Power of Autism

Why are people with Autism the right fit for software testing?

Today, autism is a global epidemic with an estimated 1 out of 150 people affected by some form of the condition. In Japan alone, approximately 850,000 people are diagnosed with autism.

However, 70% of these people have actually no intellectual deficiencies, a condition specially referred to as “high-functioning autism,” or HFA. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate amongst the HFA community is at an astonishing 85%.

Sadly, this high unemployment rate is not necessarily a result of the individuals’ inability to perform the required job but rather a lack of employers’ understanding of the condition. The true deficiency of people with HFA has to do with an inability to behave socially in what the general public perceives as “normal”. In other words, it is often difficult to distinguish between a “socially awkward” person and a person with clinical autism, and both are equally penalized in the job market.

People with HFA possess unique and valuable talents that enable them to perform at a very high level in various situations. Positive attributes include thinking logically, pattern recognition, discovering irregularities, and to perform repetitive processes without becoming distracted.

According to an MIT article published in 2008, in the profession of software testing these capabilities allow people with HFA to be an estimated 50% more efficient than “normal” software testers.

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