In a sympathetic environment, people with autism can sometimes prove to have unusual facility with computers, an aptitude currently neglected in an employment market where these people's social difficulties all too often rule them out of getting a job. However, according to assistant professor of child psychology at Yale, Ami Klin, "there is something about computers that is very autism-friendly," and employers could do well to make allowances for their problems in order to profit from their unusual talents.
Autism is a complex, and poorly understood, neurological disorder which leaves sufferers brains' underdeveloped in some areas, hyper-developed in others. Its effect can vary in severity, but typically it is marked by extreme dissociation, with sufferers unable to form emotional attachments or communicate effectively. Also typical, along with what often appears to be mental retardation in some areas of life, are 'splinter skills' involving complex computational and concentration abilities which put the autistic person way out of the league of most ordinary mortals. Some 'high functioning' individuals with autism have been able to manage their social difficulties well enough to achieve extraordinary success in certain fields of business, particularly computers. Sara Miller, for instance, is president of a computer programming firm in Milwaukee. Although simple obstacles, such as a minute change in routine, can completely throw her if she hasn't had the chance to 'programme' her mind in advance, she can spot flaws in programme coding almost at a glance - an almost 'savant' facility.
'On the Internet, I found companionship in a setting where weak social skills don't matter.'Computers seem to suit autistic people very well: the rigidity of the binary function seems to chime with their own, very logical but inflexible thought processes. Marla Comm, a 'high functioning' autistic, says that "thanks to computers there is now a place where I fit in". In her library job, where staff make allowances for her problems, computerisation has enabled her to shine in using "advanced features that few co-workers dared to touch". Computers have also helped in her personal life: "On the Internet, I found companionship and support in a setting where weak social skills don't matter."
The small number of autistics who have succeeded agree that fellow-sufferers could be an asset to the workforce, given the right environment. Allowances need to be made for their performance at interview, which is liable to be very poor. It also seem to help if they have a 'mentor' who will be around to help train and encourage their efforts. If clear tasks are set, routine maintained and management responsibilities avoided, the results can be just as good as, and often far superior to those from 'normal' employees. The 85% of autistic adults currently unemployed are not only being sadly neglected by society - their talents are being wasted.
Gavin Simpson, a computer graphics artist with autism, runs a website devoted to the subject at www.amug.org/.
Summarised from articles by Gary H. Anthes, entitled 'My coding just flies' and 'Autistics offer unique skills to IS', and a letter by Marla Comm, all in Computerworld (Apr 14th, 21st and 28th '96) monitored for the Institute by Roger Knights.
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