Microsoft Hopes To Hire More Coders With Autism (fastcompany.com) 226
Autistic people are methodical and detail-oriented, and a new Microsoft program is trying to hire more of them, according to Fast Company. Slashdot reader tedlistens writes:
Vauhini Vara takes a look at the at the (difficult) efforts of Microsoft to recruit more autistic engineers and make a more neurodiverse workplace, through the lens of one of those coders. "The program, which began in May 2015, does away with the typical interview approach, instead inviting candidates to hang out on campus for two weeks and work on projects while being observed and casually meeting managers who might be interested in hiring them. Only at the end of this stage do more formal interviews take place.
"The goal is to create a situation that is better suited to autistic people's styles of communicating and thinking. Microsoft isn't the first to attempt something like this: The German software firm SAP, among a handful of others, have similar programs -- but Microsoft is the highest-profile company to have gone public with its efforts, and autistic adults are hoping it will spark a broader movement."
One autistic coder says they make better employees because "You don't have to tell someone not to go home early. They'll just stay." But there's also a push to bring different analytical and creative approaches into Microsoft's company culture. The article ultimately asks the question, "Could the third-largest corporation in the world make the case that hiring and employing autistic people, with all their social and intellectual quirks, was good, not bad, for business?"
"The goal is to create a situation that is better suited to autistic people's styles of communicating and thinking. Microsoft isn't the first to attempt something like this: The German software firm SAP, among a handful of others, have similar programs -- but Microsoft is the highest-profile company to have gone public with its efforts, and autistic adults are hoping it will spark a broader movement."
One autistic coder says they make better employees because "You don't have to tell someone not to go home early. They'll just stay." But there's also a push to bring different analytical and creative approaches into Microsoft's company culture. The article ultimately asks the question, "Could the third-largest corporation in the world make the case that hiring and employing autistic people, with all their social and intellectual quirks, was good, not bad, for business?"
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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I've heard of "speculative interviewing" before, but this really seems over the top to me.
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but this really seems over the top to me.
Seems perfectly normal to me. Lots of companies use an approach that's very similar including hiring on temporary contracts before getting a permanent one. This doesn't seem much of a stretch from that. I got my current job by working as a temp with 4 other people for 60 days with a very crappy up front interview. At the end of the 60 days I got a formal full-time offer, the other's were shown the door.
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Re: So, employees they can abuse via overwork (Score:2)
In today's American tech industry, it always boils down to "moar slave labor!!!1!!"
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Re: So, employees they can abuse via overwork (Score:2)
You're assuming that autistics wouldn't have hobbies outside of work. Bad assumption.
Spectrum... (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect that most coders fall somewhere on the spectrum anyway. Are they specifically looking for the rocking back and forth level of autism? The "awkward, can't look you in the eye, bad grooming"? Or the "I'm always right and get insanely defensive" (also includes defense extremists who have OVERLY strong political views)?
Re:Spectrum... (Score:4, Insightful)
Are they specifically looking for the rocking back and forth level of autism?
The "rocking" is often an indicator of neglect, often as a result of late diagnosis. An autistic child needs treatment, stimulation, and education. They should not be left in the corner to rock back and forth.
The "awkward, can't look you in the eye, bad grooming"? Or the "I'm always right and get insanely defensive"s?
Training and education can help here too. "Normals" learn social skills indirectly by observing those around them. Autistic people often need explicit rules and checklists: Greet people in the hallway. Smile and look people in the eye. No political discussions at work. Etc.
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And if you can't look people in the eye, look at the bridge of their nose. They will likely never know.
Learned off the telly from an Asperger's kid who wrote a book on his experiences.
Works well, to the point that it ultimately trains you to be much more comfortable looking them in the eye. At least it helped me; I'm probably a 'normal', though at times in my youth, had diagnosis been more common, some of my repetitive behaviours and lack of non-verbal communication ability might have been put down to Asper
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That's what I do. Either look at their nose or a spot just behind their head (but close enough to their head that my eyes appear directed at them). Looking someone directly in the eyes, though, results in ever increasing anxiety until I need to look away.
