Autism as an advantage in AI jobs: This organization is making an argument for neurodiversity

It was 2018 and Leon Campbell was worried about a job.

The now 25-year-old Hunter College graduate had a degree in IT, but had never been anywhere. Campbell who has autismwondered how he would behave as an employee or whether he would make a mistake and be punished for it.

Thanks to Jäger’s accessibility job program, however, he heard about a startup called Daivergent, whose goal is to connect companies with a remote tech workforce of people in the autism spectrum.

For the past two years, Campbell has been a quality assurance specialist, ensuring that the work that others do remotely meets the standards of the companies they work for. He has professional experience, but also the opportunity to learn professional etiquette, to keep up with projects and to fit into a corporate structure. On the phone, he said he was still learning, but all without the fear of being misunderstood or rejected by his employer.

“I had never had a job up to this point, so it was a good way to basically learn what are the hallmarks of a job,” he said.

Campbell has avoided being part of an alarming statistic among people with autism. According to a 2017 report by A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Only 14% of people with autism had a paid job in their community. This is despite the fact that 35% of students with autism attend college. Meanwhile, data from Integrate Autism Employment Advisors show that more than 1 million People with autism will grow up in the next 10 years.

In recent years, big names in technology like Microsoft and Dell have started autism setting programs. This is where Daivergent comes in. JUICE, which produces software for companies, also has an Autism at Work program and is working with the startup on a pilot program. Another part of SAP, Fieldglass, a supplier management system, is also made available to customers by Daivergent.

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the economy, generated more than 36 million unemployment claims in the past six weeks, and raised questions about the opportunities that could arise for people with autism. But Daivergent co-founder Byran Dai says he saw no impact.

“We see that the distant environment that businesses are moving in is actually taking advantage of autism talent,” he said.

It is personal

For Dai, the question of what happened to all the people who are unemployed or underemployed was too real.

Dai’s younger brother Brandon has autism, and when her mother died five years ago, Dai said he realized that not only was Brandon’s greatest lawyer gone, but his brother would soon age from government and government-funded programs. In fact, he turns 21 in July and hopefully will continue with his service provider.

It’s a concept called “falling off the cliff” that describes the loss of support and access to resources that people may still need.

At the same time, Dai was a background in data science. He had worked with companies and startups to develop artificial intelligence applications and found that there was a lot of human work required for AI-related tasks like labeling. In the meantime, much of the employment service that people with autism end up in is in an area that Dai calls “legacy space.” Roles like cashiers or food packers.

“That’s the million dollar question,” said Dai. “How can we ensure that our loved ones, when they turn 21 or grow up, don’t just stagnate or stay away from the economy of the 21st century?”

With this in mind, Dai and his co-founder Rahul Mahida launched Daivergent in 2018. The company has two main offerings: a remote workforce that handles data labeling and annotation, and the recruitment of autism talent, which means that Daivergent actually has an integrated service with HR software that helps companies have technical talent to be found in the spectrum.

Although it only sounds like a feel-good story, Dai said Daivergent is not a charity. While autism looks different for different people, there are those in the spectrum who are characterized by detailed, complex and red tasks such as quality assurance and data labeling.

Here’s a change in mindset, he said, “that is beginning to conceive autism and things that could be formally seen as disabilities, really as a different way of seeing the world.” So it’s beneficial to connect those with sought-after skills to the jobs they require, whether full-time, part-time, or freelance.

In short, it’s an argument for neurodiversity – a concept that says something like autism is more of a variation in how the brain works than a mistake – in business.

“We know that there are a large number of people in the spectrum who are unemployed or underemployed, but who have enormous potential, are highly qualified and have excellent skills,” said Sarah Loucks, global leader of the SAP program Autism at Work. “But if they don’t have the right environment, or maybe adjustments or adjustments, depending on what their particular needs are, it can be more difficult for them to shine.”

For Daivergent, work doesn’t end with people being connected to jobs. There is still this huge unemployment figure to consider.

At work

There are a number of reasons why people with autism struggle with employment. Although autism has no specific characteristics, Kim Musheno, vice president of public order at the Autism Society, noted that some people with autism may not be able to handle soft skills well, which may include knowledge of how to take care of themselves dress an interview or just how to present yourself well.

“When you go to an interview, [it’s important] to show that you are a team player and how you communicate, “she said.” So if you have trouble communicating, you seem shy or inner or in any way awkward … it’s very difficult for people. ”

All of this can throw a qualified candidate out of the race for a job.

Often these are some of the lessons children learn in summer or after school in high school. The employment rate for people with autism who have never worked for high school was 40% compared to 90% of those who didAccording to a report on employment outcomes for young adults in the spectrum of the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute.

So Daivergent Soft Skills are also on the menu. The startup offers training in both technical and non-technical areas in order to make the workforce stronger candidates.

Campbell told me he could contact Daivergent employees who “are only there to make sure I know what to do and when. If I’m poorly prepared.” [they] Take a look at some examples of tasks and, you know, in some cases even for mental support. ”

Dai knows that not everyone who comes to Daivergent wants to be a data mark or label forever. “This is one way to actually contribute to a broader mission, to gain people’s experience and familiarity with the work, so that Daivergent becomes a stepping stone for them to actually achieve a much broader career goal,” he said .

In the future, Dai wants to find out how to reach people years before they ever try their first job. He immediately wants to expand Daivergent to include others who are neurodiversed, such as people with dyslexia, dysgraphy, ADHD, and more.

But all of this goes back to one of the basic prerequisites for why Daivergent exists: “How do you start pulling people away from this deeply-rooted view of autism, ADHD – which could be viewed as negative by a person – and redesigning it instead”, he said.