Would you label your business as a Autistic Owner

[Aspychata]

I just wonder if there is more acceptance irl now, and we could promote an awareness of such. Or do you still think there is a upward battle to opening other's minds to this?

 

[Neonatal RRT]

There may be more acceptance, but unfortunately there's a LOT of ignorance. I still don't think that many within the medical community have a grasp on what autism is, especially adult autism, let alone the general public. I give the example of myself working in one of the largest children's hospitals in the US, knowing that we deal with autistic children every day, and yet, an autistic co-worker can work along side you for the better part of 40 years and you still don't recognize it as autism. Like my brother-in-law said perfectly, "I've heard of autism, but I don't know what that means."

 

[Sasha22]

do you still think there is a upward battle to opening other's minds to this?

Yes definitely.

If you already have a flourishing business and enough power to use your brand as a way of raising awareness in a constructive way - maybe it could be worth the risk... Otherwise a lot of people might just interpret it as "This business is run by someone who's weird and we don't know what that might mean for the product/service" lol

 

[Judge]

Never. Always being reminded of a "need-to-know" basis.

Which would never translate into the general public. Especially in an era where so many have joined a cult of intolerance for anyone who is perceived as being different from them.

 

[Outdated]

I think a lot depends on the attitudes of your society in general for as to whether or not you'd get away with it and still have a successful business. I think "get away with it" is the best result you could hope for, I don't think a lot of people would be convinced that being autistic was a good selling point, except for maybe someone like a forensic accountant.

 

[Judge]

I think a lot depends on the attitudes of your society in general for as to wether or not you'd get away with it and still have a successful business. I think "get away with it" is the best result you could hope for, I don't think a lot of people would be convinced that being autistic was a good selling point, except for maybe someone like a forensic accountant.

A basic tenet of marketing. Never knowingly reduce or confine the market share of your customers.

Who would in theory want a target audience of what reflects as 1.8 % of society? There are certainly specialty markets of all kinds...but you still have to successfully deal with their demographics. The math simply isn't there for us...unlike other perceived minorities.

 

[Sasha22]

In fact, I think a better way of raising awareness would be to say that one is autistic after having made the business very successful. You could do an Elon Musk or a Zuckerberg, who both said they were autistic if I'm not mistaken.

Or it could perhaps work if your business focuses on autism-related issues. Otherwise, I'm not too sure about the relevance - it would sound like "This bakery is run by a gay/black/minority person" - so what? If I'm a minority, I'd let them find out and deal with it themselves
But then if I become a millionaire baker, maybe I'd say "Hey by the way, I'm autistic".

 

[Judge]

Also, I think a better way of raising awareness would be to say that one is autistic after having made the business very successful. You could do an Elon Musk or a Zuckerberg, who both said they were autistic if I'm not mistaken.

Or it could perhaps work if your business focuses on autism-related issues. Otherwise, I'm not too sure about the relevance - it would sound like "This bakery is run by a gay/black/minority person" - so what? If I'm a minority, I'd let them find out and deal with it themselves
But then if I become a millionaire baker, maybe I'd say "Hey by the way, I'm autistic".

Reminds me of the select notable persons in entertainment who have come out about being on the spectrum. But to my knowledge, all have done so after achieving fame and fortune.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Depends on the business.

 

[Forest Cat]

No, I don't think so. One reason is that I think it's personal, or private.

 

[tazz]

I had a chat recently with some mental health professionals about this. I'm going through the process now (slowly) trying to figure out what my diagnosis means to me and whether there are any practical changes I can/should make. I started telling a few people that I have "health issues" which prevent me doing some things, so that I don't have to worry about doing them, making phone calls for example.

I run my own businesses and do self-employed work. There was an example recently where I was due to meet separately with a couple of potential new customers. One of them was an owner of a construction company. He turned out to be a really stereotypical builder - brash and direct. And the other was a mental health/medical services charity founded by a couple of older women.

I think these two were at opposite ends of the spectrum (haha, see what I did there). For the charity, I think they would have thought that me as a business owner being autistic was a positive thing. For the construction company, I think they'd have been put off. I'm guessing, because I never told either of them about my autism. But having met with them, I'll go as far as to say that's an educated guess.

One of the reasons I was thinking about this was to figure out if there were any practical reasons to inform them. It might make my life a little easier to let them know up front about my requirements for the meeting, much like someone might enquire about wheelchair access before turning up at a customer's premises. But I couldn't think of any reason why they would need to know about my autism up front in my marketing blurb.

It might make more sense with regard to recruitment, but even then decent policies relating to anti-discrimination and accommodating neurodiversity and other diversities etc, would go further than stating that the owner is autistic.

My gut feel is that it would do more harm than good. Making it so in your face as to announce "the owner of this business is autistic" kinda sets it up as a "difference" rather than just part of everyday life.

I mean, what about approaching this from the other perspective:

"We felt it would be important to let you know that the owner of this business is NOT autistic."

 

[Sasha22]

"We felt it would be important to let you know that the owner of this business is NOT autistic."

