IBM and Neurodiversity: Update from Lansing

[Andrew Williams]

RESHARE WITH YOUR NETWORK: I would like to share our first testimonial video regarding our IGNITE ASD program from IBM Lansing. It was premiered at the #IMAX Moscone Centre in San Francisco at which over 100 convention members attended at hashtag#THINK2019 (where 30,000 people attended).

I would be interested in your view of the material provided as it drew much attention and questions.
My IBM co-presenter Ingrid Weiss was also in attendance.

This was an important and pivotal day within IBM This vision is tightly aligned to the IBM Ballarat initiative - where we have commenced recruitment - as it refers to efforts in Australia
When Neurodiversity Works - Trailer (short)
IGNITE ASD (IBM IGNITE ASD site)
When Neurodiversity Works (long)

Please use this material as suited in your own communications or websites. Thank you for your ongoing support and vision.

 

[Isadoorian]

Sorry, but how this this relevant to Autism exactly? There's literally no context other than "Hey, come look at this because it involves tech giant IBM and some unheard of Keynote Conference!"

This is a Web Forum for Autistics and NTs to find Support, not a place to tote around some TEDTalks/TEDx style event that no one's heard of.

 

[tree]

So it's a presentation of IBM discovers ASD?
And learns that people on the spectrum are employable?

The mildly/pleasantly awkward individuals featured reminded me
of the actors playing high school students in the old video
"Asperger's High."

I found the video 'When Neurodiversity Works' inoffensively positive.

 

[Tom]

Can you say that again in English?

 

[WildCat]

Hi! Welcome to the site, we have plenty of donuts to share if you'd like...

 

[Tom]

Hi! Welcome to the site, we have plenty of donuts to share if you'd like...

What? I've been filling out these surveys and we had donuts here all along?!

 

[Autistamatic]

I've just watched the full video and I have to say I applaud programs of this nature. They are a rarity at the moment and they are being very much driven by the tech sector, but it's a start.

We have members on here constantly depressed because they either can't get work or the jobs they CAN get are far from making use of their skill-set. Any employer willing to see past our awkwardness to see the skills beneath is making a step in the right direction.

OK - it's a corporate video, so of course it has some "look how great we are at IBM" overtones, but if you look past that, just as we want employers to look past our exteriors, there is an initiative in place there, which if allowed to succeed, could motivate other companies to follow. We should encourage more of this type of innovation because in the long term, it will benefit us and the autistic generations that follow us, as well as the employers that hire us.

I have forwarded the video to my immediate boss and the head of HR at my own employer. It's taken me over a year to get the message across (after 10 years of hiding behind a mask) but they have finally started to wake up to the potential of neurodiversity as an asset, not an inconvenience. Maybe in time they will consider a program like "Ignite" of their own.

 

[Mary Terry]

I need donuts! It's breakfast time here.

 

[Judge]

From watching the more lengthy video, IMO it would seem that IBM is offering guidance and employment to academically superior, socially awkward people on the spectrum of autism. Those who otherwise might find gainful employment if their social game was up to Neurotypical standards. Fair enough.

In essence, if you academically excel in math and/or science of higher education, check them out. If not, don't bother. Yes, they are legitimately soliciting for employees on the spectrum of autism. However who and what they are looking for is not so different from most potential employers with relatively narrow hiring requirements.

That they are choosing to overlook those difficulties many of us may face in a job interview and having to routinely interact with others, despite potentially carrying superior academic credentials. Though it doesn't alter my impression that they're looking for academically superior candidates in specific fields of endeavor.

 

[Autistamatic]

they're looking for academically superior candidates in specific fields of endeavor.

I don't think there's any doubt about that, particularly being in the business that they are, but I personally see it a start of something that could become more mainstream. As I've mentioned many times before, from small acorns, do great oaks grow...

It means that there will be (a few) more openly autistic people in the workplace making a contribution which will in itself help to reduce stigma. Today it might just be IBM and a handful of tech companies taking the plunge, but the domino effect could lead to much better opportunities for autistics without such academic progress in 20 years, say.