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You seem to be saying that I, as a software guy, need to talk to business and marketing types as a routine part of my job. From my point of view, that's one of the things management is for. Granted, I could make more if I got into management (which I really really don't want to do), but I'm an important part of the company making more money than I really need anyway. I almost never get a comprehensive spec, but usually talk with the end users (like most developers, I write software that gets used inside
Re: Spectrum... (Score:4, Insightful)
That was my first thought as well. All the best developers I've ever worked with were quite socially awkward, most probably somewhere on the spectrum. The best I ever hired was absolutely awful in the interview and nobody else could see what I saw in him.
High-functioning autistics succeeding in tech careers have resulted in what some have described as an "epidemic" of ASDs among children in Silicon Valley. One of the problems is that high-functioning autistics still seldom move up into management (even if they want to), which keeps companies from hiring lower-functioning people with strong skills.
At the very least, it's good to see some companies looking at working on diversity on this front. Too bad it will probably take decades to catch on in smaller companies where they'd likely be far more comfortable.
Re: Spectrum... (Score:2)
That's because the "spectrum" has been continuously expanded in recent decades so now just about anyone with an awkward personality straight is on the "spectrum". It has even become trendy to be on the "spectrum". Probably because of stupid articles like this one that assign mystical superpowers to people on the "spectrum". The reality is that only a small percentage of people with autism would be capable of coding for Microsoft.
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"I'm always right and get insanely defensive..."
So Slashdot autism, then.
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Bad parenting is. Diease. One that is passed from parent to child. A child that is spanked, hit a lot will be more likely to hit their kids. We make the world a bettdr place r by raising our kids with less violence than previous generation. We raise our kids to be nice to everyone, to not stigmatise one person for being different ( skin color. Wealth, gender, looks, life style, etc) and they will be less likely to do those things. The usa hasn't had one generation yet of racial equality hell we haven't
Re:Spectrum... (Score:5, Informative)
Let me establish my credentials before I attempt to educate you.*
I am on the autistic spectrum myself (Asperger's), I worked for several years as a Big Brother, Personal support Worker and in-class Educational Assistant specializing in autistic and behavioural modification programs. I have two sons both on the spectrum and one foster son with a learning disability that isn't autistic, but shares many symptoms of spectrum disorders. As a result, I have literally decades of experience working with autism, as well as the medical and educational systems doing what can be done for children and youths on the spectrum.
1) ALL kids pick their nose at some point and virtually all adults do as well. All we really teach kids is to a) do it privately if possible and b) not to eat what they extract. Parents of autistic kids face the challenge that the child won't stop doing it whenever they feel the need unless you can give them a sensible reason why. Telling them it's rude, disgusting or whatever won't work. Nor will "because I said so" But explanations about how mucus contains a lot of bacteria and that nose picking spreads germs, risking making other people sick does work. (with one exception: If nose picking happens to be one of their "stimming" behaviours then you can't teach them to stop doing it. Instead you have to focus on managing the stress, boredom or external sensory input that is causing them to stim in reaction.)
2) Autistic kids often love video games even more than the neurotypical kids because it allows them to focus on one thing. The rules are very clear and consistent. It also provides a constantly varying but still predictable level of stimulation. Forcing them to just go outside and seek out playmates the same way the other kids do is like tossing a non-swimmer into a pool and telling them to swim the way everyone else is doing. Autistic children just don't have the skill-set to do that. Most people have an inherent or latent ability to socialize. Autistic people don't. They have to learn social skills on a conscious level. Many autistic kids can learn to play with the other children, but it takes an adult to properly frame and explain the rules to the child and much practice before they are comfortable with it. There is usually a lengthy period of adult supervision and coaching required. In the same way, attending school or holding a job presents enormous challenges to the autistic. School can be a source of huge stress to an autistic child. The structure of set class times and seeing the same teacher(s) every day at the same times is good for the autistic. But being proactive at answering questions, working on joint projects, even simply navigating the more chaotic environment of the hallways and playground can be difficult, even overwhelming. Let's not forget that children are very very good at picking up on who is different in some way and can be very insensitive, even cruel when it comes to dealing with kids outside the norm. Autistic kids get picked on a LOT because they are different. Forcing them to go play unsupervised in the playground is setting them up to be the victim. And since autistic kids are not good at expressing themselves, they often bottle up their frustrations and anger at being bullied until they explode and go postal on a kid. And all too often, teachers don't see the bullying, but they DO see the inappropriate explosion of violence, so autistic kids get into trouble more often and tend to get more severe punishments if the staff are not properly trained on the challenges of teaching autistic kids. 3) You are correct that if one can play minecraft, one can work a cash register. But that is a very simplistic statement. It totally ignores all of the other soft skills a person needs in order to be a cashier. Soft skills which go far beyond making eye contact and saying "have a nice day" I might add. If o
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An honest question, maybe you'll actually see my reply. My son is 8 and I've always suspected he might be on the spectrum, but all his teachers always assured me everything was fine so he didn't need any help. But everything you describe seems to fit him to a T.
