????今年5月，特拉華谷地區最大的IT咨詢公司、Computer Aid, Inc.（CAI）董事總經理厄尼斯特?狄安納斯塔瑟斯宣布了一項令人吃驚的計劃：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：“這個舉動并不是為了維護殘疾人的權益，而是向企業界引薦經常被人們忽視的高素質人才。”

????在協力開發這一未被利用的人才資源方面，CAI并不是第一個吃螃蟹的企業。2012年5月，房地美（Freddie Mac）為自閉癥本科生設立了一個發放全額薪資的實習項目。房地美的多元化學習和招聘經理史蒂芬妮?羅伊默說：“我們的實習生是出色的員工，他們在工作時不會輕易分心。”雖然自閉癥會妨礙社交能力，但是這種病癥譜系最嚴重的患者【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圣經——《精神疾病診斷與統計手冊》（DSM）中被刪除】通常擁有出色的問題解決能力，尤其在所謂的科學、技術、工程和數學（STEM）領域。這些雇員一次可以長達數小時地專心從事某項重復性工作；他們對細節也有著驚人的注意力。

????美國企業與世界其他國家相比在主動聘用自閉癥員工方面仍處于追趕階段。過去的10年中，丹麥公司Specialisterne（公司名在英語中是“專家”的意思）一直在培訓自閉癥員工，把他們安置到多個歐洲國家的科技企業，包括丹麥、英國、愛爾蘭和德國。而CAI正在與這家公司開展合作。Specialistinterne負責人索科爾?索內已于近期從丹麥搬至特拉華州。索內說：“我決定拿出全部精力，與美國各個地區的公司進行合作。”他進入這一行業的動力主要源自他患有自閉癥的兒子。今夏，索內和CAI開始培訓第一批自閉癥患者，其中有4位已在特拉華州衛生和社會服務部（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團隊將培訓約50名員工，雙方計劃將這些員工安置到另外兩個州的政府部門、一家大型的保險公司和一家財富50強銀行，以及其他一些機構。

????Specialisterne最近還爭取到了一位知名的歐洲客戶，德國軟件業巨頭思愛普（SAP）。SAP首席多元化官安卡?威登伯格與索內于今年1月在達沃斯【索內當時正以施瓦布基金會（Schwab Foundation）2012年社會創業獎（2012 Social Entrepreneurship Award）獲獎人的身份參加世界經濟論壇（World Economic Forum）的重大年度盛會】首次碰面。此前，威登伯格就已經有意要擴大自閉癥員工的招聘。威登伯格說：“我從事人力資源工作已經20多年，我們的工作重點一直是尋找擁有團隊合作精神和良好溝通技巧的員工。但是對于公司所從事的軟件測試這項業務來說，自閉癥員工擁有與生俱來的優勢。”威登伯格的辦公地點位于SAP設立于德國沃爾多夫的國際總部。兩年前，威登伯格在印度啟動了公司的第一個試點項目；在索內的幫助下，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，她預計到2020年，自閉癥員工將占公司全球員工總數的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濟增長的手段。特拉華州州長、全國州長協會（National Governors Association）會長杰克?馬克爾（民主黨人）是索內和CAI的媒人。馬克爾兩年前第一次見到索內，當時馬克爾正在宣布他的會長倡議——“好財務妙方：雇用殘疾人。”自此之后，馬克爾開始向全國各大科技企業宣傳索內培訓項目的理念。他說：“美國即將經歷巨變。放著這些高素質人才不用是不明智的。這么做最符合股東利益。”

????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."?