Why Digitability?

Why Digitability?

"Many families [impacted by autism] describe leaving high school as falling off a cliff because of the lack of services for adults with an autism spectrum disorder," says senior study author Paul Shattuck, Washington University.

Today, more than 70% of people with cognitive disabilities are unemployed and continue to “fall off of the cliff.” Today’s employment opportunities have dramatically changed along with how we socialize and communicate using technology as a life skill.

In our tech-driven society, how can we shape the interest of students who have intense needs into marketable skills while also developing student social and emotional capacity for independence?

In 2008, Founder + CEO of Digitability, Michele McKeone, M. Ed. recognized how the lack of digital literacy and workplace social skills were creating a critical barrier to mobilizing and integrating this growing population into the workforce and into society. Michele founded Digitability based on her background in tech and the best, evidence-based practices developed while supporting her own high school students with autism and other cognitive disabilities during their transition to independence.

Today, Digitability is preparing students for jobs that exist in today’s tech-driven and social skill focused workplaces. With this innovative model of education and work-ready transition training, nearly 70% of Digitability’s first cohort of graduates obtained full-time employment independently. Digitability has been recognized for its innovation and impact on MSNBC, CNET, NPR, TechCrunch, Ted Talks and at Silicon Valley’s Social Innovation Summit.