Do you have any web links to any resources or anything that go in to more detail on this, and what maybe I can do to help?
Thanks in advance.
Re:Spectrum... (Score:4, Informative)
For your specific situation; I have a few things to consider, bits of advice:
1) It's called a spectrum for a reason. A child with autism may be only mildly affected or severely affected. Also; it's quite common for a child to have some traits or measured levels that qualify as autistic, while they may be normal or even above normal in other ways. Each kid is different. Thus, they may be considered severely affected on one axis, moderately so on another and totally fine on one or more others. This may explain why your sons teachers think he is fine. The attributes they see are within the normal range, whereas you see the bigger picture.
2) Proper testing and diagnosis starts with your family physician or pediatrician. You need to set up a 1/2 hr appt with him or her and explain why you think your child has an issue. Your doctor will then hopefully refer you and your child to a specialist in developmental disorders
2) Ultimately, autism is a diagnosis of exclusion. An average child goes through a year or two of testing before a diagnosis of autism is reached, because there are a large number of other learning disabilities or developmental disorders that share similar symptoms with autism. You need to prepare yourself to be patient during this phase.
3) There is no medication, no regime of diet or therapy is that is a "cure" for autism. (indeed, a large segment of the autistic community argues there is no *need* for a cure, they are fine the way they are...) What exists are teaching and coaching programs to help the child consciously master the soft skills the neurotypical majority take for granted. There are medications which can help buffer the secondary symptoms (anxiety, depression, co-morbid sleep disorders etc) but for the most part it is the patient teaching that creates the change, not the meds.
4) The teaching and coaching isn't just for the kids. Where I live, there is an excellent program (under the auspices of local community mental health groups) to teach the parents, and in some cases, the siblings how to understand and interact with the affected child. If such a program exists in your area, I highly recommend looking into it for your whole family.
5) You will constantly encounter people who have formed opinions about autistic kids based on incomplete or outdated information. The withdrawn rocking child is the archetypical face of autism, but one that only describes the most severely affected. (and, as described elsewhere in this thread, a symptom of an autistic kid who is overwhelmed, hasn't been given the mental tools to cope with excessive stimuli.) It is possible that your child's teacher has the assumption that all autistic kids are that withdrawn and unsocial archetype. And let us not forget what the other gentleman (ourlovecanlastforeve 795111) above blasted. There are many many people who think the misbehaviours, weird obsessions and compulsions are the product of bad parenting and they are quick to judge you accordingly.
Re:OH fucking whaaaaa (Score:4, Informative)
Your post also reflects a common misunderstanding of the importance and proper use of the DSM. The DSM is first a method of classifying mental disorders. In this it resembles taxonomy. And as with taxonomy, having a species move from one genus or family to another doesn't mean that species doesn't exist, having a described animal move from being a distinct species to being considered a sub-species of another, better understood species doesn't invalidate the observations of the people who first described that sub-species. From there; it then acts kind of like a field guide for mental disorders for the mental health professional working in the field. The DSM is not meant to be exhaustive and it can only be as definitive as current understanding allows. This common misunderstanding tends to create a lot of hardship for people dealing with mental disorders or learning disabilities because it is often assumed by teachers, insurance companies, friends and family that if it isn't in the DSM, it isn't real.
Finally; for what it's worth, the DSM isn't the only guide for professionals in defining a patients mental health issues. There is also the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. (the ICD) And Asperger Syndrome is still listed separately there.
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Thank you for the reply. I wouldn't have been so calm or detailed about it, but felt that ACs comment couldn't go unchallenged.
ACs comment above is much like APKs constant assertion that because I admitted I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome as a child, I must be brain damaged, which is utter garbage, but that is what some people think. It seems that this ignorance can only be fought with information that proves the contrary.
