Company Trains the Autistic To Test Software 419
Aspiritech, a Chicago based non-profit company, has launched a program to train high-functioning autistic people as testers for software development companies. The company says autistics have a talent for spotting imperfections, and thrive on predictable, monotonous work. Aspiritech is not the first company to explore the idea of treating this handicap as a resource. Specialisterne, a Danish company founded in 2004, also trains autistics. They hire their workforce out as hourly consultants to do data entry, assembly line jobs and work that many would find tedious and repetitive.
If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:5, Funny)
They own the future.
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:4, Funny)
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They are testers... not programmers.
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Yeah,
It beats being paid to pick the odd-shaped aspirins off the end of a conveyor-belt in manufacturing...
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:4, Interesting)
I would think the future, at least the future of computer programming, relies much more on communication skills than rigorous attention to detail. As languages become higher level and more extensible, it is much more important to write code and doc that others can read and understand.
Yes... and no.
The code and doc that others can read and understand, yes, that is tremendously important, and will always be neglected in Dilbert's (and our) world of rushed deadlines, short staffing, and lazy coworkers. If it works, ship it yesterday, oh, and after it's shipped, why isn't the next thing finished yet?
Accurate code and doc requires tremendous attention to detail, if you're talking about API level, you need docs that say what the functions and their parameters do, and functions that properly implement that. Rigorous attention to detail is just the beginning - extensive testing, documentation of big picture connections to related parts of the API, and keeping up with the "cutting edge" of efficiency, feature completeness, etc.
Most of my coworkers don't have the attention span to complete anything significant at this level of rigor, and the ones who do are pushed by management to "be more productive" rather than make something that actually works 100% correctly.
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:5, Funny)
Sorry, but the future involves foraging for food and ammo in a post-apocalyptic world. Peak oil happened in 2007, my friend -- be prepared for the consequences.
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As time goes on, and proper development libraries become larger, hopefully there
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:4, Funny)
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:4, Insightful)
You should only watch O'Reilly for occasional freak show entertainment, not as a vocab builder.
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:5, Insightful)
That's like saying "people who work in IT reside on the intelligence spectrum". Sure, there is a wide range of intellectual abilities, but there is a very clear difference from "not good at math" and "crippling mental retardation".
Autism is defined as a DISORDER, not a spectrum. Take the convenient wiki definition of "a disorder of neural development that is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior."
Neither of your examples remotely resembles autism. Both are textbook examples of masters of social interaction and communication, which is of course the most important trait for someone of their business and marketing ability. I really don't think you understand what Autism is, and it doesn't really help to trivialize it like you are.
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, these guys shouldn't be jumping on a psychological disorder and claiming everyone has it. What they're looking for is the theory of multiple intelligences. A psychological disorder by definition has a significant impact on your everyday functioning, normally to the point where you can't work or go to school as a normal person. But what else do you expect from a guy who performs mental health diagnosis on celebrities?
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:4, Informative)
Autism is a disorder, that is true. However, there are various degrees of autism, such as Asperger syndrome, so people usually use Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism-aspergers/ [www.nhs.uk]) to account for this.
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't really know that I believe that. I mean no offense to those techies who do have actual psychological problems that they battle each and every day with what I say here. These problems do exist and can make life harder.
In my experience, younger techies seem to have this idea that they are really quirky or have some mental problem. It's almost a techie way of proving how cool you are. Heck, I'll even admit acted a little foolish in my early IT days to the point where I believed that I was all quirky and crazy.
As I got older I realized that I just have some slightly different preference. I don't sleep as much as most people I know, I like to stay up later and don't like to get up early, and I like to learn new things (not a very common trait in America these days, sadly).
A few Years ago I worked with two developers who were clearly OCD and had been diagnosed as such. They were the truly quirky ones...the guys walking around their cars every morning to check five times if their windows were up and doors were locked, washing their hands until the skin was raw...doing other truly bizarre things all the time. Seeing people who had actual psychological issues that they had to deal with daily made me think of some of my co workers who had declared themselves the "Craziest" or "Pretty OCD" or "Waaaay ADD" and I realized they rarely exhibited any symptoms and when they did so, it was when it seemed convienient to them...such as "It is really hard for me to get to work on time because of my OCD and ADD".
