The Neurodivergent Workforce No One Wants to Talk About - Danny Combs (Video)

In this 4 December 2025 published video, host Mike Rowe talks with Danny Combs, the father of an autistic child who talks about the autistic community’s role in closing the skills gap and the extraordinary impact of T.A.C.T., a nonprofit he formed several years ago that’s committed to Teaching the Autism Community Trades.

There’s not much new to say about autism that hasn’t already made it into the headlines. We all know the number of people diagnosed with this condition has exploded. The most recent data says 1 in 31 kids in this country are affected, and 1 in 45 adults. That’s well over 5 million Americans. We also know there is a great deal of controversy as to why autism rates have risen so dramatically. Some argue the stats reflect an improvement in outreach, screening, and destigmatization of autism diagnosis. Others believe it’s diet-related, while others argue that vaccines are to blame. Mike invited Danny to talk about the autistic community’s role in closing the skills gap and the extraordinary impact of T.A.C.T., a nonprofit he formed several years ago that’s committed to Teaching the Autism Community Trades.

Full disclosure, Mike has known Danny for a few years now and featured T.A.C.T. on episodes of Returning the Favor and People You Should Know. He is intrigued by the fact that so many autistic people related so naturally to the skilled trades and eager to see exactly how Danny was able to get so many “unemployable” individuals working full time in his Denver community. So too were my friends at Stand Together, who Mike introduced Danny to several years ago and who continue to support T.A.C.T. to this day. Mike invited Danny onto The Way I Heard It because he thinks Danny is onto something big and, more importantly, something duplicable and scalable.

The skills gap is real, and so too are the rising rates of autism. How cool would it be if closing the former could be accomplished by engaging the latter? 

https://youtu.be/vrzD2V4HNv4

00:00 Catching up with Danny

04:02 What is TACT?

08:11 Danny getting his son’s diagnosis

11:55 Why the “one size fits all” model doesn’t work

15:22 The effects of changing diet ️

19:05 Helping kids’ futures

23:17 Autism myths & misconceptions

27:05 Why autistic people are successful tradesmen

34:32 TACT’s origin story

38:08 The disagreeability factor ️

41:56 The math isn’t mathing

45:28 Competency-based learning

49:13 Universal design

53:23 What can parents do?

01:03:07 Nonprofit challenges