Entrepreneurship for Inclusion

Abstract

Medical advances have made it possible to diagnose many people with some degree of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These people have potentials and needs that have been neglected, despite the popularity of inclusiveness rhetoric. A neurodiverse inclusion in society and in the workforce remains overlooked. Thus, the rhetoric dissonates providing inefficient solutions. This study describes a way to empower minorities to overcome agency issues. Vencer Autismo is a Portuguese initiative that provides a positive and non-neurotypical perspective that lacks in business theory to discuss and understand ASD in a strengths-based approach. This study is an interpretive in-depth case because it seeks to understand an underdeveloped topic in business research. The case selected has already proved to be an innovative social entrepreneurial initiative with a positive social impact. Alternatives to develop the weaknesses found about ASD in business literature and inclusiveness rhetoric are drawn from the theory of entrepreneurship and innovation, emphasizing the inclusive and social perspective.