By Gavin Boyle
Mike Rowe shared that while autism is a growing diagnosis in America, new opportunities are opening up for those with special needs to find solid paying jobs that allow them to make a difference in their communities.
“A new study shows the number of children and adults diagnosed with autism has increased by 175% over a decade. That’s just… astonishing,” Rowe shared on social media. “[I am sharing] the incredible contribution that the autism community is making to close America’s skill gap. The organization is called TACT, which stands for Teaching the Autism Community trades. The genius behind the movement is Danny Combs, and what he’s accomplished so far is nothing short of extraordinary.”
According to TACT, over 90% of those living with autism are unemployed; TACT’s founder hopes to change this and empower the community to be contributing members of society. The company currently teaches skills that include auto mechanics, carpentry, mechanics, cyber security, electrical work, welding and culinary arts.
“Our beautiful neurodiverse community has been widely and historically disenfranchised by a traditional deficit-based approach,” TACT explains. “We believe autistic individuals have incredible abilities and strengths that are valuable to the world…Our goal is to find each client a career, not a job.”
Highlighting TACT is part of a larger effort by Rowe to encourage Americans to seek opportunities outside of a traditional four-year college program. Rather than only valuing a college degree, Rowe believes there is great value in trade jobs as well, which are often overlooked when high schoolers consider where they want to go after they graduate.
“[College is] more expensive than it’s ever been, but it’s also more expensive than health care. It’s more expensive than real estate. It’s more expensive than energy,” Rowe said in 2023. “Never in the history of Western civilization has a thing become more exponentially expansive faster than the cost of a four-year degree. That’s fact. If that doesn’t make you angry, then I don’t know what [will]. It’s bananas.”
Related: Mike Rowe Celebrates American Opportunity
“We’ve told an entire generation that the best path for most people is the most expensive path,” Rowe added. “And we’ve also promoted college not on its merits, but at the expense of every other kind of degree of any kind of certification training.”
To further help encourage young people to consider opportunities outside of college, Mike Rowe founded the mikeroweWORKS Foundation which provides millions of dollars in scholarships every year to people attending trade schools.
By putting his money where his mouth is, Rowe empowers a generation to change the narrative of what is important and provides an increasing amount of opportunities for those who do not fit into the four-year college pathway.
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