Perhaps the desire to be different or have people think you are stranger than you really are is a type of disease in itself but it seems more of a Prima Donna/Pay attention to me thing in many Techies.
Re:If they thrive on predicatable, monotonous work (Score:4, Insightful)
In real life, personality is NOT a very good indicator of fluid intelligence since personality is mostly a function of crystallized intelligence (which can be confounding). It has been my experience that really gifted individuals that are "quirky" do everything they possibly can to hide their quirks from other people. Their "quirky" side is only revealed in their lifestyle when you really get to know the individual and they let their guard down. They also happen to be very affluent and social. In the end, this "quirky" trend is all so Shakespearian to me. The stigma of a genius is often associated with some fatal flaw. How annoying.
I see it coming... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I see it coming... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I see it coming... (Score:5, Funny)
engineering is a more suitable job for me than say pole dancing
Agghhh!!! Image of engineer pole dancing... Thanks mate, you've just ruined my lunch.
Re:I see it coming... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I see it coming... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Why is the internet is full of people like you who whenever someone make a trite quip they immediately take it to the extreme? Do you do this in real life conversations? If a stranger pushes the wrong button in the elevator do you jump down their throat and accuse them of wanting to hijack a plane?
Here's a free tip for you that will make you life a lot less consfusing and eve
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engineering is a more suitable job for me than say pole dancing
Pole dance inspector?
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Not nearly as reprehensible as I find every idiot geek out there (many of them, sadly to say, on Slashdot) that seem to have some perverse need to revel in calling themselves autistic -- or at the very least "oh, I like star trek and collecting shit, so I have fucking aspergers". Ever since that "report" came out a few years ago, every single fucktard on the planet has started going around clinging to that like some crazy fucking Munchhausen crazed mother.
In this story, these aren't people who have to wear
Re:I see it coming... (Score:4, Insightful)
Why is this modded as troll? It's actually quite truthful. I was diagnosed with aspergers as a teen. This was after my parents kicked me off home when I was 11 years old and per government requirements, I had to go to a different school (which was mostly so that the people there could diagnose me). Later I was moved to normal school, with "aspergers syndrome" stamped on me as a result.
Later I read about it and most of the things just doesn't fit.
Whenever psychologists and other "experts" describe Asperger's, I recognise absolutely nothing about it. But when someone who has it describes it, I recognise everything. Best description I ever heard was in social situations feeling like an anthropologist on Mars. You know what's going on, you can analyse and understand it, but you're not really part of it. You don't have an intuitive feel for it like others do. That's me. I recognise that completely. Social situations are hard work for me (or I just ignore them). But other than that, I have no problem functioning normally.
But as soon as a psychologist opens his mouth about Asperger's, it turns into some disability that other people have.
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You know what's going on, you can analyse and understand it, but you're not really part of it. You don't have an intuitive feel for it like others do.
Bleh, I wish. Analyzing and understanding both require observing something to begin with, took me years just to get that part sorted out.
Don't get me wrong, it took me ages to figure that out too. Worked hard at it. And now I understand enough of it to know what I'm missing.
(Honey, when you say "it's ok", does that mean you're not gonna be pissed off when I spend half the night playing games? No, not really? Ok, so why didn't you just fucking say so in the first place? Cue more passive-aggressive relationship stuff...)
I've always been really clear about this: when you need something from me, ask me directly, or I won't notice. If you ask me if those pants make you fat, I'll probably answer that most likely it was the food. It works. We're both sufficiently aware of this and find it occasionally very funny. And I have a great wife. That also helps.
Still, sometimes she forgets, and I don
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Let's face it.
