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Tech Giant SAP Seeks To Hire More Autistic Adults (cio.com)
itwbennett writes: In May 2013, SAP launched its Autism at Work program, with the goal of recruiting and hiring 'hundreds of people' with autism worldwide. Now the company is expanding the program, and is looking to have people on the autism spectrum make up 1 percent of its total workforce (~650 people) by 2020, says José Velasco, head of the Autism at Work program at SAP. So far, autistic workers fulfill all kinds of roles in IT — from software testing, data analysis, quality assurance to IT project management, graphic design, finance administration and human resources, Velasco says, and the potential for new roles is expanding rapidly.
As someone who grew up with a diagnosis, and has worked as a software developer/team lead for 15 years, getting paid well, and even promoted into architect roles... I am super lucky that I focused on being able to "pass" early on.
Though I am hired and paid and valued based on the skills that I have which are related directly to my diagnosis, I would never tell a perspective employer that I have the dreaded 'tism. Passing is much more lucrative, and even when I have a lower technical skill level than other members of my repressed class, I manage to make more money than them, because I can talk to management.
I highly recommend "business" books such as "Hug your customers" and other trendy MBA type books. Business interaction isn't nearly as hard as say high school, or social gatherings, because business interactions have specific enumerated rules, that have been written down, and are generally agreed upon. This is a boon for Autistic people trying to have successful careers because that means we don't have to rely on an instinct that is present in others but not us. Business interactions are already scripted, and working a script is significantly easier than navigating unspoken social protocol.
I applaud SAP for this initiative, but I urge working autistic adults to eliminate their own need for such programs by spending time learning the protocols of business, it is similar in scale to learning the rules to Magic the Gathering, but way more financially rewarding.
Because after you perform enough, the act isn't rehearsal, it's natural.
Bullshit. I have to consciously remind myself to ask about someone's poorly child. I frequently think, "I'd better say because that's expected now" even though it's pissing me off by extending the conversation in a direction I just don't give a shit about. I put a lot of effort into almost every single conversation in the office - indeed, the only easy conversations are the ones with people that exhibit severe symptoms for Aspergers.