My interview on Specialisterne-SAP's Autism at Work [7:10]

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http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/popupaudio ... 2548521377

It was broadcast last month on national radio (CBC Radio One: The Current).

Specialisterne is a nonprofit organization with the goal of finding a million jobs for people on the spectrum. Many of their employees have very personal ties to the mission. Founded in Denmark, they've expanded to a dozen countries worldwide now. They focus on the IT sector, in solutions ranging from full time employment to offering consulting services, or in my case, a contractor to full time transition.

SAP is one of the largest software companies in the world. SAP has set a goal to comprise 1% of their workforce to be of people on the spectrum by 2020 (this would be of ~70,000 employees). Though based in Germany, my employment is actually on their Vancouver, Canada campus.

Seven people were selected for the program. Our training commenced in April, before we were assigned to our teams (largely based on our own preference). I got my preferred option; Technology Legal Compliance Analyst. I could go on forever about how well planned the entire operation is, of how so much effort was put in to ensure that the job adapted to us, rather than the other way around. I could go on about how Carol Simpson from Specialisterne dedicated endless hours of her time on and off regular hours to provide assistance of any means possible of work, of life. I could talk about the superb support network put up, between Carol, the other Specialisterne hires, a job coach that was hired to sit down with us weekly, our team managers, our mentors in the team.. Its really done so much to offer me a bit of hope in life.

All I really wish I could do now is to be able to meet people and get along with others, perhaps be lost in a whimsical romance, or dream

The following people were closely involved in this production:

Carol Simpson - Specialisterne Canada, VP of Western Operations
Alan Kriss - Specialisterne Canada, CEO

James Phu, SAP Canada, Manager involved in the Autism at Work program
Carole Beatty, SAP Canada, Head of PR

Liz Hoath, CBC, Producer & Interviewer
Anna Maria Tremonti, CBC, Host

http://specialisterne.com/
http://www.sap.com/index.html
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/

Wow! You were on a national radio broadcast?!?

You sounded great and made all the right points in your discussion.

Congratulations, Matthew!

Yep...Congratulations!

Do they have this organization in the US?

Congrats - that is great to hear!

Thumbs up to SAP Canada.

Yes there is specialisterne in the US.
Here is their url http://usa.specialisterne.com/
So far i only see a email contact can not find out much more.

This is really great.
More companies should take this approach.

Carol Simpson of Specialisterne (who guided & mentored me through the process) recently started a new IT consulting business where she is hiring people on the spectrum. Its local to Vancouver, Canada, so check it out if you're in the area! Link in signature.

Bumpity. I just did a video interview (not publicly posted AFAIK) for an autism event held in Prague last week hosted by SAP and Specialisterne. They plan to expand the hiring partnership there, in addition to many other locations globally.

Edit: can't remember if its Prague or Poland.. either way, Specialisterne is working with many companies worldwide.