Since people with autistic spectrum disorders like autism and Asperger’s Syndrome tend to have problems with social situations, they often find it difficult to find employment even if they have valuable skills. In recent years, however, a Danish software company called Specialisterne has seen an opportunity in hiring artistic employees.
Thorkil Sonne’s Vision
Specialisterne was founded by Thorkil Sonne in 2004. Sonne became interested in autism after his third child was diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder, and his subsequent involvement in social service groups for autistic people lead him to encounters with autistic people who had valuable talents, but were unable to find employment because of their social difficulties.
A veteran of the telecommunications industry, Sonne saw a pool of potentially productive technical workers denied opportunities for employment because of widespread ignorance about autism, and about how to create a workplace where autistic workers could be at their best. He founded Specialisterne, which works in software programming, testing, and quality control, with a plan to focus on hiring autistic workers and building a workplace suited to their needs.
Challenges of Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome in the Workplace
Many people with autistic spectrum conditions struggle to succeed in the workplace, even if they are intelligent and skilled. The difficulties with social interaction that are common in autism and Asperger’s Syndrome can make working in a typical group environment highly stressful for an autistic person, and their social awkwardness or unusual mannerisms often mean that they are negatively prejudged by potential employers before they can prove themselves.
On the other hand, it has often been pointed out by a number of autism researchers and experts, such as Simon Baron-Cohen and Tony Attwood, that people on the autistic spectrum often have enhanced abilities in areas such as logic, maintaining intense focus and concentration, understanding the rules and behavior of systems, visual memory, and attention to small details. It is traits like these that Sonne seeks to tap into.
The Workings of Specialisterne
The Specialisterne offices are designed around the needs of autistic employees, providing a calm, quiet, and orderly environment. Specialisterne also uses some unusual methods for finding a niche for each employee. Specialisterne interviews and skill assessments often incorporate physical aids such as Lego blocks to help prospective employees express themselves, since people on the autistic spectrum often have difficulties with verbal communication that can obscure their intelligence or abilities.
Specialisterne’s workers have won respect from many in the world of information technology for their precision, focus, and eye for detail. The firm has grown over the past five years, and its clients have included companies such as CSC and Microsoft. It currently has two offices in Denmark and plans to open a branch in the United Kingdom.
In the article "Better, Faster... and No Office Politics" by Michael Booth in the May 31st, 2009 issue of The Independent, British consultant Stephen Allott, an employee of the British software and management consultant firm ElectroMind and a volunteer adviser at Specialisterne, said of Specialisterne’s employees, “Simply, they are better, faster and do higher-quality work than the people we can currently get from the labour market in the UK or India.”
From the beginning, Thorkil Sonne has run Specialisterne as a competitive market firm rather than as a charity organization, giving up opportunities for government support in order to demonstrate that autistic workers can compete on an equal playing field and earn market rates if given a chance to be productive. In Booth's article, Sonne says of his enterprise, “This is not cheap labour and it’s not occupational therapy. We simply do a better job.”
Conclusion
Thorkil Sonne’s success with Specialisterne has begun to encourage imitators in nations around the world. This is a highly promising development for people on the autistic spectrum and has the potential to bring greater dignity and economic independence to millions of people, treating them not as objects of pity but as equal and productive members of society.
References
John Markley - John Markley is a writer from Illinois. After graduating from college, he started working for a local newspaper, the Southwest ...
