The Wonders Of Neurodiversity: Why Should Companies Hire Autistic Employees?

People's perception of those with autism has changed from that of a savant to an adorable genius. This perception comes with intellectual benefits that many hope would be considered an asset, especially in the workforce.

Carrot Insights Chief Executive Officer Andreas Souvaliotis said there was a time when autism was not easily diagnosed. His numerical abilities impressed people but they still considered him weird and a corporate world misfit.

With a deeper understanding of autism, he saw the value of hiring employees under the autism spectrum. "Had I known about my limitations and opportunities earlier, I would have probably taken bigger entrepreneurial gambles at a much younger age," Souvaliotis said, according to The Globe And Mail.

He said people with autism have the ability to focus and do repetitive tasks with lesser errors. The workforce-ideal abilities of those under the autism spectrum has been backed by a study conducted by University of Montreal researchers in 2014, according to EurekAlert. Researchers found out how people with autism compensate for what they lack through enhanced brain functions.

Companies are starting to take advantage of hiring employees with autism following the principles of neurodiversity, as per Forbes. Persons with the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), such as Asperger syndrome, are now being considered as good hires. Most persons with ASD are socially challenged but 60 percent of them are highly intelligent.

Employers are in a mad rush to hire a diversified group of people when it comes to culture and intellectual abilities, as per Monster. Companies are hiring people on the basis of Neurodiversity and those with autism fall in this category. People with autism do not only think logically, but they also have the ability to focus on a given task and possess distinct skills.

Persons under the autism spectrum have the ability to focus on patterns and find data anomalies. These are valuable characteristics in the Information Technology sector particularly in designing software and analyzing data.