Hire more autists [Wired mag]

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http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/mag ... list_sonne
Article about the European company that has autists only.

Nice article.

I hope their business model spreads all over.

Awesome! I'm putting this up in my blog. I love it.

There are quite a few companies in Scandinavia now that mimic this model actually. I know several in Sweden.

Some of them are only-for-Asperger which is sad: saying *HF folks only* is kind of counterproductive to the original idea.

But Thorkil's attitude is awesome. Specialisterne have serious expansion-plans too.

This model is good for press, to demonstrate certain advantages, but I'm detecting discrimination here. Why can't an NT have the job if they can do it the same? (Not likely, but they should get the chance.)

It should all be based upon individual qualifications, regardless of diagnosis.

Sweeeeet!

The funny thing is they're turning a diagnostic criteria for Asperger's Syndrome into a requirement for employees: obsessive routines and rituals. No NT could focus for four hours straight, and that's where companies like this have a massive advantage. I'm surprised they caught on so quickly, but also very happy about it.

I was discussing with my mother the idea of opening a company for autistic individuals here in Oklahoma, but these guys may very well expand their operations over here before I could ever get the chance.

I wonder as to the legality of such a requirement in America. Don't get sued!

Here in Israel there's a company called AQA that works on the same business model. The head of AQA, Ester Zabar, met Thorkil Sonne and brought the idea to Israel.

A very interesting business model. The article does not make it clear whether an employee must be on the autism spectrum to be employed, or whether NTs are rejected for not being on the spectrum.

However, many companies would not want to make an investment in their employees of a five month training course. It would be interesting to see how they advise clients that their employees are somewhere on the autism spectrum; many companies wouldn't want the hassle.

Sonne says that his people do a better job, but it is not cheap labour. My own experience is that some companies are looking for the cheapest labour available, with which to do a barely acceptable job. I look forward to seeing how Specialisterne fares in the current economic times.

people on the autism spectrum already have it hard.

I think that you've managed to miss my point.

Another thought that I've had is that this sort of thing, if it became extremely prevalent, could develop into a sort of caste system. (It could go from an opportunity to an expectation.)

My husband showed me this piece last week. I think its wonderful to develop business models that take advantage of certain traits, but those traits aren't universal to all AS. My AS son wouldn't work as expected in that model; he has real issues with processing speed. So it goes back to understanding each unique individual. As long as a company is hiring TRAITS and not a diagnosis, it can work.

DW, I'll use that text of yours for my meeting with Ester Tzabar, if you don't mind. She told me she had no idea that NOT ALL ASPIES were like the math genius stereotype, but that she's willing to learn. She's still apprehensive to offer other skills, though, and she won't take a chance so early in her experience with Aspies who have other plusses than those suitable for program testing. She's a very new AS HR rep, but she promised to start at least thinking about it, for the future. She's pretty much our only hope around here to ever find work....

OK would be the last place to start a firm such as this. You would want to start it in DC. Government contracts, especially contracts that require security clearance often require a level of talent in which having autism is helpful. On top of that you have NASA, CIA, Pentagon, DHS, FBI, and well every other federal contractor within a 100 mile radius. I could go on. There is already quite a few people with ASD already in the area and working in this, so it wouldn't be a hard sell. If you want to launch something like this, DC is the place to do it.


By the way, I am not a math savant, nor do I program computers. But I understand complex regulatory systems and business processes. This allows me to have both a detail oriented and big picture understanding of systems and how they interact, and what improvements those systems could use. I work as an intermediary between records and IT. Being autistic helps not because of how quickly I process things, but my focus and love of information, my ability to evaluate information available and incorporate it into a structure.