Seek Out Candidates With Asperger's Syndrome

[LookingForward]

Just thought this was an interesting article about how some IT companies hire people...

Novelist Douglas Coupland wrote in Microserfs: "I think all tech people are slightly autistic." Hyperbole, sure, but perhaps Asperger's syndrome has been called "the engineers' disorder" for a reason. Back in 1999 the Autism Research Institute listed "computer programmer" as a top recommended job for an adult with Asperger's, due to intense concentration ability and memorization skills associated with the disorder. In 2001, Wired pondered the unique high concentration of Asperger's diagnoses in Silicon Valley. Today, some firms see a candidate's diagnosis as positive; others say it's mandatory. Aspiritech, a Chicago non-profit, looks exclusively for programmers with the Autism-spectrum syndrome.

 

[goldatom]

But what use is that when the candidate is himself/herself too scared to face people and work.

 

[kihira]

"The founder of Specialisterne, Thorkil Sonne, formed the software company in order to make use of the special skills that people with ASD can bring to the workplace. "The main benefits that autistic individuals bring to the workplace are they are methodical and exhibit great attention to detail." Other attributes that people with ASD can exhibit include motivation, focus, persistence, precision and the ability to follow instructions.

According to Sonne, these skills have come in useful for the task of software testing, checking documentation and ensuring functional specifications do not contradict."

Specialisterne finds a place in workforce for people with autism - 2/8/2008 - Computer Weekly