Autistic Business Network
We created the Autistic Business Network exists because Autistic entrepreneurs and professionals deserve a community built specifically for us, not an organization designed neurotypical people where we are expected to conform.
An estimated 83 percent of us are unemployed or underemployed. When we build our own businesses or carve out professional careers we often have to do it without a peer community that understands what we are navigating. Generic business networks, mastermind groups, and professional associations were not built with us in mind. The communication styles, social expectations, and unwritten rules of those spaces can be as exhausting as the workplaces many of us left to start our own thing.
We are different, so the Autistic Business Network is different. It is different – designed for us by us.
This is a national membership community where we as Autistic entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals, and business-minded Autistic people connect, support each other, and do business together. Every member is here on equal footing. We have no tiers, no hierarchies, and no inner circles. The structure is flat because we built it that way intentionally.
We aim to be practical, supportive and helpful to each other. We have a searchable member directory so you can connect with each other; a private member forum where real questions get honest answers; small group Mini Mastermind sessions structured so everyone gets floor time without navigating open-ended social ambiguity; regular webinars with published agendas and recorded replays; and a growing library of content and resources written specifically for our community — not repurposed from neurotypical sources.
What ABN provides that is harder to name but equally important is belonging. A place where you do not have to explain yourself, mask your communication style, or justify how your brain works. A community where your way of thinking is recognized as an asset, not a liability.
ABN was founded by Chuck Hall, a late-identified Autistic person and business owner since 2007, who built this network out of direct personal experience with both the challenges and the possibilities of Autistic professional life. The community is built and supported by Autistic people, and it will grow through the contributions of its members.
Membership is $99 per year, $27 per quarter, or $10 per month. Deliberately accessible. Everyone pays the same rate because everyone has the same standing here.
ABN is currently open to residents of the United States, with plans to expand in the future. We wanted to be open to the entire world from the get go, but regulatory issues for an organization like ours are burdensome.
If you have been looking for a professional community that actually makes sense for how you work, think, and engage — this is it.
Cry Me A River
Image by Becca Cook
I chose this image for this page because I love that the eye is wide open, even as it is crying a river. This speaks to my Autistic experience. Even when things are hard and I feel pressed, I want to keep my eyes open and live the experience. It also brings to mind the expression, “Cry me a river, build a boat, and get over it.” While we are never going to “get over it,” let’s build boats and move along the river of life together – with eyes wide open! – Chuck Hall
Note: The Autistic Business Network is currently open only to residents of the United States. We plan to open membership to other countries in the future.