????今年5月，特拉華谷地區(qū)最大的IT咨詢公司、Computer Aid, Inc.（CAI）董事總經(jīng)理厄尼斯特?狄安納斯塔瑟斯宣布了一項(xiàng)令人吃驚的計(jì)劃：到2015年年底，公司將把罹患自閉癥譜系障礙（ASD）的員工占比提升到至少3%。狄安納斯塔瑟斯解釋說(shuō)：“這個(gè)舉動(dòng)并不是為了維護(hù)殘疾人的權(quán)益，而是向企業(yè)界引薦經(jīng)常被人們忽視的高素質(zhì)人才。”

????在協(xié)力開發(fā)這一未被利用的人才資源方面，CAI并不是第一個(gè)吃螃蟹的企業(yè)。2012年5月，房地美（Freddie Mac）為自閉癥本科生設(shè)立了一個(gè)發(fā)放全額薪資的實(shí)習(xí)項(xiàng)目。房地美的多元化學(xué)習(xí)和招聘經(jīng)理史蒂芬妮?羅伊默說(shuō)：“我們的實(shí)習(xí)生是出色的員工，他們?cè)诠ぷ鲿r(shí)不會(huì)輕易分心?！彪m然自閉癥會(huì)妨礙社交能力，但是這種病癥譜系最嚴(yán)重的患者【往往被稱為亞斯伯格癥候群患者（Aspies），盡管亞斯伯格癥候群（Asperger's Syndrome）已從最新版的精神病學(xué)圣經(jīng)——《精神疾病診斷與統(tǒng)計(jì)手冊(cè)》（DSM）中被刪除】通常擁有出色的問(wèn)題解決能力，尤其在所謂的科學(xué)、技術(shù)、工程和數(shù)學(xué)（STEM）領(lǐng)域。這些雇員一次可以長(zhǎng)達(dá)數(shù)小時(shí)地專心從事某項(xiàng)重復(fù)性工作；他們對(duì)細(xì)節(jié)也有著驚人的注意力。

????美國(guó)企業(yè)與世界其他國(guó)家相比在主動(dòng)聘用自閉癥員工方面仍處于追趕階段。過(guò)去的10年中，丹麥公司Specialisterne（公司名在英語(yǔ)中是“專家”的意思）一直在培訓(xùn)自閉癥員工，把他們安置到多個(gè)歐洲國(guó)家的科技企業(yè)，包括丹麥、英國(guó)、愛爾蘭和德國(guó)。而CAI正在與這家公司開展合作。Specialistinterne負(fù)責(zé)人索科爾?索內(nèi)已于近期從丹麥搬至特拉華州。索內(nèi)說(shuō)：“我決定拿出全部精力，與美國(guó)各個(gè)地區(qū)的公司進(jìn)行合作?！彼M(jìn)入這一行業(yè)的動(dòng)力主要源自他患有自閉癥的兒子。今夏，索內(nèi)和CAI開始培訓(xùn)第一批自閉癥患者，其中有4位已在特拉華州衛(wèi)生和社會(huì)服務(wù)部（Delaware's Department of Health and Social Services）開始從事IT方面的工作。到今年年底，CAI-Specialisterne團(tuán)隊(duì)將培訓(xùn)約50名員工，雙方計(jì)劃將這些員工安置到另外兩個(gè)州的政府部門、一家大型的保險(xiǎn)公司和一家財(cái)富50強(qiáng)銀行，以及其他一些機(jī)構(gòu)。

????Specialisterne最近還爭(zhēng)取到了一位知名的歐洲客戶，德國(guó)軟件業(yè)巨頭思愛普（SAP）。SAP首席多元化官安卡?威登伯格與索內(nèi)于今年1月在達(dá)沃斯【索內(nèi)當(dāng)時(shí)正以施瓦布基金會(huì)（Schwab Foundation）2012年社會(huì)創(chuàng)業(yè)獎(jiǎng)（2012 Social Entrepreneurship Award）獲獎(jiǎng)人的身份參加世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇（World Economic Forum）的重大年度盛會(huì)】首次碰面。此前，威登伯格就已經(jīng)有意要擴(kuò)大自閉癥員工的招聘。威登伯格說(shuō)：“我從事人力資源工作已經(jīng)20多年，我們的工作重點(diǎn)一直是尋找擁有團(tuán)隊(duì)合作精神和良好溝通技巧的員工。但是對(duì)于公司所從事的軟件測(cè)試這項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)來(lái)說(shuō)，自閉癥員工擁有與生俱來(lái)的優(yōu)勢(shì)?！蓖遣竦霓k公地點(diǎn)位于SAP設(shè)立于德國(guó)沃爾多夫的國(guó)際總部。兩年前，威登伯格在印度啟動(dòng)了公司的第一個(gè)試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目；在索內(nèi)的幫助下，她打算在今年年底之前將自閉癥員工安置到德國(guó)總部以及三家分別位于帕羅奧托、蒙特利爾和溫哥華的北美分公司。此外，威登伯格曾在5月份宣布，她預(yù)計(jì)到2020年，自閉癥員工將占公司全球員工總數(shù)的1%。

