Three ways social impact organizations can better communicate with autistic people online

Author Brennan Doherty
Four organizations that work with autistic communities explain how to hold virtual meetings that include everyone

Why It Matters

Canada is home to as many as 670,000 autistic people, many of whom find group settings overwhelming. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, many social good organizations are hosting meetings with coworkers and clients over video conferencing apps, but havenโ€™t thought about how to include autistic people.

var TRINITY_TTS_WP_CONFIG = {"cleanText":"Three ways social impact organizations can better communicate with autistic people online. After months of physical distancing, many Canadians are looking back at packed office meetings through a nostalgic lens. Not Anne Borden. The co-founder of Autistics 4 Autistics, an Ontario self-advocacy group, once worked at a law firm. She doesn\u2019t remember it fondly. The constant background noise, her colleagues\u2019 shuffling and shoulder taps, and the many distractions of a crowded workspace were simply too much for her. \u201cThe open-concept office is really like a living nightmare,\u201d she says. \u201cMaybe there\u2019s a few autistic people out there who like that, but I\u2019ve never met them.\u201d About 1 to 2 percent of Canada\u2019s population,

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