4 ms·

> The range of consequences is also wide. At one end, the autism of a computer scientist may be barely noticeable; at the other, a quarter of autistic children

> The range of consequences is also wide. At one end, the autism of a computer scientist may be barely noticeable; at the other, a quarter of autistic children do not speak. This makes me both laugh and cry.

cwbrandsma 10y ago
Ya, I'm a computer scientist with Aspergers (part of the Autism spectrum), one app that I wrote was for non-verbal autistic kids to allow them to speak via an IPad (OneVoice). I can't imagine having to deal with that.
paulmd 10y ago
It makes intuitive sense that there's a bias towards mild autism/Aspergers in high-skill computer scientists. Most would probably say that their "education" began long before any kind of formal schooling in the topic. It takes a certain kind of child to stay inside and poke at computers all day instead of going outside and doing something social. And in general, the hyper-focus of mild autism is exactly the kind of thing that drives people to become highly proficient in a technical topic. And on the flip side, severe autism is a nightmare. Although modern society doesn't really do them any favors - historically there were lots of repetitive tasks that needed doing, a person with fairly severe autism could be perfectly fine working in a bakery or blacksmithing or something. Nowadays we really have two kinds of jobs - high skilled, for which we expect people to sit through a lot of formal education, and service jobs, which are highly social jobs usually involving "emotional labor". Neither of those is very suitable for someone with severe autism.
- navait 10y ago
  The article notes that Walgreen's (exclusively service jobs) has found their autisitc employees are as productive as normal ones. Do you think that they are not employing people with severe autism?
- morgante 10y ago
  > It takes a certain kind of child to stay inside and poke at computers all day instead of going outside and doing something social. a) Why do you assume that working on computers at a young age necessarily implies social impairment? I've been working on different ideas (particularly games and businesses) with friends since I was 12. b) Many sports also require hyper-focus to excel at a young age. If you're willing to use that as a criterion for autism, why aren't exceptional athletes who spend hours a day shooting hoops alone considered autistic?

cwbrandsma 10y ago

Ya, I'm a computer scientist with Aspergers (part of the Autism spectrum), one app that I wrote was for non-verbal autistic kids to allow them to speak via an IPad (OneVoice). I can't imagine having to deal with that.

paulmd 10y ago

It makes intuitive sense that there's a bias towards mild autism/Aspergers in high-skill computer scientists. Most would probably say that their "education" began long before any kind of formal schooling in the topic. It takes a certain kind of child to stay inside and poke at computers all day instead of going outside and doing something social. And in general, the hyper-focus of mild autism is exactly the kind of thing that drives people to become highly proficient in a technical topic. And on the flip side, severe autism is a nightmare. Although modern society doesn't really do them any favors - historically there were lots of repetitive tasks that needed doing, a person with fairly severe autism could be perfectly fine working in a bakery or blacksmithing or something. Nowadays we really have two kinds of jobs - high skilled, for which we expect people to sit through a lot of formal education, and service jobs, which are highly social jobs usually involving "emotional labor". Neither of those is very suitable for someone with severe autism.

navait 10y ago
The article notes that Walgreen's (exclusively service jobs) has found their autisitc employees are as productive as normal ones. Do you think that they are not employing people with severe autism?
morgante 10y ago
> It takes a certain kind of child to stay inside and poke at computers all day instead of going outside and doing something social. a) Why do you assume that working on computers at a young age necessarily implies social impairment? I've been working on different ideas (particularly games and businesses) with friends since I was 12. b) Many sports also require hyper-focus to excel at a young age. If you're willing to use that as a criterion for autism, why aren't exceptional athletes who spend hours a day shooting hoops alone considered autistic?