More companies seeking employees with autism
PHOTO/COURTESY
Karole O'Leary of Horace Mann Educational Associates provides employment training to John Loughlin, who is on the autism spectrum.
Kristine Biagiotti-Bridges
John Elder Robison, autism advocate
Major companies in the past few years have launched hiring initiatives aimed at recruiting people with autism spectrum disorder, adapting the interview process and work environments to meet their needs.
It's a push that's meant to make companies – such as Microsoft, SAP and Hewlett-Packard – more inclusive, while leveraging the talents of capable employees who may need only minor adjustments to be successful at work.
In Central Massachusetts, where employers lament a shortage of qualified workers to fill jobs, a similar program is in the works. Dell EMC is on the verge of launching its own autism hiring initiative, said Kristine Biagiotti-Bridges, a senior advisor in IT business consulting at the Hopkinton-based company.
A business imperative
“We're looking at it as a business imperative, to tap a pool of resources that we haven't tapped before,” Biagiotti-Bridges said.
As a board member at Horace Mann Educational Associates (HMEA), a local nonprofit that provides employment training for people with disabilities, and the parent of an autistic child, Biagiotti-Bridges is an apt person to lead the effort at Dell EMC, a multinational tech giant with about 9,000 local employees.
Biagiotti-Bridges is chair of the employee resources group at Dell EMC's Hopkinton headquarters. The group has been working with Dell EMC's talent acquisition group on plans for a program that is based on the model put forth by German multinational SAP, she said.
“Our plan is to try to have something in place by the end of the year,” Biagiotti-Bridges said.
Autism spectrum disorder is a name for a group of development disorders that affect communication and social interaction. Impairment varies widely; some people on the spectrum have only minor challenges, while others are severely impaired.
Biagiotti-Bridges said those who can be functional in a professional setting often have strengths that typical employees don't have, particularly when it comes to jobs that involve intense focus, such as debugging and testing software.
“Their accuracy on finding that information is greater than you or I, because they are so focused on what they do,” Biagiotti-Bridges said.
The idea behind the Dell EMC hiring program is to provide an alternative path to employment for people on the spectrum, since interviewing may be difficult for them. Instead, candidates would be asked to work on site for a few weeks, giving them an opportunity to showcase their skills. Ultimately, this alternative path may be extended to candidates with other disabilities when appropriate, Biagiotti-Bridges said.
More than just one barrier
Facing the interview process can be daunting for the average candidate, but it may be downright exclusionary for people on the autism spectrum because of their social and communication difficulties.
That's just one barrier to employment for people on the spectrum, according to the results of a Clark University study that were presented at HMEA's Third Annual Autism Summit at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester in April. The Clark study, conducted by students and led by psychology professor Elena Zaretsky, surveyed people on the autism spectrum who are receiving services from local agencies.
A lack of transportation was a chief concern among respondents, as were sensory considerations (factors like light and noise can be debilitating for people with autism), along with the interview process. Fifty percent of survey takers were unemployed, and of those who did work, most worked only part time and said their skills weren't fully utilized on the job.
The Clark survey asked employers about hiring and employing people with autism. Zaretsky, an expert in communication disorders, was surprised to learn that 41 percent of respondents (who don't necessarily work with agencies who help autistic people find jobs) said they employ people with autism, and most said they would do so.
Zaretsky said that's a huge number, and it points to the fact that local companies are facing a shortage of qualified workers.
The untapped potential of people on the autism spectrum is a subject New York Times bestselling author John Elder Robison knows intimately. Robison, a speaker at HMEA's Worcester summit, wasn't able to graduate from high school because of his undiagnosed autism, but he was able to find success, first as engineer in the music business, and later as an entrepreneur, restoring high-end automobiles.
This led Robison to publish a memoir, “Look Me in the Eye,” in 2007 and become active in the autism rights movement. A Western Massachusetts resident, Robison is the neurodiversity scholar in residence at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
Kings of logic
Like the education system, Robison said most companies are standardized in a way that may shut out autistic candidates, but he expects efforts by companies like SAP and others to catch on with more large companies, creating more opportunities for people with autism. Robison said for employers, that's advantageous.
“In many business situations, logic rules the day, and autistic people are kings of logic and reasoning,” Robison said.
More outreach is certainly needed to leverage these strengths, said Robison, and he noted ongoing support at work is important, especially when it comes to helping autistic employees with workplace etiquette.
James Bavosi, an employment specialist at HMEA, is on the front lines of this work in Central Massachusetts. He spends his days helping people with disabilities find jobs and providing on-the-job support once they have them.
About half of Bavosi's clients have autism, and their abilities vary. Some find jobs in clean room manufacturing settings and veterinary offices, while others are working as computer technicians and tutoring college students.
With only a handful of local companies focused on hiring people on the spectrum – among them are Waters Corp. of Milford, and Imperial Distributors Inc. in Auburn, in addition to Dell EMC – Bavosi said employers are going to find themselves playing catch up.
An estimated 500,000 U.S. teens with autism will become adults in the next 10 years, according to the advocacy group Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism.
“It's just going to be a numbers game,” Bavosi said. “It's going to be supply and demand.”
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