A company is in business to make money. They'll in no way spend money unless it'll make more money than the alternatives. There is an ulterior motive here, and it's the hope that the people with autism will be so absorbed with their jobs they won't realize they're getting minimum wage or may not care because now they have a job they can do well. They'll do a damn fine job at it, most likely, and they'll run off all the riff-raff (shitty testers who are just there to pirate the software and/
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Re:I see it coming... (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, non-profits are allowed to run a surplus, even for years in a row.
What they can't do is redistribute that surplus to employees or owners, as for-profit companies do. They are required to retain the surplus for reinvestment in the business.
Sometimes they startup their own (Score:2)
ASD isn't a barrier to founding three startup companies [penelopetrunk.com] or Dealing with other people in a business environment [penelopetrunk.com].
Although it can be hard to register your car [penelopetrunk.com]...
A Brave New World (Score:3, Interesting)
Bring on the Epsilons...
Re:A Brave New World (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, hang on. Epsilons were bred to be epsilons, which was meant to be, and is, morally reprehensible.
People with autism exist already. Why shouldn't they have better jobs than sacking groceries? And why shouldn't those jobs be in line with their special abilities? The Politically Correct teach us to be "differently abled". If that's really true, then how could jobs in line with those special abilities be bad?
Re:A Brave New World (Score:5)
> The Politically Correct teach us to be "differently abled"
Eesh, that should say The Politically Correct teach us to say "differently abled"
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Re:A Brave New World (Score:4, Insightful)
Besides that, if they can handle what the rest of us consider really monotonous stuff well (which a lot of autistic people can), that leaves less of it for those of us who get bored silly by it.
In other words, it's not just putting autistic folks in a place where they can do a good job. It's actually putting them in a place where they can do a better job than the rest of us, so long as their manager gets training on how to deal with their quirks, and they're kept far away from customers.
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That was my first thought too.
Then I realized that when epsilons multiply it tends to zero.
Dupe (Score:2)
This notion was both used in Brave New World and Dean Koontz's Frankenstein - using autistic people to perform as worker bees.
That said, there's been a troubling increase of babies born on the spectrum in recent years, and so finding a productive niche for them is something I'm all for.
(And of course, they'd probably make great software programmers.)
Re:Dupe (Score:5, Insightful)
There have been corresponding declines [aappublications.org] in the diagnosis of mental retardation.
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Of course, calling someone retarded is far more impolite now than calling them autistic. Makes it a lot harder to say what the real trends are.
Re:Dupe (Score:4, Insightful)
Or maybe a better way to say that is a lot more autistic people used to unfairly be considered unintelligent.
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Exactly my point. There probably aren't more actual cases of autism -- we just got better at identifying them as autism. (Now I feel like I overestimated the intelligence of the Slashdot crowd, assuming they'd all get the inference, and that I didn't need to spell it out.)
Re:Dupe (Score:5, Funny)
There have been corresponding declines [aappublications.org] in the diagnosis of mental retardation.
If anything there has been a huge increase. They just call it different things - autism, down syndrome, middle management, liberal arts...
Re:Dupe (Score:5, Funny)
... forum posting...
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I think classification is a big reason for the apparent increase in autism and Asperger's syndrome. Years ago a person could just be a little weird, now its always a medical condition. And even severely autistic people might not be classified as autistic, even if they were locked away and drugged because of it.
That said, I'm not questioning that it really is increasing also. Our environment has been changing rapidly. And childhood has changed a lot.
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(And of course, they'd probably make great software programmers.)
Poor non-verbal skills....check
Poor eye contact....check
Lack of empathy....check
Problems starting conversations....check
Wants routines....check
Sure sounds like every engineer I know. Mild autism, asbergers, ADD *or whatever the latest diagnosis is); unless is is severe half the symptoms apply to large groups of people.
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Re:Dupe (Score:5, Insightful)
Interestingly on a similar trajectory as selfish idiots who insist on squirting out some kids on the verge of menopause (when other things, like downs syndrome goes from a 1:1200 risk to a 1:30 or worse risk).