????雇用高功能自閉癥員工的做法也讓政界人士感到興奮不已。他們把這種做法看作是刺激經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)的手段。特拉華州州長(zhǎng)、全國(guó)州長(zhǎng)協(xié)會(huì)（National Governors Association）會(huì)長(zhǎng)杰克?馬克爾（民主黨人）是索內(nèi)和CAI的媒人。馬克爾兩年前第一次見到索內(nèi)，當(dāng)時(shí)馬克爾正在宣布他的會(huì)長(zhǎng)倡議——“好財(cái)務(wù)妙方：雇用殘疾人?！弊源酥螅R克爾開始向全國(guó)各大科技企業(yè)宣傳索內(nèi)培訓(xùn)項(xiàng)目的理念。他說(shuō)：“美國(guó)即將經(jīng)歷巨變。放著這些高素質(zhì)人才不用是不明智的。這么做最符合股東利益?！?/p>

????In May, Ernest Dianastasis, the managing director of Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI), the Delaware Valley's largest IT consulting company, unveiled a surprising initiative: by the end of 2015, individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) would comprise at least 3% of CAI's workforce. "This move is not about advocating for the rights of the disabled," Dianastasis explains. "It's about bringing highly skilled people, who have often been overlooked, into the corporate world."

????CAI isn't the first company to make a concerted effort to access this untapped source of brainpower. In May, 2012, Freddie Mac set up a fully paid internship program for undergraduates with autism. "Our interns are terrific workers who are not easily distracted," says Stephanie Roemer, Freddie Mac's Diversity Learning and Recruiting Manager. Though autism impairs social functioning, those on the high-end of the spectrum --still often referred to as "Aspies," even though "Asperger's Syndrome" was removed from the latest edition of psychiatry's bible, the DSM -- typically possess exceptional problem-solving abilities, particularly in the so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. These employees can stay focused on repetitive tasks for hours at a time; their attention to detail is also remarkable.

????America is playing catch-up to the rest of the world in terms of seeking out employees with ASDs. For the past decade, the Danish firm Specialisterne ("Specialists," in English) has been training workers with ASDs and placing them in tech companies in several European countries, including Denmark, England, Ireland, and Germany. CAI is partnering with Specialistinterne, whose head, Thorkil Sonne, has recently moved from Denmark to Delaware. "I've decided to focus full-time on signing up companies in every region of America," says Sonne, who was motivated to get into this line of work because his son is autistic. This summer, Sonne and CAI began training their first cohort of autistics, four of whom are already employed in IT jobs at Delaware's Department of Health and Social Services. By the end of the year, the CAI-Specialisterne collaboration will train about 50 workers, which it plans to place in the departments of two other state governments, a major insurance company, and a Fortune 50 bank, among other organizations.

????Specialisterne has also recently landed a prominent European client, the German software giant SAP (SAP). Anka Wittenberg, SAP's chief diversity officer, had been interested in hiring more autistics even before she first crossed paths with Sonne this past January in Davos (Sonne was attending the World Economic Forum's high-powered annual pow-wow as the recipient of a 2012 Social Entrepreneurship Award from the Schwab Foundation). "I have been in HR for over 20 years," says Wittenberg, who works out of SAP's international headquarters in Walldorf, Germany, "and the emphasis has long been on finding team players with good communication skills. But when it comes to what our company does—software testing—autistics are a natural fit." Two years ago, Wittenberg launched the company's first pilot project in India; with Sonne's help, by the end of this year, she plans to place autistic workers in its German headquarters as well as in three North American sites—Palo Alto, Montreal and Vancouver. Moreover, by 2020, as Wittenberg announced in May, she expects that those with ASDs will comprise 1% of its global workforce.

????Politicians are also excited by the idea of employing high-functioning autistics, whom they see as a means to spur economic growth. The Democratic Governor of Delaware, Jack Markell, the head the National Governors Association, served as the matchmaker between Sonne and CAI. Markell first met Sonne two years ago just as he was announcing his Chair's initiative, "A Better Bottom Line: Employing People with Disabilities." Markell has since gone on to tout the wisdom of Sonne's training program to tech firms all over the country. "America is on the cusp of a sea change," he says. "It's crazy not to hire people with these skills; this is something that it is in the best interest of shareholders."?