 

[Judge]

I don't think there's any doubt about that, particularly being in the business that they are, but I personally see it a start of something that could become more mainstream. As I've mentioned many times before, from small acorns, do great oaks grow...

It means that there will be (a few) more openly autistic people in the workplace making a contribution which will in itself help to reduce stigma. Today it might just be IBM and a handful of tech companies taking the plunge, but the domino effect could lead to much better opportunities for autistics without such academic progress in 20 years, say.

The good news is that at least someone prominent in the private sector is willing to overlook that which may keep so many qualified candidates from seeing gainful employment.

The bad news? Contrary to popular belief, we aren't all geeks who excel in science or mathematics. They're still looking for academically superior candidates and not simply people who are diagnosed as being on the spectrum. So in reality this is most likely indicative of opportunities for a fraction of us.

Though I agree, at least it's one small step in the right direction. Better to see a very high profile corporate entity on the Dow Jones Index taking the first step and creating such potential momentum in the workforce rather than some obscure privately owned company no one ever heard of.

I just wish there were more employers "somewhere in the middle" offering work to autistic people. Not corporations requiring "rocket scientists" nor carwash operations looking for manual laborers. Effectively applying less emphasis on the social aspects of a job interview with more focus on an assessment of being qualified for the job in question. With a little faith and optimism of our abilities thrown in for good measure.

 

[Autistamatic]

I just wish there were more employers "somewhere in the middle" offering work to autistic people. Not corporations requiring "rocket scientists" nor carwash operations looking for manual laborers. Effectively applying less emphasis on the social aspects of a job interview with more focus on an assessment of being qualified for the job in question. With a little faith and optimism of our abilities thrown in for good measure.

I don't want to tell my tale here for a while because I want things to settle down for a few weeks first. Suffice to say my employment with the company for whom I had worked for a decade was suddenly put at risk because of an autistic misunderstanding of an "unspoken rule". This happened over a year ago and has only just been resolved with my return to work this week.
It's been a horrific year for myself & Mrs Autistamatic but we soldiered on, and now, finally, my employer has understood that autism is not a curse and has made positive moves to try making the most of my 30 years of industry knowledge and personal skills. I left school at 16 and so have no qualifications beyond 'O' levels (I guess equivalent to a High School diploma) so I can't claim to be akin to the academically superior geeks IBM is actively hiring. I can claim to be methodical, innovative and a very fast learner though, but there are no qualifications that demonstrate such skills.
I'll tell my story properly once I've got used to my new position and settled in to my new role. So far it's going well though. I have a desk well away from everyone else, I am wearing headphones to block out the noise and I have been allowed to learn a new skill in my own way and at my own pace (QUICK!!!) and devise a new way of performing a vital business function which has consistently failed to work properly for years.
I'll leave it at that for now, but I have learned that self-advocacy can work, and I can now be openly autistic at work without any threat to my future. Maybe when they can be certain the gamble they've taken on me has paid off, other autistics might get past the interview stage with the same company. It's another acorn...

 

[Tom]

I watched the 'When Neurodiversity Works' short and long videos. If you are going to watch the long, you can skip the short because it is part of the long.

Not a bad thing, but as Judge has pointed out it is for a limited portion of the spectrum. Maybe very limited. My suspicious/skeptical side however wonders if IBM is just trying to tap into a potentially lucrative resource, mining for the legendary autistic savants.

But I do like the idea of programs such as these that are designed with autistics in mind. The unemployment situation for people on the spectrum is miserable. It just needs to be much broader in scope and including very simple jobs.

 

[Andrew Williams]

Sorry, but how this this relevant to Autism exactly? There's literally no context other than "Hey, come look at this because it involves tech giant IBM and some unheard of Keynote Conference!"

This is a Web Forum for Autistics and NTs to find Support, not a place to tote around some TEDTalks/TEDx style event that no one's heard of.

Perhaps this was positioned awkwardly - and if it offers offense - I apologize. But to be honest.. it involved a number of passionate people in a small office of IBM that wanted to do something about employment for people on the spectrum. I know... because I kicked it off in Australia myself 3 years ago...

