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

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Specialisterne (Danish for ‘Specialists’) 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. The social enterprise creates ‘virtual Specialisterne environments’ in the offices of its clients.
(source: Better, faster… and no office politics: the company with the autistic specialists - Features, Health & Families - The Independent)

The above is an example of ‘niche construction’ - this is the term Dr. Thomas Armstrong uses for modifying an environment (creating a ‘niche’) to adapt to each unique brain. Assistive technologies represent important resources to help accomplish these environmental modifications.

The Cyrano Communicator is one such tool - it is an augmentative communication device, giving a voice to people that have lost their ability to speak:

…Although Alyson [aged] 22, does not speak and reads only a few words, she works two mornings a week at a dental office in Lexington, Kentucky. With the help of an assistive device … she may soon be able to expand her work schedule to four mornings a week.

Already, her Cyrano Communicator is helping her do her job more confidently and competently than ever before. “It’s made a lot of difference,” says Aly’s mother, Lois… “It makes work simpler for Aly and for her coworkers.” How does it work? Photographs of Aly doing certain tasks are displayed on the HP iPAQ Mobile Media Companion screen. Using Cyrano Communicator software, coworkers arrange the photos in the order in which the tasks need to be done. Using the imbedded … camera, Aly takes photos of things she wants to point out to coworkers, and she is learning to simulate speech by pressing photos attached to prerecorded phrases.

…The resulting product means more opportunity for Aly… “Aly does better when she’s around people,” says Lois… “With the Cyrano, she can enjoy more success at work and also decrease her dependence on her work coach.”

The Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation supplies the work coach and helped Aly obtain the Cyrano Communicator. “If Aly can expand her work schedule without requiring more time from her work coach, that’s good news for us,” says Diane Mohler, assistive technologist. Mohler also sees the Cyrano Communicator as a way to help put a variety of clients with speech impairments to work. “It does double duty, offering the features of a [personal digital assistant] and also meeting the specific needs of people with speech impairments,” she says.

…Lois… had almost given up on finding a handheld device for Aly when she discovered the Cyrano Communicator. “We simply couldn’t afford earlier small units, and Aly refused to use the big ones,” she recalls. “We were close to tears when we saw the Cyrano demonstration and realized this small, easy-to-program device was something we could afford.”

(sources: A Key Set of Resources for Neurodiversity: Assistive Technologies | Dr. Armstrong’s Blog; http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/partnerships/onewrite.pdf)