mysticrose
The key to change... is to let go of fear
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Startup company succeeds at hiring autistic adults
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) The software testers at Aspiritech are a collection of characters. Katie Levin talks nonstop. Brian Tozzo hates driving. Jamie Specht is bothered by bright lights, vacuum cleaners and the feel of carpeting against her skin. Rider Hallenstein draws cartoons of himself as a DeLorean sports car. Rick Alexander finds it unnerving to sit near other people.
This is the unusual workforce of a U.S. startup that specializes in finding software bugs by harnessing the talents of young adults with autism.
Traits that make great software testers intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail also happen to be characteristics of autism. People with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, have normal to high intelligence and often are highly skilled with computers.
Aspiritech, a nonprofit in Highland Park, Ill., nurtures these skills while forgiving the quirks that can make adults with autism unemployable: social awkwardness, poor eye contact, being easily overwhelmed. The company's name plays on the words "Asperger's," ''spirit" and "technology."
Clients, nine companies in Aspiritech's first two years, have been pleased
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...I3p3Nw?docId=ce11350de6ad47ff8677f857855a554a
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) The software testers at Aspiritech are a collection of characters. Katie Levin talks nonstop. Brian Tozzo hates driving. Jamie Specht is bothered by bright lights, vacuum cleaners and the feel of carpeting against her skin. Rider Hallenstein draws cartoons of himself as a DeLorean sports car. Rick Alexander finds it unnerving to sit near other people.
This is the unusual workforce of a U.S. startup that specializes in finding software bugs by harnessing the talents of young adults with autism.
Traits that make great software testers intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail also happen to be characteristics of autism. People with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, have normal to high intelligence and often are highly skilled with computers.
Aspiritech, a nonprofit in Highland Park, Ill., nurtures these skills while forgiving the quirks that can make adults with autism unemployable: social awkwardness, poor eye contact, being easily overwhelmed. The company's name plays on the words "Asperger's," ''spirit" and "technology."
Clients, nine companies in Aspiritech's first two years, have been pleased
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...I3p3Nw?docId=ce11350de6ad47ff8677f857855a554a