Radnor’s Global Tax Management is getting a huge refund on its decision to hire an autistic intern, and that’s a rising trend that will benefit all of Delaware County in time.

Shawn Luther went from administrative tasks to software programming for GTM in mere weeks, according to a Philadelphia Business Journal report by Michelle Caffrey.

“People are given opportunities, and many, many people can go way farther than what people have thought,” said Drexel University’s Transition Pathway Project Director Dianne Malley.

And GTM’s not alone. Fellow Delco employer SAP has hired 116 autistic employees in 38 countries as part of its Autism at Work global workforce goal of one percent by 2020.

“We are in a very, very competitive landscape, and as we always do in the tech space, things are changing so rapidly we started looking at the 360-degree benefits of hiring someone who is on the spectrum and what it would bring the company,” said SAP’s Jose Velasco. “Innovation comes from the edges. Not from the people at the center, but from people who look at things in a different way.”

Plus, GTM and SAP are giving back to the autistic community more than meets the eye.

“Poor employment outcomes, we know, results in lower quality of life later on in life,” Malley said. “The less economic stability means a higher cost to society.

“So if we don’t all get on board, and look at our policies and programs and options to really support people with autism getting into the workplace and their skills being fully utilized, there’s going to be a huge societal cost later on.”

Read more about the opportunity in hiring individuals on the autism spectrum in the Philadelphia Business Journal here.