Dear Hiring Manager: Here's Why you Should Hire that Candidate with Autism
Dear Hiring Manager: This is Autism Awareness Month , and one of the areas where "awareness" is most lacking is probably in your human resources department. If you have spent any time at all interviewing candidates for positions at your company, you have encountered some with autism. You might have seen them come and go without even knowing that AUTISM was the reason they talked a little different, struggled with their words or failed to look you in the eye. Why am I so sure you have already interviewed someone with autism? Because roughly one percent of the population has autism . Most of those, you probably rejected immediately. In fact, employment rates for people with autism -- even autistic college graduates -- is discouragingly low . Lower than those in any other disabled group. And yet, research also shows that people on the autism spectrum make great employees . They are honest, dedicated and punctual. In addition, many autistic people have...