Anyway, it's great for people to be self-sufficient as long as they are capable of fending for themselves and not at risk of being exploited in ways the "normal" worker is not.
Re:Dupe (Score:5, Insightful)
Troll? Really? The world for mod points. Are there a lot of late life conception slashdotters out there?
Not only are late life conception children statistically more likely to have mental "issues" of some nature, I suspect there's a correlation between late life conception and other issues such as bi-polarism and schizophrenia. Evolution favors early and successful reproduction and hasn't had time to deal with reproduction capabilities of long-lifespan organisms.
Mod me down if you want, but controversial does not equal -1 Troll.
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You simply haven't yet worked out the illogicality of your thinking.
So do I.
Yes you did. You said: "It is simply a deliberate gamble with a innocent persons life when one makes babies at 45. There are absolutely *no* excuses, in my opinion." If you say their are no excuses, then you are saying that at
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If you say their are no excuses, then you are saying that at 45 a potential parent should always choose NOT creating a life, rather than creating a life that may have autism. That is valuing a life with autism as worse than no life at all.
No it isn't. It's about not taking risks with other peoples' lives for the sake of self-gratification.
It has nothing to do with valuation, the ones suffering are the autists themselves and not, at least mostly not to the same degree, their surroundings.
On the contrary, they can, as is the subject of the article, be very valuable to society.
But just because patient H.M., for example, was extremely valuable to the medical society, we would not wish his fate upon others??
To me, it seems you're the one being co
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That said, there's been a troubling increase of babies born on the spectrum in recent years
All I see is a troubling increase in the number of diagnoses, combined with a troubling increase in the belief that these symptoms require medical/psychiatric attention to normalize any differences. I don't know about you, but I loathe the idea of a society of homogeneous personalities as much as I loathe the idea of an ice cream shop with homogenized flavors. Variety is the spice of life.
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All I see is a troubling increase in the number of diagnoses, combined with a troubling increase in the belief that these symptoms require medical/psychiatric attention to normalize any differences. I don't know about you, but I loathe the idea of a society of homogeneous personalities as much as I loathe the idea of an ice cream shop with homogenized flavors. Variety is the spice of life.
Not all of it is the result of increased diagnosis. As in, it's unlikely the increase is due to improved detection. Read
High Functioning Autism (Score:5, Informative)
High Functioning Autism isn't really a condition that impairs people from doing more complex work. It's really similar to Aspergers Syndrome, and people with these two conditions are the kinds of people who would can get good educations and be great programmers.
(I hear Silicon Valley has a higher prevalence of Aspies, likely because the kinds of jobs found there are a good fit for Aspies and tend to attract them to the region.)
Re:High Functioning Autism (Score:5, Interesting)
Ever since that report came out a few years ago, it has been "trendy" to walk around proclaiming "I'm a geek and have some weird OCD traits, so I totally have aspergers!" I'm sure it is sometimes legitimate and meaningful, but for the most part I suspect it is the geek version of a guy going around telling people how edgy and brooding and complex he is. And when geeks aren't going around self-diagnosing themselves as that, I'm sure doctors are all too often eager to do it for them for the same odd reasons they go around telling everyone (or used to, at least) that they have ADD and ADHD simply because they can't sit in a chair and not twitch a muscle for fifteen hours straight.
Re:High Functioning Autism (Score:4, Insightful)
Ever since that report came out a few years ago, it has been "trendy" to walk around proclaiming "I'm a geek and have some weird OCD traits, so I totally have aspergers!"
Combining 2 popular "geek" traits: being anti-social and hypochondria.
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So true (Score:2)
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Let's be more clear. There's high functioning Autism and there's low functioning Autism, and the difference between the two has to do with whether they can hold their own in intellectual settings, and whether they can live independantly. High Functioning Autism [about.com] and Aspies [udel.edu] have at least average intelligence, and can frequently be geniuses or experts in their fields.
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High Functioning Autism isn't really a condition that impairs people from doing more complex work.