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Aww, poor APK wants more attention.
Yes, not many people out class me on IQ, and no, you are not one of them. Perhaps that is why you don't get even the basics of the arguments I am making and keep repeatedly asking for responses to the same questions already answered?
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Where did I say I disproved all your points? I have disproved a number of them, and showed you why you are wrong. You even removed one from your argument, or do you deny that?
Or do you still think that your hosts file gets around DNS black lists?
Even if I tell you what my IQ is like you ask, you will still deny that it is true and ask for proof. The thing is, despite your memory failures, I have repeatedly explained that I will not out my identity, no matter how many demands you make for me to do so. I
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What crack are you smoking?
You linked to a post earlier in this same string that absolutely did not say anything of the kind. Keep up the diversion. I am sure no one will notice your prior assertions that I am brain damaged because I have mild autism.
Considering that you argued with me over what a DNSBL was, and why your hosts files would bypass them, no I don't believe that someone disproved you before me. What does it matter anyways though, as I still disproved the assertion, despite you arguing over y
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OH, OK, so you don't get sarcasm. Who is the Autistic here?
WHO HAS THE DIM MEMORY NOW STUPID?
Dunning–Kruger effect indeed. You keep calling me stupid, but you seem to be the one unable to understand basic concepts and keep arguing the same refuted points over and over.
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I have plenty of +5 postings, and it has nothing to do with sock puppets. I actually contribute to the conversation going on, you just spam and shitpost. You will notice I still post at a +2, while you start at 0 and mostly get to a -1, this is not because of some campaign against you as you have claimed previously, but because you add nothing constructive to the conversation.
I have proven many of your points wrong. I have never claimed that you are entirely wrong, you know that some of your points are v
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So, what does any of this have to do with the conversation I was having? Why do you think that what you are saying has any relation to my comment?
ACs comment above is much like APKs constant assertion that because I admitted I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome as a child, I must be brain damaged, which is utter garbage, but that is what some people think. It seems that this ignorance can only be fought with information that proves the contrary.
You didn't disagree with it, but felt you had to come in and trash up the thread because I dared to mention your name, and gave an accurate representation of your behavior.
Exploited? (Score:4, Insightful)
One autistic coder says they make better employees because "You don't have to tell someone not to go home early. They'll just stay."
Ah, it makes it easier to exploit employees.
And now, businesses are going to start putting in their requirements "diagnosed autism" in their job descriptions. It's like when MS started asking those brain teasers and every business started doing it.
I'm glad that business is starting to see non-normal behavior as being a reason for instant disqualification, but I see this going to extremes.
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Exploitation, and the fact that it creates pressure on others to do likewise. Overtime should be heavily discouraged, a last resort when proper planning has failed, ideally matched by extra time off elsewhere.
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Do overtime actually even work well at all? or the time you "save" with it is lost with an extended QA?
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I understand that you probably are a programmer and you probably live in a happy, insular world where all you have to do is push some buttons on a keyboard a few times a week and and maybe get out of bed before 1PM once a month to wander into the office and roll your eyes at your manager for being a square, and out pops a paycheck for $200,000/year, so let me explain to you how overtime works.
People who work on salary don't get overtime. They get paid a specific amount per year no matter how much work they
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Actually, the job you described sounds eerily similar to game programming at a place like EA.
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If you are working 80 hour weeks and producing twice as much useful goods or services as your peers, your annual paycheck should be about twice as much.
If you are working 80 hour weeks and producing twice as much, my advice would be to switch to 30 hour weeks, and produce three times as much as your peers. There is ample research that shows that productivity is already in decline at 40 hours per week, you are only kidding yourself if you think you are improving anything by working 80 hours. In short bursts, maybe. But long term, that way lies burnout and an increased rate of potentially expensive mistakes (from losing your fingers due to an inattentive
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Ah, it makes it easier to exploit employees.
Is it exploitation if the employee wants to work late? Employment gives autistic people purpose and social engagement that is often lacking in other areas of their lives. So if they choose to work late with their co-workers rather than going home to sit in an empty apartment, why is that a bad thing? That decision should be theirs, not yours.
but I see this going to extremes.
You shouldn't. Rates of employment among autistic people vary widely by country. Some countries do a way better job of integrating these people than others. The E
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Read "A Deepness In The Sky", by Vernor Vinge (the prequel to A Fire Upon The Deep, but a completely unrelated story with the same main char.)
