Hiring autistic workers

Nearly three years ago, when tech giant Microsoft announced that it was starting a pilot program to hire autistic workers, they received more than 700 resumes within a few weeks. German software maker SAP has instituted a program to bring people with autism into its workforce worldwide, and other companies are following suit. By all accounts, giving those on the spectrum an opportunity to use their talents productively has been a tremendous success. Lee Cowan looks at the changing face of workplace diversity.

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[GeTDuCkT]

BestBuy: Sorry we can't accept you as a employee!
Walmart: Sorry we can't accept you as a employee!
McDonalds: Sorry we can't accept you as a employee!
BurgerKing: Sorry we can't accept you as a employee!
Microsoft: You're accepted!

[rumplstiltztinkerstein]

Cheers for a future in which the individual is employed by their actual skills on the job and not by how they look and who they are friends with.

[kenderareawesome]

Interesting the 80% Unemployment rate is startling. Im autistic with a masters degree. I pass as normal quite well but I've always mentioned my disability on my resume. The silent response to the majority of my applications now makes sense.

[timm]

As somebody with Aspergers, I can vouche for how much of a nightmare and joke HR is to somebody on the spectrum. Job interviewers dismiss you immediately if you're bad at eye contact and/or other social skills. They never even stop to ask about how hard of a worker you are, how loyal you are, how dedicated, etc.

[suzannereiser]

Those on the autism spectrum tend to be extremely honest and wo guile so they actually make excellent employees.

[Kingspadeb]

I am on the low functioning side of autism and have struggled my entire life with social communication. Which is not a visible trait in my personality, as my entire life I have felt awkward about my ability to interact and have created a fake person that I become when I talk to other people. Maintaining the speech style and mentality of the image in my head helps me be who I want to be. It's just unfortunate that when I do it, I do it in a way that displaces my true self and it's all just my idea of how I think I should be responding. My true self only speaks on paper, my true self is speaking here.

[LordSandwichII]

Part of the problem as well, is that many companies run "personality tests, " which are specifically designed to screen people with low social skills out of even getting an interview. I don't believe these tests were created in bad faith, but they do have the unintended effect of removing the eccentrics and the mavericks from the workforce, since these types of people don't generally "pass" the test. They are also complete pseudoscience. There is no evidence that they produce more productive or friendlier staff than not running them at all. The only thing they screen out well are socialites and psychopaths.

The thing I hate the most about them though is that the companies that run them like to lie about them. They say "there are no wrong answers, " but that's blatantly false. Obviously there are wrong answers, because otherwise the test would be useless!

[flyingnorseman]

Im 46.  When I was young, there wasn't a lot known about autism.  My sister has a mild case but we had no idea.  Even with a mild case, her life was not easy.  A few months ago I decided to take a welding class at night, after my regular job.  A few weeks after I started, a new guy came in.  I immediately knew he was autistic, after the instructor made him introduce himself to the class.  Reminded me of my sister.  The classroom aspect was very disorganized.  People talking, unclear directions, etc.  I could see this kid coming unglued before my eyes as the instructor did nothing.  After the class, I pulled the instructor to the side and told him the deal.  He had no idea.  Apparently the person in charge of new students failed to pass along that critical piece of information because my concerns were proven correct.  Adjustments were made.  The class was tightened up.  The instructors took extra time and were more thoughtful/patient in their approach.  The kid is doing exceptionally well now.  I consider him my friend.

[tuplaluusto]

The HR people often dont know about the job they are hiring for.

[hasanhuh]

"Deviation from the norm will be punished unless it is exploitable."

[TheChickenRiceBowl]

It isn't just Aspies that are discriminated against. It's anyone that isn't an obnoxious, loud mouthed, buffoon. People are more concerned about having a new best friend, than a worthwhile employee.

[themaxeyfamily]

This brought me to tears. I've struggled with those symptoms all my life, and I dream of working as a software developer at Microsoft. After seeing this, I'm not ever giving up on that.

[delltube]

It's important to remember that autism is a spectrum, meaning the are many on the low functioning side. There seems to be a trend in media that portrays those with autism as secret savants, people with genius intellects just waiting to be unlocked. This may be true for some but certainly not all. I know several people with low functioning autism and it's truly debilitating for them. They have trouble socializing (if they do it at all), they have trouble at school (if they attend); many of their parents expect them to live at home indefinitely. We would do well to look at autism holistically, through its spectrum, and not only represent successful outliers.

[taraa.szymanski]

"People with disabilities are a strength and a force of nature within this company." Love this.

[hpnc]

"I'll be happy with half the money I make." - I guess he makes more than most people reading this.

[MustxBexMe]

I have Asperger's Syndrome and other mental health challenges and have worked a lot of jobs that didn't work out. I am always afraid to tell people because there is still stigma behind mental health issues, even high functioning Autistic persons face it. Now I work with kids now and it is amazing. Everyone say's I am meant to work with kids because I can relate to them and on some level I have an easier time understanding their needs than even their own parents. I share a lot of interests with and relate to kids in areas like watching and knowing cartoons, coloring and playing with toys, and playing with simple parts and pieces that most adults would throw away and don't see a purpose to. We can do just as much if not more as anyone else...it may just take a bit more work for us but we always figure it out!

[dude]

“His ability to play video games” cut to a section where he’s missing a bunch of notes lmao

[jackyboi]

I have a PHD in naval engineering however because of my autism I applied over 500 times to work as an Engineer on a yacht however the breakthrough came when my dad got promoted to captain of one of the yachts I applied to. The best part of the whole job is that I get to be with my dad every 6 weeks because the work schedule for him and me is 6 weeks on 6 weeks off

[caroletraynor]

Not all autistic people are the same, I have three autistic adults and are very different from each other. My oldest son would not cope with work, and also my youngest daughter can't face going out through the front door. My younger son has seem to manage better, he went to university and got himself a well paid job. But all three suffer from social issues.

[melissaj]

This is fantastic but we need a lot more of this. Unfortunately very few companies offer autistic people this sort of support. I've had a mixed bag; I'm on the spectrum but less so externally (more internally). So I found it not too difficult to get jobs but my issue was staying at the job. I ended up leaving two jobs primarily because I couldn't handle it mentally. In the end I've found I'm happier working remotely.