Indeed. I have done quite a bit of thinking/independent study on this issue, and I think the best way to describe the difference between an "Autistic" brain and a "Neurotypical" brain is by comparing a GPU to a CPU.
A neurotypical or 'normal' brain is incredibly parallel, much like yon super-powered GPU's. This parallelism is what allows the average person to walk, chew gum, carry on a conversation, breathe, and at the same time remember that they left the front door unlocked. Scans of autistic brains,
"predictable, monotonous work" (Score:2, Insightful)
The writer must be a programmer because as a tester, I find the phrase "predictable, monotonous work" offending. Sure, parts of testing can be predictable and monotonous, but a good tester goes outside the box and the majority of testing is not the predictable monotonous type. If testing was predictable, then it wouldn't be needed. If it was predictable that certain bugs would be found then a good Engineer would always fix it before it was found, making it not predictable anymore.
Re:"predictable, monotonous work" (Score:5, Informative)
Depends on the work.
Testing credit-card software a few years ago the test design was all done for us in the form of standard test packs that were aimed at requirement validation. The poor tester we got to do the work had about 4 days straight of:
Put card in machine. Press this button. Take card out of machine. Put it back in. Press this button to program card for next test. Take card out of machine. Goto beginning.
Re:"predictable, monotonous work" (Score:4, Interesting)
Data Sourcing (Score:5, Interesting)
Dave had mild Aspergers. We got him to do the hassling as he couldn't sense the irritation of the people he was calling.
Re:Data Sourcing (Score:5, Insightful)
Um, what? I hope you're trying and failing to be funny....
Is it stereotypical to think that someone who has the flu will likely be tired? Is it stereotypical to think that someone with lung cancer will cough? It's a disorder. It has certain symptoms. Saying that _A SPECIFIC PERSON_ with that disorder has certain symptoms of that disorder is not in any way similar to racial stereotypes. What you are saying is that asking someone who is coughing heavily and blowing their nose frequently if they are sick is no different than assuming that all Mexicans can't drive. There's a huge difference. You might as well bitch about people saying that someone with a Y chromosome is a boy. I mean that's not _always_ true either, so that must be a horrible insensitive stereotype too, huh?
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Mexicans can't drive
Hey, you made that assumption, not me. You wouldn't pick an actual racial stereotype because you're afraid of being politically correct. I'm just pointing out that people with a particular gene is just as likely to behave differently from anybody else that shares a particular genetic difference.
I'm just having a go at all those "we're all the same" tyrants who ought to be attacking anyone who considers Down Syndrome or any other genetic difference as something politically incorrect to notice or talk about
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consultants? nice way to get out of paying health (Score:5, Insightful)
consultants? nice way to get out of paying for there health care and makeing them pay all the taxes on there own. How about helping and makeing them w2 workers?
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Co-workers with patience (Score:2)
Hmm (Score:2)
"The company says autistics have a talent for spotting imperfections, and thrive on predictable, monotonous work."
Sounds like manager material to me.
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bad thing is....we wouldn't be able to call them (as managers) retards without feeling guilty of doing something un-pc
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That's true.
This just occurred to me -- perhaps they've been secretly using the autistic as first line managers for years. That we've been accurate (although non-PC) all this time and didn't realize it?
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Not at all. Managers more than anything else have to be able to read and influence people, which exactly what autistic people have the hardest time doing.
They're likely to accidentally quote Tom Spikowski, and say "I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people!! Can't you understand that?! What the hell is wrong with you people?!?!"
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i take it you haven't dealt with managers very often
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Sounds like the manager at my last job.
Suggested reading: The Speed of Dark (Score:5, Interesting)
On the topic of Autism, I suggest everybody read "The Speed of Dark" by Elizabeth Moon. It puts the condition into a very approachable context that allows the reader to live through the eyes of an Autistic. It also has a great science/research back story that us geeks like.
