Exceptional Minds is a professional training academy and studio for visual effects artists and animators with autism. Based in Los Angeles, we are a non-profit organization that transforms expectations through our mission of employability, self-sufficiency and inclusion. Our academy provides individuals on the autism spectrum with the technical and behavioral skills required for employment in the entertainment fields of animation and post production visual effects. Our studio contracts for paid industry digital arts projects—providing hands-on experience and employment opportunities for our artists. Our goal is to break the vicious stereotypes resulting in low expectations that burden those in our society with special needs. Our guiding principle is the quest for inclusion and opportunity.