Among a dozen interesting ideas he explores is abusing people by inducing a hyper-autistic fixation on whatever you happen to be good at. The ruling class thus has excellent technicians, engineers, and fantastic artworks. The autists are happy because they get to pursue their interest with a single-minded fixation, never bathing and often forgetting to eat.
They are
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Read "A Deepness In The Sky", by Vernor Vinge
No thanks. I, like many autistic people, have no interest in reading fiction. And I think it is silly to cite a work of fiction in a discussion about reality. For a better insight into the world of Auties, try reading Thinking in Pictures [amazon.com], written by an autistic woman diagnosed as retarded, who went on to earn a PhD in engineering.
Your description of autistic people as helpless children, incapable of making their own life decisions, is paternalistic crap.
Re: Exploited? (Score:2)
Sorry Bill, but it appears you did not understand Impy's post. There was no description or comment on actually autistic people there, just a concern of analogous exploitation. The people he described were drugged.
Re: Exploited? (Score:2)
Came here wondering if anyone would reference the Emergents' Focused. Was not disappointed.
Crankyspice, Programmer at Arms
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you're definitely exploiting the workforce, when you start judging employees with normal work-life balance against the yard-stick of the work-late'rs.
Perhaps. But auties have drawbacks like poor social skills and problems communicating, that offset their tendency to focus and work longer. Why is it "fair" when normals play to strengths, but "unfair" when auties do the same?
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And now, businesses are going to start putting in their requirements "diagnosed autism" in their job descriptions
And this will be just perfect for the doctors who are no longer doing "420 evaluations" when pot is legal. All they need to do is work on getting "1420" to become slang for autism, and it'll be easy to re-do the signage.
That Explaines A Lot. (Score:3, Funny)
You have to be autistic to like Windows 10. Mystery Explained.
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You have to be autistic to like Windows 10. Mystery Explained.
More like retarded.
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Excuse me, I'm on the spectrum and I hate Windows 10. It makes me nostalgic for Vista.
Considering the state of their UI... (Score:1, Flamebait)
Considering the state of their GUIs, particularly Ribbon and Tiles, I assume that they could hire trisomy-21 cases as coders and it would still be an improvement.
Wait! Don't tell them... (Score:1)
One autistic coder says they make better employees because "You don't have to tell someone not to go home early. They'll just stay."
And they often think very literally. For example, many will think "sweatshop" is a place where sweat is made, not an IT office.
(Also, can't wait for someone to sue MS for not getting hired because they weren't autistic.)
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No kidding, we have a guy whos on the hogher functioning autism spectrum at the office right now, he's talented, but picks up on no social cues. He will literally have a conversation with the back of your head for 10 minutes, not picking up on the fact that it's not a good time come back later. I can see this being abused easily. Boss's will think "Hey they'll work 20 hours a day if we stimulate them just so". Day in, Day out, no overtime.
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As someone who has high functioning Autism, let me just say that social cues are hard for us. People on the autism spectrum do very well in absolutes. Black and white. Social rules aren't black and white. They're a confusing mass of grey. The same action that is perfectly valid in one situation is horribly wrong in another, very similar situation. Over the years, I've gotten good at faking neurotypical (not on the autism spectrum), but it can be tiring and I can miss cues. Think of it as if everyone runs So
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To prefer an asylum to prison one has to actually be insane, so I think he effectively demonstrated his insanity and belongs there.
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Wasn't that the plot of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest?
Gov subsidised salary / cheaper than HB-1 (Score:1)
Good (Score:5, Insightful)
A flawed hiring strategy was passing over better candidates in favor of people with more social skills, because bigoted and incompetent hiring managers were failing at their jobs by favoring people they like over better-qualified candidates. "Being liked by the sort of people put in charge of hiring" shouldn't be a job qualification.
(although I'm rather suspicious of this "hang out on campus for two weeks and work on projects" approach, at least if it is not paid)
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A flawed hiring strategy was passing over better candidates in favor of people with more social skills
Indeed. Having a group of people hammer a candidate with questions while they write solutions on a whiteboard is a terrible way to do interviews, and does not reflect the actual working environment. I prefer to keep interviews low stress, and if a candidate seems nervous, I offer to leave the room and give them 30 minutes or so to work on a problem in peace and quiet. I have hired several extremely introverted people that way, who have turned out to be great employees.
