Panelists at UN event urge using SDGs to expand autism inclusion in schools, workplaces and health systems

Speakers at a United Nations World Autism Awareness Day fireside chat on April 2 said the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals provide a platform to widen inclusion for autistic people but that progress depends on coordinated action across education, employment, health and grassroots partnerships.

The panel was moderated by Maureen Dunn, a neurodiversity expert and author, and featured Torakil Sanneh, a social entrepreneur who said he has helped organize past U.N. autism observances and founded a company called Strasser Serna, and Flavia Callefenge, director of the Hidden Disability Sunflower in Latin America and mother of a 15‑year‑old autistic daughter. The discussion linked several SDGs — notably SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 8 (decent work) SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 17 (partnerships) — as mutually reinforcing paths to inclusion.

“Autistic people have a special opportunity to address the world and to be advocates for those who feel like the square peg is not fitting in,” Torakil Sanneh said, adding that the SDGs’ central promise to “leave no one behind” is a natural fit for autism advocacy. He said his organization has worked with more than 500 companies to create neurodiverse hiring and management practices, and argued that employers who adopt such approaches…