

Why a firm wants staff with autism - andyking
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8153564.stm

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cousin_it
_The subdivision of industry opens places that can be filled by practically
any one. There are more places in subdivision industry that can be filled by
blind men than there are blind men. There are more places that can be filled
by cripples than there are cripples. And in each of these places the man who
short-sightedly might be considered as an object of charity can earn just as
adequate a living as the keenest and most able-bodied._

\- Henry Ford, "My Life and Work"

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alexandros
I really like this approach (similar to the zoho article) to helping
underpriviledged groups in society. Instead of 'discrimination is bad, let's
do affirmative action', this attitude is 'discrimination is bad, for those
that practice it. these people are an untapped resource'. Seems much more
organic and sustainable to me.

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andyking
You only have to open a newspaper to the job page (formerly known as the job
pages!) to see where some of the issues lie.

I don't know what it's like in the US, but here it's very common to see job
advertisements padded out with unnecessary and heavily loaded language like
"we need a _bubbly, bright and outgoing_ administrative assistant". I looked
at a person spec the other day for a local council admin job which had "good
sense of humour" in the desirable column. For that sort of job, personality
type shouldn't come anywhere near the decision-making process - and whoever
wrote that person spec should be called to account.

It's not outright discrimination, but it does come close - and the experience
of the bloke in the article is something I can identify with. You send in a
good CV, stellar references and an eloquent, articulate covering letter, get
called in to interview... and come second because you're ever so slightly
awkward and tend to prefer to concentrate on working rather than making small
talk about Britain's Got Talent. Perhaps it's partly why so many hacker types
end up gravitating towards the startup world rather than a job in some big
company...

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scott_s
For an "administrative assistant" job (which I translate to "secretary"),
being sociable and outgoing is almost a job requirement. A large part of their
job is interacting with other people - running interference for the person
they work for.

All technical positions require _some_ social interaction. If the job is pure
development, then I wouldn't worry if someone is a little socially awkward. I
would worry, however, if they seem _very_ awkward. People aren't hired on pure
ability alone, and I don't see anything wrong with that. One of the most
important questions an interviewer can ask themselves about an applicant is
"Do I want to work with this person every day?"

Even some technical positions require significant interaction with non-
technical people, and in those cases, it's reasonable to expect some who is
sociable.

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jacquesm
Personally I think you could do a _lot_ worse than employing people with
autism. Communications may be a little harder and you'll have a hard time
dictating planning but it is going to be tough to find people more dedicated
to whatever has their interest.

I think I have plenty of the 'autism' traits, I'm probably not the easiest
person to get along with on a daily basis but once you get me motivated and
going there is no stopping. (though it may take more than a little bit to get
that to happen). If the job was interesting enough to me you could probably
get me to work for you for free...

Companies usually prefer consistency rather than the all-or-nothing that comes
with the territory of autism but from what I've seen around me to have a
network of 'minders' around people with the above traits can produce
spectacular results.

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jhugbj
A company wants to enable people with autism to get a job in computers!

What next - a scheme to enable gay men to break into the world of musical
theatre?

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RK
Autism encompasses a whole spectrum of possible symptoms. Only a small subset
of people with autism are ones that might be suited to computer related work.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum>

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smelendez
By constrast, all homosexual men are talented singers, dancers or composers.

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zandorg
It doesn't say what job they do. I bet it's manual labour and not something
like programming or consultancy.

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arnoooooo
They mention software testing.

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zandorg
Thanks, I stand corrected!

The overall point is that people with autism can perform well on technological
tasks, and if that's taken advantage of, then great!

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anigbrowl
I'd sign up for this in a second.