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Mod this up to 11. I'm sick of the HR types who stalk everyone on Facebook instead of working coming up with lists of nice people who are not qualified for a job, then finding out that there were actually a large number of qualified applicants who didn't like the same sports as the HR people or something.
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I have a suspicion the main role of the social media screen is to eliminate people who might reflect badly on the company image or get caught up in scandals. If the employee appears to have very strong religious views, or uncomfortably fixated on some cartoon fandom, or posts about their discovery that the chemtrails are made of vaccines, then they can be passed over in favor of a nice, safe, boring candidate.
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better candidates
Better in what regard? Better is a big spectrum. Often the ability to have social skills is an indicator of what would make someone "better" for a position. We see this in engineering quite a lot. In my line of work problems are rarely if ever solved by yourself and often take a multi-discipline approach. I knew someone at university who was better academically than me in every way. She could solve all problems by her self and could engineer the shit out of anything. She would not be suited in my workplace
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Lot's of Spectrum Folks Here in The Valley (Score:2)
Who would want to code while they could be out socializing?
Aspie people made this Valley.
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Who would want to code while they could be out socializing?
Aspie people made this Valley.
Redmond is a valley? It seems to be missing a side.
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Redmond is a valley? It seems to be missing a side.
OP probably meant Silicon Valley. Without Intel to provide processors, Microsoft would be missing a side.
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Oh, Intel. We're halfway in between in Oregon. We left the marketing and hr in Santa Clara.
I don't think that was the case in 1975 when Microsoft BASIC came out for the Altair 8080 based on the Intel 8080 processor.
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Oh, Intel. We're halfway in between in Oregon. We left the marketing and hr in Santa Clara.
I don't think that was the case in 1975 when Microsoft BASIC came out for the Altair 8080 based on the Intel 8080 processor.
Right, but it was a bit basic.
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Devil is in the details (Score:4, Insightful)
For whatever reasons they're doing this, it seems like a good idea. I'm in the systems integration world, so I don't write software per se. However, I do a lot of "glue scripting" and automation work, and work with lots of developers getting their creations to function in the real world. Our chosen field of work is _definitely_ suited for autism spectrum folks...doing it right requires intense focus and literal thinking. For Microsoft, it seems like they would win on a couple fronts...they get kudos for hiring the disabled [1] and they get a workforce who is happy to work untold hours that "normals" wouldn't be able to.
It does sound like a plan hatched by some evil HR VP though. A bunch of normal execs tour the back buildings at Microsoft, see the more autistic of the bunch basically living in their offices, and conclude that hiring more of these will keep productivity high. It could definitely devolve into a sweatshop quickly. I wouldn't classify myself as ASD, but I'm definitely introverted. i can deal with normal people, but don't like to, as in it doesn't give me pleasure but I'll avoid it if given the choice. Fortunately I've found workplaces that let me have a healthy mix of socialization and independent work. I wouldn't thrive in a startup "brogrammer" environment as an example. If Microsoft encourages an adaptive workplace, that's a good thing in my mind. All companies need a healthy mix of cocaine-fueled salesmen and caffeine-fueled worker bees. Giving those worker bees what they need to be productive (offices, privacy, etc) is key.
[1] Yes, I'm aware that ASD being classified as a disability is very controversial. But as the number of technical jobs dry up in the First World, I can see it becoming a fully protected disability. When the entire employed world is extroverted project managers and executives, us introverts are going to be in for a world of pain.
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It's more of a mixed bag. It grants greater-than-average ability in some areas, but crippling impairment in others.
It's still discrimination (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It's still discrimination (Score:4, Funny)
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There is an exception to most non-discrimination laws though: If the disability impairs someone's ability to do the job. It's allowable to refuse to hire a blind person to handle quality inspection at a print shop.
This is a rare case of the opposite: A situation where the disability is an advantage. The only other one I can think of in recent history was a company mentioned on slashdot years ago using sociopaths to process abusive content reports, as they could spend months looking at pictures of abuse and
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Exactly what do you mean by "disability"? There are things I can't do, sure, and the same applies to you. I can focus on things very well (a little too well sometimes; I had to learn to compensate with that). The things I have a lot of trouble with aren't that important in my job, since I've learned (not as easily as some) how to get along with people and communicate with them.
If you gave me a magic wand that I could wave to cure my depression, I'd wave it without a second thought. Give me one to mak
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That's a very good question, and I don't have a very good answer. The ASD has caused me problems, but nowhere near the pain the depression has. Also, I've been undepressed in my lifetime and still me, while I've never been not ASD, so I don't know what that would entail.
Fine with me... (Score:3)
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It's fine that Microsoft wants to start hiring more autistic programmers.... Just as long as they hire them from INSIDE the U.S.
55% of Microsoft's sales are international. Global companies grow globally. Get over it.
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So they're hiring autists, who generally have trouble communicating with other people, to do sales?
How much of Microsoft's programming is done internationally, and how much in the US where they have their headquarters?
A wise change of strategy (Score:5, Funny)
Judging by Windows 10, it seems the idea of hiring coders with Down syndrome didn't work too well.
or more like cutting the QA team (Score:2)
or more like cutting the QA team and I have seen that with software from other places.
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No prima donna programmers allowed... (Score:5, Interesting)
As someone who looked liked the poster child for mongolism (large head and slow learner), misdiagnosed as mentally retarded due to an undiagnosed hearing lost in kindergarten, and spent eight years in Special Ed classes, I can tell you exactly what quality Microsoft is looking for. It's the same quality that my Special Ed teachers prized the most when I was in class: a well-behaved idiot.
I would like this for "neuro-typical" people too (Score:2)
I would love to "try out" new employers for a couple of weeks before committing, without having to through a more formal temp-to-hire or contract-to-hire arrangement.
Granted, this probably won't work for most people who already have jobs, but it would be very good for new-college hires, independent contractors looking to get back into W2 work, and people who are unemployed or who have been told they will be laid off and whose employers are willing to let them take vacation or go on unpaid leave. It might w
Software is written (Score:2)
My Ethernet card stops working periodically as soon as I installed Windows 10. And I cannot find a solution, no matter what I try. Such things would have never happened when he worked there. Bill Gates would have thrown papers in the developer responsible for this bug.
I will have to install Ubuntu with a dual boot, as I still sometimes need Windows for some applications.
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You think that's bad?
Windows 10 cannot do link teaming. No LDAP. Even if you have drivers that support it. It's a limitation built into the kernel.
Windows Server 2012 has no problem, even though it's almost exactly the same kernel. The limitation is artificial: A little thing that Microsoft threw in to discourage people from using a Windows 10 computer as a server, and so avoiding the need to purchase the more expensive Windows Server licence.
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My wife's computer has started requesting to reboot to finish installing an update. But once you reboot, it claims it still needs to reboot to finish installing the update.
I've tried many different things to fix this, but now think her computer might have tried upgrading to Windows 10 (without us giving the Ok) and gotten stuck somewhere along the line. To make things more annoying, it'll often prompt her to remind her to reboot (like that will solve it), give her the option of postponing up to 4 hours, and
Problem solvers (Score:2)
Autistic people are methodical and detail-oriented (Score:2)
"Autistic people are methodical and detail-oriented"
Whoever wrote that clearly never met my eleven old, slightly autistic boy.
I think SAP, who has been hiring autistic employees for a while, has a better handle on it. To quote on of their HR people:
"If you met one autistic person, you know just one ."
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Thanks for sharing that. Very insightful.
Management increasingly higher up on spectrum (Score:2)
What they should do is make a management hierarchy with people increasingly higher up on the spectrum so that they can translate language and cognitive styles kinda like in this Hot Fuzz scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cun-LZvOTdw
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Steal my time (Score:2)
Yeah, let me walk around for two weeks, before you tell me if you want to hire me. I have nothing better to do in the meantime.
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You seem to be describing sociopaths, not autistic people.
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Sociopaths do better in management than coding.
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People with autism aren't "completely lacking ethical/moral boundaries." They might not pick up on social cues or realize that something they said was inappropriate, but that doesn't mean a moral failing. In fact, many people with autism have an overabundance of empathy which cripples them in social situations. They fear saying or doing anything because their lack of social knowledge means they'll likely do something to upset someone. Being alone is preferable to insulting the person, so they avoid social s
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What about the fat older ones with type ii diabetes?