Survey to help autistic people find gainful employment

Do you have a loved one or know someone who has autism? If so, do take a survey that aims to help these individuals find gainful employment.

I've been supporting efforts by a Danish company, Specialisterne, which hires and trains people with high-functioning autism so they can acquire the relevant IT skills and eventually find meaningful employment.

These individual have unique skills such as strong memory, attention for detail and perseverance in carrying out repetitive tasks, which are highly suitable for IT companies that need skills in software testing, code checking, data entry and quality control.

However, because it touches on a sensitive subject and one which some families may find difficult to deal with publicly, very little quantitative data on persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is available and pretty much non-existent in Singapore.

The survey hopes to address this and gather valuable insights that will then help Specialisterne formulate an employment model that's suitable here. One of the questions, for instance, explores what happens to a person with ASD after finishing school.

Run by YMCA Singapore and supported by the National Council of Social Services and NUS Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Programme, the study is targeted at people with ASD and who are of employable age, or 16 years and above.

Specialisterne has operations in Scotland, Iceland, Austria, Switzerland and the United States, and plans to open an office in Singapore, which it hopes will serve as a springboard to expand its efforts to Asia.

If you reside in Singapore and are interested in participating in the survey or efforts in helping individuals with ASD, leave a comment here or contact Alissa Rode at projectautism@ymca.org.sg or call +656586-2205. Details of survey participants and responses will be kept anonymous and confidential.