Specialisterne (‘the Specialists’ in Danish) seeks to harness strengths that many people with Autism Spectrum Disorders possess - good attention to fine details, precision, and high tolerance for repetitive tasks. Their consultants bring the joy of work into areas where it is often missing today. **Jonathan Wareham, a professor at ESADE Business School in Spain, published a research article in the prestigious MIT Innovation Journal on Specialisterne. His co-writer for the 2008 article was Thorkil Sonne, founder of Specialisterne. Here is an extract from the article:
…it is difficult to avoid an aura of charity that surrounds [Specialisterne], despite the fact that the company charges fully competitive market rates and delivers quality that meets or exceeds market standards. As such, Specialisterne has to work hard to reshape several common perceptions of the company as a ‘nice idea’: something affordable in positive economic times but perhaps not fully competitive with alternatives.
…Coping with the additional overhead of integrating [Autism Spectrum Disorders] into the workplace does have a cost that traditional companies do not incur. So to recapture the additional expense, Specialisterne needs to deliver quality and value that exceed market standards. [Specialisterne does] this on several levels. For tasks that include manual data entry or validation, [Specialisterne’s] own tests indicate that [its] consultants can complete these tasks with seven to eight times greater accuracy than regular consultants. For regular scripted testing (component level testing that follows a scripted input-output recipe), [Specialisterne estimates] that [its] consultants are more than 50 percent more accurate. For other forms of ad hoc or system integration testing, [Specialisterne estimates] that [its] consultants are more than 20 percent more effective than traditional testing consultants. These advantages come from several sources. The first is the ability of many people with [Autism Spectrum Disorders] to recognize anomalies and pattern deviance that most people do not possess… The second source is the preference that many autistics have for highly focused and repetitive tasks…
**(source: Wareham, Jonathan, & Sonne, Thorkil (2008). “Harnessing the power of autism spectrum disorder”. Innovations. 3, 11-27. http://www.specialisterne.dkmnet.dk/fileadmin/files/Pdf-filer/MIT_press_journal.pdf )
Indeed, being self-sustaining is an ambition shared by individuals with disabilities, as well as their families and caregivers, the world over. Shraddha Charitable Trust has been involved in providing rehabilitation and vocational training to Autistic and mentally challenged young adults in Mumbai, India:
…The Shraddha workshop, which grew out of the idea of making autistic adults do meaningful work and earn a living, took roots in a small garage owned by one of the parents. Now, with the help of dedicated and innovative staff, these autistic adults make eco-friendly leaf plates, funky jewellery out of pins, agarbatti holders and a range of exquisite paper bags.
Their handicap has been turned around into the biggest plus. Explains Dr Khanna, "Once we have taught them something they just stick in that groove. They enthusiastically tackle what would be dismissed as drudgery. Every pin that goes into those funky necklaces, and there are hundreds of them, is put in with sheer joy. Once we got an order for 700 leaf plates. We wondered if it could be done but these young adults achieved the target. It was an eye-opener. Working in these difficult surroundings they have also shown amazing resilience. We learn something from them too.‘’
The Shraddha Charitable Trust hopes that it can get more favourable surroundings from which to operate, and a suitable outlet for the products. This will enable it to give the autistically impaired a monthly stipend. Says Dr Khanna, "I do not really want concessions. My dream is to make them into tax-payers.‘’
Underpinning this hope is a simple message tacked on the notice board, "As long as we hold inflexible beliefs about what makes someone valuable or intelligent or right, we promote the labelling and petty competition that can destroy our human diversity and potential.‘’
(sources: The hermetic world of autism breaks many myths - Times Of India ; The hermetic world of autism breaks many myths - Page 2 - Times Of India ; Aboutus )
**Jonathan Wareham, a professor at ESADE Business School in Spain, published a research article in the prestigious MIT Innovation Journal on Specialisterne. His co-writer for the 2008 article was Thorkil Sonne, founder of Specialisterne. Here is an extract from the article: