Editorial: 鈥�Disability and technology: No more neural divide鈥�
Are we on the cusp of an autistic revolution? German software giant SAP has declared that it intends to gain 鈥渁 competitive advantage鈥� over its rivals by actively employing people with autism spectrum disorder.
We are seeing the rise of autism, says Ari Ne鈥檈man, president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in Washington DC and a member of the US National Council on Disability. Indeed, while conditions like autism have historically hindered jobseekers, several global companies have now caught on to the idea of utilising the particular skill set this section of society can offer.
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SAP announced last week that it will employ 650 people with autism by 2020. This is approximately 1 per cent of its total workforce, which roughly reflects the frequency of autism in the general population. It will work with Danish company , a consultancy that employs software testers and programmers who have autism.
Greater acceptance
While the move is a positive one for many, it is important to note that autism exists on a spectrum, and many people who have the condition would not find such jobs suitable. Neither should it diminish the need for more research. It does however signal a greater acceptance of autism within society.
SAP鈥檚 move was sparked by successful results from employing a small group of people with autism in India as software testers. It is now expanding its autistic workforce in Ireland, Germany and the US. 鈥淧eople with autism tend to be really good at identifying mistakes and sensing patterns, and turned out to be very good matches for software testing,鈥� says SAP spokeswoman Robin Meyerhoff.
It is the largest company ever to make such an undertaking. Ne鈥檈man calls it a tremendous step forward. 鈥淭he specific commitment and target for hiring is really quite significant and we hope to see other companies replicate this,鈥� he says.
In fact, SAP is not alone. Ne鈥檈man has worked with US finance company Freddie Mac for the past two years to help it hire interns with autism with a view to creating permanent positions.
Suzanne Richards, Freddie Mac鈥檚 vice-president of diversity, says the move has involved figuring out how to adapt the working environment to suit the needs of 鈥渢his uniquely talented pool of people鈥�. She says that their focus and mathematical ability was very attractive, but that those skills came in a different package. Physical changes to the office environment were necessary, as well as behavioural ones (see box, below).
But employees with autism bring more to the table than good concentration. Benedetto De Martino at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena has shown that people with autism make better decisions than 鈥渘eurotypicals鈥� when it comes to making a rational choice. They are less swayed by emotion.
People with autism are often able to handle large amounts of information at one time, too. Laurent Mottron, who researches autism at the University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, says that one member of his group, Michelle Dawson, can handle a huge library of literature. 鈥淪he has 8000 papers on her computer, and can summarise and compare all of them,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 handle even a tenth of that.鈥�
Positive traits
Dawson herself says that her research has turned up a whole host of positive autistic traits which are often treated as negatives by default. 鈥淭his goes against the usual clich茅s about autistic strengths being predictably narrow and confined to specific areas,鈥� she says.
Mottron agrees that the benefits of autism could be applied to other roles. For example, many people with the condition do not try to rank potential solutions to problems according to plausibility. 鈥淪ometimes when you look for a fault in something you can鈥檛 have a strategic approach. A counter-intuitive way to solve a problem may be better.鈥�
Society at large benefits when we create workplaces and other social environments which let people make use of what they鈥檙e good at, says Ne鈥檈man 鈥渋nstead of focusing on fixing what other people have a problem with鈥�.
鈥淪uccess in corporate America is really changing,鈥� adds Richards. 鈥淎utism is such an opportunity, but unless we foster a very broad definition of success, we鈥檙e not going to be able to take advantage of it. And we鈥檇 be short-sighted if we didn鈥檛.鈥�
Working in an autism-oriented office
Tilman H枚ffken is a marketing manager at Auticon, a German company which employs consultants with autism as software testers. He lays out life in the office.
鈥淚t seems like a normal work environment, but if you look closely, it is rather pure. There are very few things which could interrupt you, which make noise. There are lamps that many of the consultants don鈥檛 like to use, so it鈥檚 also a bit darker than a normal office.
You have to be very direct and straight in your orders, and you can鈥檛 use metaphor or simile in your speech. Some of our consultants don鈥檛 like to shake hands. It鈥檚 a small thing, but it鈥檚 important to understand these things in order to work well as a team.
Our consultants are very honest. They just list the mistakes you鈥檝e made. If it鈥檚 not what you鈥檙e used to, it could seem very rude. But it鈥檚 actually quite charming, and very efficient.
Feedback from clients is positive. We work quickly, that鈥檚 what we hear. One consultant was working with a customer and they gave him an issue to handle in eight days. He solved it in four.
Our consultants are able to make connections very quickly, to look at code, the background which is implemented with it and see the mistakes in the whole structure. What I hear from some is that they see the world as a structure and can spot the folds in it.
For me personally, the biggest challenge was learning to speak directly and straight, without 鈥榳oulds鈥� and 鈥榗oulds鈥�. It鈥檚 not what you鈥檙e used to in other offices, but it works really well.鈥�
