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Company hires adults with autism to test software

Pedro

Well-Known Member
Company hires adults with autism to test software
CARLA K. JOHNSON, AP Medical Writer
Sep. 21, 2011 5:05 AM ET

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.
"They exceeded my expectations," said Dan Tedesco of Shelton, Conn.-based HandHold Adaptive, which took a chance on Aspiritech to test an iPhone application. "There is a pride in their product you don't usually see in this type of work."
Aspiritech was founded by Moshe and Brenda Weitzberg after their son, Oran, now 32, was fired from a job bagging groceries. Oran was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when he was 14. He now works at Aspiritech.
"He went from failing at bagging groceries to being one of the best software testers on our team," said Brenda Weitzberg.
The Weitzbergs modeled Aspiritech on a successful Danish company called Specialisterne, or "the Specialists." Specialisterne also employs software testers with autism. Its satisfied clients include Oracle and Microsoft.
Other companies in Belgium, Japan and Israel are either hiring or training adults with autism as software testers.
This year, Aspiritech projects $120,000 in revenue, with 60 percent coming from donations and 40 percent from clients. The Weitzbergs hope to raise the client revenue to 50 percent next year.
"There have been a couple of attempts in the U.S. and Aspiritech is the one that's making it," said Scott Standifer of the University of Missouri's Disability Policy and Studies office and the organizer of a national conference on adults with autism and employment.
The exact unemployment rate for adults with autism is unknown, but it's thought to be high, Standifer said.
"We don't know how many adults have autism and, because of that, we don't know their rate of unemployment," he said. "We do know from tracking adults just emerging from high school that they are having great difficulty finding jobs."
A 2009 U.S. Department of Education survey found the employment rate for young adults with autism was on par with that for deaf-and-blind young adults, and well below the rate of those with blindness alone or learning disabilities or traumatic brain injuries, Standifer said.
Since Asperger's syndrome didn't become a standard diagnosis until the early 1990s, many of Aspiritech's software testers were adults when they first learned they were on the autism spectrum. They are pioneers, the first generation of adults with Asperger's.
Katie Levin, 35, was diagnosed in her late 20s with Asperger's. As a child, she'd been labeled as mentally ill.
"Asperger's is not a mental illness," she said. "I definitely feel like I identify with the Asperger's community more than I did with the mental illness community." She tests software and runs Aspiritech's Facebook page and Twitter feed.
Rick Alexander, 24, another tester, has a degree in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology and completed an internship developing software for the city of Chicago.
"I have a lot of social anxiety. I don't like meeting new people," said Alexander, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome as a teenager. Like many of the other testers, he lives with his parents.
He'd rather be a software developer than a tester, he said. But selling himself in a job interview is "very difficult for me."
"When you're a child, the school is very concerned with you, the state is very concerned with you," Alexander said. Organizations help adults with autism, he said, but "you need to approach them and for somebody with Asperger's syndrome, it's very difficult to do the approaching."
Most research dollars have gone toward studying children with autism while adults have been neglected, said Molly Losh, an autism researcher at Northwestern University.
"Our vocational structure really isn't suited to funnel people with autism into the workforce," Losh said. Aspiritech "is a magnificent and innovative venture," she said.
Many businesses hire offshore companies to test software. Mike Mestemaker, director of engineering for Schaumburg, Ill.-based ISI Telemanagement Solutions, chose Aspiritech because it offered competitive rates but was based in the United States.
"They dove right in and worked very quickly," Mestemaker said. "They were very detail-oriented people. They really got the job done."
ISI was happy with the work and has hired Aspiritech for a second project, he said.
Aspiritech provides meaningful work (pay is $12 to $15 an hour) in a relaxed environment where bosses never yell if you're late and nobody minds if you need to be alone for a while. What's more, the company is building social skills. The software testers, who are in their 20s and 30s, are trained to work together and they take part in organized outings: miniature golf, bowling, eating at a restaurant.
"We want to improve social skills among people who tend to be socially isolated," said Marc Lazar, Aspiritech's autism specialist. For many of them, software testing is not going to be their lifelong career, Lazar said, "but while they're here they're going to improve their job skills and they're going to learn what kind of behavior is expected on the job and they're going to have more to put on their resumes."

Source/Original article: here.

Credits to IContainMultitudes who found this piece.
 
I wish I had passion for technology maybe I would also had a chance.... But it's nice to see that these things happen here in Illinois considering current general unemployment issues.
 
I wish I had passion for technology maybe I would also had a chance.... But it's nice to see that these things happen here in Illinois considering current general unemployment issues.

I have mixed feelings when I come across information such as the one I posted. As I live in a developing country (what an unrealistic expression), I wish there were initiatives like that here, with some support from the government. But I've never seen anything like it here in Brazil. I'll look for something similar. Perhaps I will find something to post.

Perhaps, Epath, you have some other passions that could blossom with your own set of talents.

I was happy to read this article.
 
Can't believe this exists and I don't have the opportunity to sign up for it. At my current job, im simply the best (tech analyst). It's just exhausting as hell. You never get to be alone. My entire day is spent telling people what to do to fix their technical problems. So at this job, for 6 years now, I've been developing my patience and steadily getting better at avoiding total shutdown when someone is frustrating me.

That software testing thing sounds like complete paradise to me.
 
I would be thrilled to have an opportunity like this. Like it says in the article, I don't think it's necessarily something that I would want to make a career out of, but I think it could definitely be a "stepping stone" to bigger and better things.

I actually came across this article on the website for my hometown newspaper, which rarely ever publishes any Asperger's/HFA-related articles (of course, that may just be because the AP doesn't publish that many). I posted a comment (under a pseudonym) praising the article; I was a little hesitant to do that since the comments on the stories on that website tend to get rather nasty, and I'm kind of preparing myself for people to post responses about how people with AS are unemployed because they're lazy (a lot of people would probably ask, "If people with AS are so intelligent, why can't they get jobs?") or how this whole "Asperger's Syndrome" thing sounds like the largely made-up "pop psychology" flavor-of-the-month anyway.

UPDATE: It's nearly a whole day since I posted the comment on the story on the site for my hometown newspaper and there are no other comments. And it's probably not going to get any now that the story's not on the front page anymore. In a way, I'd almost rather get a negative response to my comment than none at all.
 
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I have mixed feelings when I come across information such as the one I posted. As I live in a developing country (what an unrealistic expression), I wish there were initiatives like that here, with some support from the government. But I've never seen anything like it here in Brazil. I'll look for something similar. Perhaps I will find something to post.

Perhaps, Epath, you have some other passions that could blossom with your own set of talents.

I was happy to read this article.

Do you have some sort of support system for people spectrum disorders in Brazil, or it is only in major cities?

And thanks :) I do have couple of talents here and there just not as practical... but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed :)
 
Do you have some sort of support system for people spectrum disorders in Brazil, or it is only in major cities?

There is no support here that I'm aware of. I live in Rio de Janeiro, which is the second largest city in Brazil. I wouldn't count on support in the smaller ones. I'll check later on just for comparison.
 
Very interesting. I am a software engineer and, in fact, my last job (which surprisingly lasted 2.5 years) was as a QA Analyst, that is, a software tester. I love it.
 
That's an interesting news piece. I think it would be a great job for those on the spectrum and wouldn't mind testing software myself. Do you have to know any coding though or is it all user-end testing?
 
Since the thread caught some attention...

Aspiritech is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide a path for high functioning individuals on the Autism Spectrum to realize their potential through gainful employment.

To this end we harness these individuals' unique abilities ? attention to detail, precision, an affinity for repetitive tasks, outstanding technology skills ? to provide competitively-priced software testing services. We achieve this by providing our testers a combination of intensive training, structure, and support to mitigate potential workplace challenges.

Opportunities at Aspiritech

Software Testers
You should:

be diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome or High-Functioning Autism
be able to commute to Aspiritech's office in Highland Park or client sites (Northern Chicago Area)
be willing to work for at least 4 hours a day, 5 days a week
We do not require prior knowledge or job experience of software programming and/or testing for software testers.

Currently, Aspiritech is in its start-up phase. We have just started getting paid work for our first six trained testers and hope to start a new training group soon. Unfortunately, we have many more applications than spots right now for new trainees. However, if you meet the above criteria and would like to be placed on a waiting list, please complete the following applications and return them to Aspiritech, 1950 Sheridan Road, Suite #206, Highland Park, IL 60035.

Employment Application

Candidate Attributes Form

You will be contacted as openings for trainees and testers become available. We appreciate your patience.

Manager (Software Engineer) ? currently no paid openings available
You should:

excel at software programming and testing
have prior experience of managing software testing projects
be able to commute to Aspiritech's office in Highland Park or client sites (Northern Chicago Area)
be willing to manage approximately 5 testers with Asperger's syndrome
be able to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week
Volunteer
Here are just a few examples of how you can help to make our dream happen:

support our employees with Asperger's with their commuting needs
help with PR campaigns
help with graphic and web site design and development
help our fundraising efforts
act as a job coach
If you'd like to get involved, we'd be delighted to hear from you. Please contact us at [email protected].

Source: Aspiritech website - here and here.
 
Source: Aspiritech website - here and here.[/QUOTE]

Maybe I should apply (if they really don't need programming experience). by the time they have spots we might move closer to Highland Park :) it is pretty nice town...a little snobby but nice... housing is really expensive though. The weird thing is, I was actually thinking about moving there :)
 

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