Re:Suggested reading: The Speed of Dark (Score:4, Informative)
Aspiritech? Specialisterne? (Score:4, Funny)
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These names seem to be disparaging. Would you work for a contract agency named Shortbusstaffers or a software company named Weonlyhirethementallydifferent?
Spicialisterne just means Specialists, nothing derogatory there. Aspiritech doesn't sound to bad either, like a combination of Aspire and tech.
Specialisterren in Holland (Score:2, Informative)
Brilliant! (Score:2)
Whoever came up with this idea is a complete fucking genius. I feel really sorry for the engineers though. It will never work well enough to fully satisfy the testing team.
Worked with one would love to have one as sidekick (Score:5, Informative)
The project was a huge database migration, so we would give the kid excell sheets with thousands of records to compare data consistency, validating scripts and data transformations, while management smiled "that'll keep the kid busy for a few months".
Now, he loved wikipedia, and we'd only see him read franically on wikipedia... at the end of the day, he'd walk up to the IT-manager, each time again:
"I'm sorry sir, I did my best today but I could only manage to go through 70% of the list. I found some errors which I marked. Next time, I'll try harder, I don't want to dissapoint you.", while the same look of disbelief was on his face over and over again.
All the consultants that passed through the project with their programming knowledge, could not match the comparing accuracy of this kid with his massive speed, while he just seemed to be reading wikipedia, apoligizing each evening when he went on his way home in all his quirkyness being very thankful to get the "opportunity to work with pcs".
It's maybe relevant to mention the project was an agressively low priced fixed project, going over schedule so the client being hired for the project kept on dumping starters and benchers to finish the project with the problems you could imagine. It's why I was hired the period of the project to support the other consultants who were stuck in the mess they've been creating trying to get the project done.
If I would have the opportunity again to work with and rely on autistics for tasks needing massive concentration and accuracy, I'll put all my trust in their hands.
Re:Worked with one would love to have one as sidek (Score:4, Insightful)
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No, he wasn't under a regular contract, they also didn't know the output he'd have. When he was "hired" (allowed to sit around and have tasks handed to him to "integrate") they thought they were doing charity...
At least that was my impression, I never saw the guys paycheck, but he also wasn't there fulltime :)
Re:Worked with one would love to have one as sidek (Score:4, Interesting)
rely on autistics for tasks needing massive concentration and accuracy, I'll put all my trust in their hands.
The more I hear this sentiment echoed, the more I think they're the ones who came out right, and we're the ones who are broken.
Re:Worked with one would love to have one as sidek (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Worked with one would love to have one as sidek (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, at the very least, it's pretty clear that they didn't come out wrong, but with a very useful skill set. I have similar sentiments about ADHD: if you're in a group of cavemen going out hunting, you want someone in your group who will notice all the little things that folks who don't have ADHD ignore because that's not what they're focusing on. So if I have a task that involves looking around for anything unusual or interesting, I want someone with ADHD along, because he or she will find things I'll miss.
In fact, any "disorder" that is as common as high functioning autism or ADHD often indicates that it's not a disorder at all, but more a personality type that the rest of us have decided was annoying to deal with. For instance, autistic people are the most likely to announce that the emperor is walking around naked, which is extremely inconvenient for anyone who is selling clothing that everyone claims they can see but no one can.
Since 2004? That's nothing. (Score:2, Funny)
Slashdot has been hiring mentally handicapped people as moderators since 1997. Now that's truly groundbreaking!
in other news (Score:2, Funny)
Company Trains the Autistic To Test Software
But if somebody has written some software to train autistic people, it would be:
"Company Tests Software to Train the Autistic"
What if a weird consultant is to do some work for some developer tools company:
"The Autistic to Train a Test Software Company"
What if some ill behaved company is about to release its Railroad tycoon clone:
"The Autistic Company to Test Software Trains"
People... Austism does not equal Retarded! (Score:5, Insightful)
A lot of you are suggesting that high function Autism is mental retardation. It ISN'T!.
