"Don't Get TOO Excited About Autism Employment Initiatives"

[IContainMultitudes]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-john-carley/autism-without-fear-dont-_2_b_9365380.html

Really good article, this is a part that stood out for me:

Furthermore, while there are many spectrum individuals for whom the uniformity of corporate life is a perfect fit, no one wants to admit that corporate culture is often directly incompatible with what makes autism...autism. What we refer to as "professionalism" is a composite of behavioral standards. So if autism is defined and diagnosed by noticeable behavioral differences, than this presents a relationship with Corporate America as doomed to fail for the majority of our folks. If a 30-minute job interview will be tough, maybe we should reconsider whether a 30-year career at that company is realistic.

Overall culture change (slightly a la Silicon Valley), an unlikely wager, is our only chance for turning larger corporations into a source for hope. And yet the early sign is that this is not on corporate America's radar. Despite the overwhelming evidence that more diverse companies outperform their competitors, most Fortune 500 companies' Diversity & Inclusion strategies are stuck on gender and race (though some were dragged kicking and screaming to accommodate the LGBTQ community). Disabilities, especially non-apparent disabilities, have yet to have their day in corporate court. Until this changes, we will always be doing 90% of the assimilating needed to make the relationship work.

 

[wanderer03]

Yeah, I long since shelved any excitement related to news like this.

 

[Aeolienne]

First there was Specialisterne in Denmark, and since then there's been Aspiritech (USA), Passwerk (Belgium), Autism Works (UK), Aspietec (UK), Meticulon (Canada) and ULTRA Testing (USA). To paraphrase Henry Ford, it would seem that the business model for Aspie-friendly employment is "you can have any job you want, so long as it involves software testing". Yawn - wake me up when someone realises that Aspies have other interests.

 

[Katleya]

First there was Specialisterne in Denmark, and since then there's been Aspiritech (USA), Passwerk (Belgium), Autism Works (UK), Aspietec (UK), Meticulon (Canada) and ULTRA Testing (USA). To paraphrase Henry Ford, it would seem that the business model for Aspie-friendly employment is "you can have any job you want, so long as it involves software testing". Yawn - wake me up when someone realises that Aspies have other interests.

Yeah, I came across Aspertise's website yesterday. Seems like a great initiative if you can code.
Could someone maybe try not to discriminate against non-coding Aspies who are not fluent in C++? I'm glad at least some of us have a chance at being employed, but I'd be even more glad if all of us had a shot.

 

[Gritches]

There are some things here I do and do not agree with. First, I was with a Specialisterne USA chapter about five years ago and the closest thing an Aspie could get to management. I was there as my boss and our marketing department aggressively tried to sell our labor to other companies that did anything from bricklaying to the STEM fields. In the end, we were stuck with software testing. Why? Not because Aspies just can't do the same job as the article suggests, but because nobody wanted to hire autistic people. And it wasn't a matter of money; the financial incentives were there to make us very attractive to employ. It was that business owners heard "autistic" and immediately started squirming in their seats. I could see actual fear in their eyes. I agree with the sentiment that we're not quite there yet, and at this rate I'm afraid I won't even see it in my lifetime.

 

[Katleya]

@Gritches Agreed. There is just so much education left to do, at varying levels depending on the country, but still.
I'd be very interested to hear more of your insight on the work you did at Specialisterne, I'm sure it could prove most useful for the rest of us.
I'm pondering contacting the school where I completed my post-grad to see what they have in place regarding autism. The school was among the first in the area to set up a disability taskforce to raise awareness among students, most of whom will be graduate to be assistant managers, but they focused solely on physical impairment --at least at the time I was there. I doubt there are many Aspie alumni, BUT if I were to help at least one future manager that it's OK, we're different but not dangerous, then at least another Aspie's life may be made a tiny bit easier later on. I don't know. Maybe wishful thinking on my part, but since I'm going to have all this time on my end soon when I'm fired, I might as well make myself useful.

 

[Mr Allen]

Meh, nobody will employ Autistic adults, the media has portrayed us all as retarded morons who can't do anything.

 

[Aeolienne]

On the contrary, the media has portrayed us as geniuses with special talents - which means that employers will expect too much of us and fire us for failing to deliver. That's happened to me at least once.

 

[Kirsty]

On the contrary, the media has portrayed us as geniuses with special talents - which means that employers will expect too much of us and fire us for failing to deliver. That's happened to me at least once.

Employers should be more aware of the condition and not be so ignorant by failing to take time to understand it. That's very heartless and selfish behaviour that should not be tolerated. It doesn't surprise me in the NT world.

 

[Mr Allen]

You see this is what winds me up, contrary to popular belief, people with a mental health defect, such as being Aspie or otherwise Autistic, are NOT "special", we just want the chance to function as for want of a better word, "normal" (define normal) human beings, which includes getting proper jobs, not crap less than minimum wage "placements" designed to massage the unemployment figures and thus shut the Daily Mail/Telegraph readers up for a bit.

 

[Cher_Ami]

One of the biggest things that is missed, at least when I read American business literature, is that while initiatives are being run to improve employment among people with disabilities, there is another push to build "emotional intelligence" and teamwork/communication skills - something that does not come naturally for a lot of people.

While software testing seems natural for people with autism, software testing also depends on the team, since there is a huge difference between team dynamics and different software development lifecycles (SDLCs). For instance, in the Agile SDLC there are technically no developers or testers - each member is supposed to be able to pick up the others' work, and iterative sprints are used, which can really put a strain on testing in the final couple days; Waterfall SDLC has its own issues with time management as well, since testing comes at the end. Someone who does not have previous software testing experience is probably going to have a rough time adjusting in the beginning.