Autism and Employment Prospects

To love, to be loved and to feel useful. These three elements are necessary to a life of fulfillment.

Typically it is through work, paid and otherwise, that we derive a sense of having a purpose, of contributing our own special ability. However, for someone with autism the workforce may be inaccessible. Not for a lack of unique skills on the part of an individual with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), but because the typical work environment is loaded with social requirements, unwritten rules and nuanced communication. Challenging enough for someone who is neuro-typical to navigate, for someone with ASD, the job interview alone may prove an insurmountable hurdle.

There are over 70 million people living with ASD worldwide. For parents with autistic children the future currently includes the likelihood of a dependent adult child. In Canada there are approximately 200,000 individuals living somewhere on the autism spectrum and over half of them will be unemployed as  adults. A US study published in Pedatrics (May 2012) found that youth with an ASD are uniquely at high risk for a period of struggling to find ways to participate in work and school after leaving high school. These youth had the lowest rates of participation in employment and the highest rates of no participation compared with youth in other disability categories. Citing the study, US Today points out that “[o]ne in 3 young adults with autism have no paid job experience, college or technical school nearly seven years after high school graduation”. 

The findings highlight significant barriers to participation and gaps in transition planning for youth with autism. These unemployment statistics also represent a tremendous burden on families and social welfare systems (article in The Guardian) as well as a huge challenge to policymakers.  And then there are the personal costs. Autistic individuals are deprived of meaningful participation in the world of work and companies fail to realize the benefits of hiring individuals who may be far more suited and capable for certain jobs.

Thorkil Sonne and his wife Annette were faced with this prospect. With the autism diagnosis of their third son Lars, these parents read everything they could and realized the grave reality of Lars’ situation. Their powerful desire for Lars to grow up to live independently, fully realizing his unique potential led to the founding of Specialisterne a company with the mission of creating 1 million jobs for autistic adults worldwide.

Specialisterne is a social enterprise providing assessment, training and employment (article in New York Times Magazine) for individuals with autism and specialized IT services and education programs for the companies that hire them. Specialisterne staff work at jobs that require unique skill sets – skills often prevalent among a segment of the autistic community - such as attention to detail, pattern recognition, perseverance with repetitive tasks, outstanding memory, and the ability to spot deviations in data of all kinds. For certain tasks such as functionality testing, data handling and software management these Specialists are able to outperform neuro-typical employees. For these tasks, in a work environment that is culturally sensitive to their needs, autistic adults are able to tap into their unique aptitudes and ultimately thrive at work.

Thorkil Sonne, quoted in article in Wired Magazine, points out that "This is not cheap labor, and it's not occupational therapy," he says. "We simply do a better job."

In addition to Denmark, Specialisterne is now operating in Ireland, Germany, U.S.A. (link to a CNN interview with Tim Hanson on bringing Specialisterne to the US), Poland, Switzerland, Spain, and the U.K. In 2013 the company, in partnership with SAP , will be launching pilot projects in Vancouver and Montreal as well as sites in Germany and the U.S. The hope is to employ 5-6 individuals at each site as programmers, software testers and data quality assurance specialists.

In fact SAP announced in May 2013 that working with Specialisterne “it will employ 650 people with autism by 2020. This is approximately 1 per cent of its total workforce, which roughly reflects the frequency of autism in the general population.”(Article in New Scientist) 

A particularly interesting social benefit of the education that is taking place within the companies working with Specialitsterne is the enhanced sensitivity for employees with needs of all kinds. Working with autistic individuals requires some accommodations and a heightened understanding of individual needs. “These microadjustments seem like a small price to pay for access to so much untapped brainpower. What’s more, Sonne’s efforts to bolster employer-employee bonding may well have vast positive ripple effects. ‘The companies where our consultants thrive are generally good places to work,’ he observes.” (Article in The Daily Beast) 

Here is a link to a CBC Radio program on The Current about Specialisterne coming to Calgary.