It turns out that people with Asperger’s Syndrome make great software debuggers.
Raised to popular awareness by movies like “Rain Man” starring an autistic savant played by Dustin Hoffman, people with Asperger’s syndrome are often smarter at complex mathematics and tedious computer troubleshooting skills than ordinary programmers.
A Chicago based non-profit company now trains highly-functioning autistic people to be software testers. These focused debuggers are used by large clients like Oracle and Microsoft and have proven to be so good in fact that companies are now recruiting them to meet demand.
Aspiritech‘s recruits currently work on software-testing projects for smartphone and cloud-computing applications. As a non-profit, they rely on the generosity of donors and volunteers to help make our dream of meaningful employment in the Asperger’s community a reality. Donate or volunteer here.
(WATCH the AP video below, or READ the story in Smart Technology)