"Phew, thank God!..... Wait, what's autism?"

My gut feel is that it would do more harm than good. Making it so in your face as to announce "the owner of this business is autistic" kinda sets it up as a "difference" rather than just part of everyday life.

I agree, and if you're the owner of a for-profit business, in the vast majority of cases it would be bad marketing to highlight that the business owner has needs and requirements that might complicate transactions. As @Judge said, that would greatly limit your target audience (to autistic people, to some non-profits, to overly nice people, etc).

Frankly even I would wonder, "They say they're autistic. What the heck does that have to do with selling chocolate? Is that a red flag?"

To make something like that work, you'd have to really have thought it through, eg if you have a very active role in the autism community (sponsor to some major autism charity, lead/spokesperson for an autism organization, etc) and are being consistent in carrying that role into your brand/marketing as a business owner. Then you'd have an autism-related support structure to somewhat back you up. But even a venture like this would be risky. I wouldn't make it my main source of income.

 

[Forest Cat]

I agree with Sasha22, if you label your business as anything at all, any label you usually don't see on a business, a lof of people will assume it could mean that there will be more problems compared to a business with no labels. It's like an instinct I think, in business you want something stabil and normal, to avoid extra cost and problems. So pretty much anything out of the ordinary could be seen as negative or something that could cause problems. Even if it isn't.

 

[Outdated]

https://worldwideinterweb.com/unfortunate-business-names-ever/

 

[Shevek]

I just wonder if there is more acceptance irl now, and we could promote an awareness of such. Or do you still think there is a upward battle to opening other's minds to this?

I think that information would be quite irrelevant to most customers, so including it would seem strange even if they had no opinion on the condition itself. The closest I'd go is "for out-of-the-box solutions" or some other positive aspect, unattributed to a medical condition.

 

[Vindiesel]

In a world where people are too proud of everything including origin of birth, physical gifts or disabilities and other nuances that they were given without their freewill I feel using this as an essentially a metaphorical flag posted out front of a business is rather disingenuous. It is like a car with stickers all over it essentially orienting peoples brain to the caliber of the person driving it regardless of the genuine intention behind it. My favorite is when somebody puts an NRA sticker, or some self defense I will shoot you sticker on their window. Criminals see a vehicle with a potential free gun, other people that have no care to see if they can exacerbate that person to pull the gun or question him about his right to have a weapon if they are sadistic.

What happened to people to leaving a bit of mystery in their life? and not dissecting every quality of their life, what they do where they go? Its one thing anonymous on a forum like this it is a totally different endeavor for a public business, face-book, Instagram you name it....

What I am getting at is if a person walks in your business and somehow has the capacity to see your autistic why should that change exchanging goods and services? It should not.

Having a business based off a proud owner of their sexuality, political party, religion, race, or any other specificity of ones to some degree will be detrimental to the few because it gives them time to think about doing business before they walk in. (the emotional component)

For my own understanding of this question for instance people boycotted budlight. If I like the taste of bud-light I personally could give a **** what the brand stands for I will drink one regardless and if people think Im for this or that because of it and treat me differently then their understanding is more shallow then an ant pile and emotional biased. How far does one go? There is traces of cocaine on most of the US dollar bills...does that mean not use money? if you use money you are a drug dealer that is for cocaine use and criminal activity? How far does one abstract this?

If you brand your business autistic, lgbtq or bdsm friendly I see something I want I don't care what you represent as long as you treat me well, and service and quality is there. I understand most everyone else in the world cares where their money goes like they are representing what a gumball machine stands for for putting a quarter in it.

My opinion would be dont identify the owner as having autism. Conceal carry.

 

[Shevek]

Even when a store is going out of business, the ads are not about the concerns of the owners and workers, but about the good deals for the customers. In many ways, the best business is like good typography - getting the job done really well without being thought about at all. People have far too many demands on their attention, and will avoid complication.

 

[Misty Avich]

I don't really care about other people accepting autism or not, it's how I feel. I've always had a feeling of shame whenever people know I am on the spectrum even if it is just PPD-NOS. Maybe it's a pride thing, where I don't want to be known by a label that has so many annoying stereotypes attached to it, some of the stereotypes me having a fear of, such as the lack of empathy one.
The only time I like to talk about it is here where I can remain anonymous. Offline I don't mention it, and it makes me feel free. I know I'm likeable and not too socially inept, and although I can't hide my anxiety I still express it in an "NT appropriate" way, meaning my anxiety doesn't bring out autism symptoms or anything.
In fact I barely have autism enough to need to tell the world. Basically I'm just me.

 

[Shevek]

Aspies don't have a tradition of buying, voting, eating or even living together. Usually, a business declares ethnic origin to get the benefits of group solidarity or to advertise specialty items of interest to the group.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

My brother and I hung together forty years ago ran a rooming house. closest thing to a business I ever had. Meet my wife as she was one off my tenants. Must admit my brother had room on third floor. Mine was on first floor off limits to tenants. He used second floor kitchen.