusiasm in my opinion because I don't think I'll find enough fully qualified people I'm glad that you have such a positive outlook on this - I completely agree, and really believe that we need to do this now because we're about to see a new generation of people growing up with autism, and my fear is that they will end up underemployed like we are... that's just not ok...