 

[Andrew Williams]

From watching the more lengthy video, IMO it would seem that IBM is offering guidance and employment to academically superior, socially awkward people on the spectrum of autism. Those who otherwise might find gainful employment if their social game was up to Neurotypical standards. Fair enough.

In essence, if you academically excel in math and/or science of higher education, check them out. If not, don't bother. Yes, they are legitimately soliciting for employees on the spectrum of autism. However who and what they are looking for is not so different from most potential employers with relatively narrow hiring requirements.

That they are choosing to overlook those difficulties many of us may face in a job interview and having to routinely interact with others, despite potentially carrying superior academic credentials. Though it doesn't alter my impression that they're looking for academically superior candidates in specific fields of endeavor.

Thanks for your opinion. And yes... you are right... this does look for individuals with a certain capability/skill level. But I felt that it was important to shift opinions somehow... and this was how I was able to build a business case for change within IBM.

 

[Judge]

Thanks for your opinion. And yes... you are right... this does look for individuals with a certain capability/skill level. But I felt that it was important to shift opinions somehow... and this was how I was able to build a business case for change within IBM.

Point taken. Change at IBM in the corporate cultural sense never came easy.

I was once one of their shareholders in better times.

 

[Andrew Williams]

I don't think there's any doubt about that, particularly being in the business that they are, but I personally see it a start of something that could become more mainstream. As I've mentioned many times before, from small acorns, do great oaks grow...

It means that there will be (a few) more openly autistic people in the workplace making a contribution which will in itself help to reduce stigma. Today it might just be IBM and a handful of tech companies taking the plunge, but the domino effect could lead to much better opportunities for autistics without such academic progress in 20 years, say.

I agree. This program is having a real multiplier effect on many individuals. I have mostly observed the impact on colleagues of these new workers. It's been very positive. And it has given everyone at the Lansing site a deeper understanding and appreciation of autism. Thanks for your opinion.

 

[Andrew Williams]

Point taken. Change at IBM in the corporate cultural sense never came easy.

I was once one of their shareholders in better times.

This took 3 years. But gee it was worthwhile. And now i am getting more and more in IBM to look at this for other geographic regions. Ballarat is hiring now in Australia... another 10.

 

[Autistamatic]

I agree. This program is having a real multiplier effect on many individuals. I have mostly observed the impact on colleagues of these new workers. It's been very positive. And it has given everyone at the Lansing site a deeper understanding and appreciation of autism. Thanks for your opinion.

That's why thousands of people like myself advocate for change online in blogs, videos, podcasts and direct activism. It only takes a pebble to start an avalanche.
Thank you for getting this started with IBM and I can only hope for it's impact to grow and spread.

May I ask - are you on the spectrum yourself Andrew, or did you have another motivation for starting this?

 

[Andrew Williams]

I've just watched the full video and I have to say I applaud programs of this nature. They are a rarity at the moment and they are being very much driven by the tech sector, but it's a start.

We have members on here constantly depressed because they either can't get work or the jobs they CAN get are far from making use of their skill-set. Any employer willing to see past our awkwardness to see the skills beneath is making a step in the right direction.

OK - it's a corporate video, so of course it has some "look how great we are at IBM" overtones, but if you look past that, just as we want employers to look past our exteriors, there is an initiative in place there, which if allowed to succeed, could motivate other companies to follow. We should encourage more of this type of innovation because in the long term, it will benefit us and the autistic generations that follow us, as well as the employers that hire us.

I have forwarded the video to my immediate boss and the head of HR at my own employer. It's taken me over a year to get the message across (after 10 years of hiding behind a mask) but they have finally started to wake up to the potential of neurodiversity as an asset, not an inconvenience. Maybe in time they will consider a program like "Ignite" of their own.

Hey if you need support... let me know.... happy to have your back. And yes... "overtones" ... it could not be helped I suppose given this was from IBM but knowing these people... the outcome is very genuine and very much based on people reaching out to each other. Which is not a bad thing overall...