A Canadian startup called Meticulon is helping people with autism find careers in software testing. Company founder Russ Peardon says that many autistic people have two skills that are extremely valuable in software testing: a great memory and an ability to match patterns. “It is not that every person with autism has these skills, but it is no question that they are going to be much more prominent in people with autism and much stronger when [the skills] are present,” he explained.
However, in the United States, approximately 85 percent of the people with autism are unemployed or underemployed, according to statistics from Austism Speaks. Often they find it difficult to obtain jobs because they struggle with the interview process. Meticulon aims to bridge the gap, benefiting both autistic job seekers and the software development industry.
So far, the young company has placed six testing consultants in jobs, and it expects to have jobs for twelve more before the end of the year.
