Specialisterne: leveraging the unique skills of Autistics at competitive market terms

[Visionary7903]

I mentioned in a number of posts last year, for example this one and this one, the nonPareil Institute. Located at Southern Methodist University’s Plano, Texas campus, the nonPareil Institute’s technology-based programs make use of artistic software, code generation, 3D animation studio tools, digital sound applications and other creativity enabling tools.

Another newer nonprofit organisation that is dedicated to providing similar computer training to students on the Autism spectrum is Exceptional Minds School and Studio in Sherman Oaks, California…

…The working studio was chartered in September 2011 as the only school of its kind to offer Autism Spectrum Disorder … individuals instructional training in computer animation and special effects as a bridge between high school and the working world.
…The three-year Exceptional Minds program includes technical training for [Adobe Certified Associate (ACA)] certification, job readiness skills and a professional reel/portfolio that graduates can use to seek employment in the fields of animation, computer graphics and visual affects. Real-world work experience is an important part of the Exceptional Minds curriculum as is hands-on involvement in animation and post-production industries; Exceptional Minds students took field trips to Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks and other studios during its first year. As a working studio, Exceptional Minds took in three film projects in the past year, including Lawless and the 2011 release Judy Moody and the Bummer Summer…

The program looks to be using a specific method of teaching particularly suited to Autistic individuals…

…Asked to explain the evidently successful methods of teaching he’s devised, [Ernie Merlan, the school’s director,] said, "Most of these students have gone to college and failed. Or dropped out.

"So I decided to make it not like a college. In the sense that they weren’t going to take five classes in a day. Instead, we’re going to focus on one subject, one thing only. And that thing is taught once in a week, for twenty minutes. And that’s it.

"Then for the next two weeks, we do a project which reinforces that lesson which we taught. It might be a video game, an animated video or a website. But it’s all geared off of that one lesson.

"All of our lessons are geared towards ACA certification, which Adobe puts out. So when companies are hiring, if you have that certification, they know you understand the system, and you can be hired.

“So they’re all being certified, here, through online tutorials and through our classes.”

“I found when I first walked through the door,” said Merlan, “and first met the students, that I got them. These students have always been treated like kids. I don’t do that. I come from the studio world, where if you mess up, you’re out. So I walked in and shook everyone’s hand. I insisted they stood up and shook my hand. I insisted they got here on time. Those kind of social skills are what they’re gonna need to walk into a job.”

The students all agreed they loved being where they were, because it was fun work, and so suited to their way of working.

“I like to focus on one job for a long time,” said Danny, 18, one of the students at Exceptional Minds]. "And you can do that here. You can work for many hours for weeks or even months, just to get the job right.

“But once you get it right, it’s always right! And that is a good feeling.”

(sources: Exceptional Minds Marks First Year as Vocational School and Working Studio for Young Adults on Autism Spectrum | Adobe Flex Journal; Exceptional Minds Marks First Year as Vocational School and Working Studio for Young Adults with Autism - Northridge-Chatsworth, CA Patch)