I am very disgusted with the fact that people on here are totally blinkered and think its retardation. My 5 yr old son, just last week was tested for three hours and its been found that he has slight Autism. He is NOT retarded in any way shape or form. He is an exceptionally intelligent little boy. He just has trouble focusing on simple to learn tasks that are not within his interest. Case and point, at age 2 he could tell you what every single car was in the parking lot by looking at the manufacture's logo. Every one. even the odd ones that you don't see a lot of like Ferrari and Lamborghini (well you don't see many here in the white mountains of New Hampshire).
At age 3 his focus went from that to NASCAR, and he could tell you every driver, sponsor, number, what car they drove. Now he is into trains, he can watch an episode of Thomas the Tank engine and recite the whole episode word for word in order after watching it ONCE. He could read at age 3, he could write his name at age 4. He can count to 30+ and knew all his ABC's at 2 and a 1/2.
However he has problems if you break his routine, when he talks to you he will turn every conversation around to focus on what he is interested in. He has social skill problems when he deals with his peers who are of the same age. Adults not really a problem, and thats due to most adults being of a higher level than most kids his age. I personally think he has aspergers as he is very social and will will approach people and talk to them. We have has some simple tasks like one half of potty training that he still hasn't mastered at age 5, and we now know how to handle that, because all the ways we were trying were disrupting his routine.
The pediatrician came up with a very good example of how his life will be with it. If for example he decided to work at a museum as the resident Ornithologist because that is what he was interested in, he would excel at that job. He would have a perfect memory for that task and would know EVERYTHING about it. He would be a walking encyclopedia on the subject. Everything else would be secondary.
If he took up programming he would excel at it if he was interested in it. Seriously HOW IS THAT RETARDATION? Low functioning Autism is totally different end of the spectrum. Its just that all Autistic people have their brains wired differently, they are NOT retarded.
I suggest you read this before posting any more retarded posts ok?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_speculated_to_have_been_autistic [wikipedia.org]
Remember the article says High-functioning autism, please don't jump on the short bus as many of you have on here.
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If the average functioning human mind can read emotional states of other people, can look at other people in the eye and carry on a "normal" conversation, isn't a person who can't somehow "impaired" compared to one who can? I'm not saying that they're bad or anything else like that, I'm just saying they have some specific cognitive impairments compared to an "average" person.
For instance, I knew some people with Down's syndrome in my public school system. They were th
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All I'm saying is that autistic people, while having a good mind for facts and that sorts of things, have a poor mind for social interaction, which is kind of important. So I would argue that is it a kind of impairment.
But it most certainly is not mental retardation. One little data point for you: I have Asperger Syndrome, and an IQ of 148. Also, just because non-verbal communication is not intuitive to people with ASD it does not necessarily follow that we are incapable of learning it. Please remember that you are talking about real people here with real feelings, and a lot of us read slashdot. Spreading your misconceptions to people who don't know any better can create real problems for us.
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He just has some quirky traits in his personality. He is very focused on what he is interested in. Some audio stuff like loud sirens, parades, people singing somethi
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It amazes me how you can make a diagnosis of my son, from what I am typing and how I type it.. I suggest you become the Doctor of all Doctors and stop trying to diagnose people by their grammar or spelling. My grammar may not be that great, but there were no spelling errors Mr Troll.
Anyway here are the definitions of them so you can make a more objectionable diagnosis Mr Miracle Doctor. I have marked with an hash (or pound) (#) the symptoms my son has, not all of them together are needed to make an autism d
I have a higher functioning autistic child (Score:3, Insightful)
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Mine taught himself to write from age 3 (using BBCs "words & pictures" series) - all we did was help him shape the characters and provide wagonloads of markers and notepads. At age 3.5 he was writing and reading so fluently that at the end of the year he and another girl at his school with similar talents were doing the reading for the nativity play. Next he discovered London Underground and learned the whole layout by heart (which I only discovered when I wondered aloud how I got from A to B and he p
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and sadly some of them may end up working a over time and not get paid for the over time.