Thorkil Sonne was a Danish telecom executive and self-described “happy family man” when his youngest son was diagnosed with autism. “We were told to forget the plans we had for our family,” Sonne recalls, his heartache still evident more than a decade later. “We learned that our son would risk being bullied at school. He would be a potential dropout from further education. He would probably be rejected by all employers.” Searching the literature for a more optimistic outlook, Sonne and his wife found only “documented despair.”
Today, Sonne can envision a productive future not only for his son but also for perhaps a million others who fall on the high-functioning end of autism disorders. Driving this vision is the social enterprise he founded in 2004. It’s called Specialisterne, Danish for “the specialists.” The business places people with autism in quality-control jobs for some of the world’s largest technology companies, which are willing to pay competitive rates to contract with skilled software testers.
Specialisterne rejects the typical charity model of serving the developmentally disabled in sheltered workshops. Instead, it taps the underappreciated talents of people who have an eye for extreme detail, a tolerance for repetitive work, and an affinity for using computers. They may lack social skills, but that’s where Specialisterne can run interference. “We set up a company where the people with autism are the normal ones,” Sonne explains. “Their requirements are met, so that they don’t have to be social or team players. We can take care of that. Then they can just do what they’re good at.”
About 80 of Specialisterne’s 100 employees are autistic, with Asperger’s syndrome the most common condition. As one employee told a Danish reporter, “In another company I might be expected to make small talk and be flexible. Here I can just concentrate on my work without being considered antisocial.” Screening happens during a five-month program that focuses on what candidates can do rather than how well they perform in a job interview. By programming Lego robotics, for instance, candidates can demonstrate their skills, attention to detail, and motivation.
"In another company I might be expected to make small talk and be flexible. Here I can just concentrate on my work without being considered antisocial."
Although Specialisterne now brings in about $3 million in annual revenues and Sonne has been recognized as an Ashoka fellow, success didn’t happen overnight. Banks were initially skeptical of the business model, leaving Sonne to fund the startup with a home mortgage. “It might have seemed crazy to claim that people with disabilities can do a better job,” he admits, “but we didn’t want to compete on the cheap.”
Danish telecom company TDC, Sonne’s former employer, was the first to take a chance on the concept and has continued to be a steady source of contracts. The client list has grown to include Microsoft, Oracle, Nokia, and smaller IT companies.
Sonne soon found himself inundated with requests to expand into new markets. With the goal of creating a million new jobs for people with autism—the disorder affects about 1 percent of the world’s population—Sonne set up the Specialist People Foundation in 2008 and sold Specialisterne to the nonprofit for a pittance. Initiatives based on the Danish model have been licensed in Scotland and Iceland.
In the United States, the unemployment rate of individuals with developmental disabilities tops 80 percent and is likely higher for people with autism, according to Scott Badesch, president of the Autism Society. He sees employer attitudes starting to shift, however, opening the way for programs like Specialisterne. The Autism Society recently worked with AMC Theatres on a program to hire people with autism through a competitive process. “What we’ve seen is that once hired, those individuals excelled and showed how valuable they are to the workforce,” Badesch says.
Insights gained from employing people with autism may eventually open new career paths for people with other disabilities. “We want to get to the point where we stop talking about disabilities,” Sonne says. “Let’s just talk about specialist people.”
Read more stories by Suzie Boss.