Resources for autistic tech job seekers

On this page are some examples of tech workplaces that aim to accommodate autistic people (or disabled people more generally).

1. Organizations specifically created to be autistic-friendly workplaces
2. Mainstream NT-dominated corporations/entities with neurodiversity hiring programs
3. Neurodiversity and/or disability hiring consultants and recruiters
4. Some especially interesting news stories

By hiring (and providing reasonable accommodations for) employees with documented disabilities, corporations can gain tax advantages and satisfy requirements for federal contractors.

1. Organizations specifically created to be autistic-friendly workplaces

Here in the NYC area:

• The Corporate Source (office in Garden City, on Long Island). See TCS Information Technology Training & Certification Program for People With Disabilities. (See also the Wrong Planet thread Nonprofit helps train disabled jobseekers for IT careers .)
• Ultranauts (office in Manhattan). See Neurodiversity: Paving the Way to Universal Design Inclusivity in the Workplace by Marcelle Ciampi, MEd, (a.k.a. Samantha Craft), who is senior manager of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Ultranauts Inc.
• The Precisionists, Inc. (TPI), based in Wilmington, Delaware, but does some work in NYC, e.g. for the Brooklyn office of KeyBank. (See news story.)

Elsewhere, outside the NYC area:

• Aspiritech (Illinois)
• Auticon (U.K.; see also news stories linked in Wrong Planet threads here and here)
• Meticulon (Canada; recently merged with Auticon)
• Iterators software testing (Boston, MA)

2. Mainstream NT-dominated corporations/entities with neurodiversity hiring programs

Here in the NYC area:

• JPMorganChase
• Computer Aid, Inc (CAI) (technical services firm based in Allentown, PA, but apparently does some work in NYC)
• Willis Towers Watson

Elsewhere, outside the NYC area:

• EY (Ernst & Young, an accounting firm) (see pages here and here)
• Dell (many locations, but neurodiversity program appears to be limited to just a few of them)
• DXC Technology
• Capital One (news story here) ("Supplier Diversity" page here)
• Ford Motor Company (news story here)
• Freddie Mac
• Microsoft
• SAP
• VMWare (Palo Alto, CA)

3. Neurodiversity and/or disability hiring consultants and recruiters

There are some nonprofit organizations whose purpose is to help corporations develop disability/neurodiversity hiring programs, and to help disabled/neurodivergent people find jobs.

• Disability:IN (based in Alexandria, Virginia, with local affiliates nationwide): Autism @ Work Employer Roundtable page includes logo gallery of 32 employers, mostly large companies
• EARN (Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion) advises employers on various issues related to hiring disabled people. Website includes Neurodiversity Hiring Initiatives & Partnerships page listing various companies with hiring programs for autistic people. Website also has a page advising employers on how to find qualified candidates with disabilities, including some info useful to job-seekers too, such as a list of job-posting web portals aimed at people with disabilities.
• Neurodiversity in the Workplace (NITW), affiliated with spArc Services, based in Philadelpha, but works with employers across the U.S.A.   NITW website's front page includes logo gallery of five corporations as "partners in neurodiversity": Dell, SAP, ThermoFishe Scientific, vmware, and Willis Towers Watson. How We Work page lists five main job categories: "tech", "analytics", "finance", "IT", and "graphic design". Website is aimed primarily at employers, but prospective employees are welcome to contact them too.
• Integrate: Autism Employment Advisors, includes a short job listings page
• Specialisterne (a worldwide organization) and Specialisterne U.S.A. (used to have an office in the Bronx; it's unclear whether they still do). Specialisterne was originally founded as an autisitc-friendly tech company, but ended up becoming a recruiter and hiring consultant. Specialisterne also offers training for counselors who teach "job readiness" skills.

4. Some especially interesting news stories

• People with autism are hot hires for artificial intelligence jobs by John Murawski, Wall Street Journal, via Business Standard, last updated August 04 2019. One bit of very good news: "EY and DXC, an information-technology services firm, don't conduct interviews with these hires because autistic people tend to do poorly in unscripted social situations. Instead, both companies have opted for performance assessments that can last several weeks. DXC compensates the job candidates for their time while EY doesn't." Alas, not all neurodiversity hiring programs entail such autistic-friendly hiring practices. See also this Wrong Planet thread.