About Us

Our Story

Autism Step-up was born from a personal need of the founding family. Here is our story:

We are a family with 2 autistic adults. This underscored the need of proper facilities and opportunities for adults with Autism.
Although Dawid, our son, doesn’t have academic achievements, it didn’t stop him. He obtained certificates in Advanced JavaScript Programming, and Advanced C++ Programming. He did this through self-study and with very little guidance.
Dawid, as many other adults with autism, has high levels of potential. By developing this potential they can become valuable to our society.

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As a family,

we decided to step in and

create the solution to the problem

we are uniquely qualified to solve

01. Vision

Our vision is to establish world-class Autism-specific facilities and processes. We’re creating autism friendly environments in:
  • Evaluation in a safe and friendly environment
  • Safe training facilities that take autism needs into account
  • Companies to provide autistic adults with job opportunities
  • Care families to teach them to take care of themselves

We want them to use their passions to fulfill their dreams.

02. Mission

Autism Step-up’s mission is to:

  • Provide a safe environment for adults with Autism to identify their full potential
  • Treat applicants with dignity
  • Channel them into a vocational direction that corresponds with their abilities and passions
  • Respect the rights, strengths, passions and differences of each stakeholder
  • Create a safe environment for all involved during our processes

03. Why Us?

We assist autistic adults to find their unique place in the world. We use proven approaches and practices to:
  • Enhance their financial sustainability by providing training
  • Help them to become self-sufficient with practice and hard work
  • Build self-esteem by creating a winning environment
  • Increase their quality of life by living a fulfilling life

Proven Success

Facilities & Training

These are the facilities and training Autism Step-Up provides:
  • An assessment facility to determine the skills of each applicant.
  • A training center for basic workforce skills and various training programmes
  • Develop adult autism potential
  • Be a voice for adults with Autism in the community
  • Empower companies to be able to use autistic people
  • Train care families to take care of autistic adults on a personal level
  • Grow participants into being financially active and self-sustaining.

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Industries Where Autism Is An Advantage

Participating companies provide on the job training. The candidate is placed as an intern to gain workplace experience and to build their CV. We identified areas like IT, gaming, telecomms.

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Candidates only during the 2019 intake

Applications are now open for adults of between 18 and 45 years of age, with ASD (borderline and higher) We’re giving them a chance to thrive

Consultants

A Team Of Professionals

Schalk Van Zyl

CEO

Director

Strategy, Communication and Technical Aspects 

Cathy Van Zyl

COO

Director

Co-ordinator, Research and Safety

KERSTIN VAN DER NEUT

Therapist

Occupational Therapist

Features

What We Do Best

Create Opportunities

We create job opportunities suited to your needs as an autistic adult

Assessment

We identify your passion, aptitude and skills  at our assessment centre

Training centre

Training centre for autistic trainees only. Are you 18-45 yrs old? What do you want to do?

Life skills training

Unique Autism specific life skills training to help you reach your full potential

IT SKills training

IT skills training for autistic adults that has the interest and aptitude for IT work

Internship placements

We help you build your resume via our internship placement program