Hacking Autism is a fully integrated campaign designed to give children and families with Autism, a voice. We built an online community at HackingAutism.org where families can share their needs, successes, and failures with each other, a series of live events, called Hackathons, where programmers and coders create touch applications to simplify non-neurotypical children's lives, as well as created a documentary film, I Want to Say, that showcases the lives of families living with autism. 

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The film sprung from the desire to share the true stories of hope of six children with autism who communicated for the first time through the use of touch-technology. It highlights the growing prevalence of autism, recently reported to affect 1 in 88, the parents’ emotional struggle to communicate with their children, and the hope and promise of introducing technology to the entire autism community.

The film chronicles the lives of children from the Hope Technology School in Palo Alto, an inclusive school with both typical and special needs students working together, and features Temple Grandin, a hero in the autism community. It was here that sparked the discovery that touch-technology can empower those with autism to communicate with their families after years of silence and even tell their parents they love them for the first time. 

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Kayla Takeuchi, a young woman we meet in the documentary, defines her goal as simply being able “to change the way people view us”.



The film has screened at Pixar, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and was recognized in the Cannes Titanium Shortlist, one of the highest accolades in advertising achievement. 



Find out more about the initiative at Facebook.com/hackingautism 

Awards

Cannes Lion Titanium + Integrated Shortlist

D&AD In Book

Best Picture - Mendocino Film Festival