NPR has a story on Morning Addition on the 11th, where for some jobs Asperger's Syndrome can be an asset. The company is called Aspritech, and is a nonprofit company that trains those with Asperger's and others with high functioning Autism to do data entry and computer program testing. Why these skills specifically? Because those with Autism are very detail oriented, and repetitive tasks do not become boring.
The article continues with a similar business, from which Brenda Weitzberg (the founder of Aspiritech) took the idea: Specialisterne, which is a six-year old Danish company. Both Brenda and Thorkil Sonne (of Specialisterne) started their companies for the same reason: they wanted opportunities for their children diagnosed with Autism. They found that instead of forcing a career on their child that didn't fit his abilities, they would find the career that would match those abilities.
Like other parents of an Autistic child, I worry about the opportunities that will be available for my son. Every time I watch him work on a project, focus on a task, and find something he likes to go over again and again, I try to match a vocation to that and the steps necessary to get him into that vocation. And just the thought of other people out there with the same ideas and the same goals helps me feel as though I'm not alone, and there is plenty of hope for my son.
Well done, Brenda and Thorkil! Well done. Thank you.
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