自閉者 尚未開發的人才

A burgeoning civil rights movement is poised to change the workplace, and it revolves around differences in brain function. Advocates for neurodiversity say that it’s just as critical to business success as gender or racial diversity in the labor force.

一場圍繞着大腦功能差異的民權運動正在美國迅速興起，或將改變職場現狀。倡導重視神經系統多樣性的人羣提出，神經多樣性與勞動力的性別及種族多元化一樣，也是企業走向成功的決定性因素。

A growing number of companies actively recruit candidates on the autism spectrum for tasks that are suited to their strengths, such as those involving large amounts of data or rigorous attention to detail. They include SAP, Freddie Mac, ULTRA Testing, as well as specialized recruiting and placement firms for people with neurological differences.

越來越多的企業主動聘用患有自閉症的應聘者，並安排他們從事所擅長的工作，比如那些需要處理大量數據或極其注重細節的崗位。這類企業包括SAP公司、房地美、ULTRA Testing以及那些專門僱傭與安置神經系統疾病患者的企業。

Given that an estimated 70% of disabilities aren’t obvious to the casual observer, it’s a certainty that even more organizations already employ people with a brain difference, whether it’s autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette’s syndrome, disfluency, or a mood disorder. Many companies have employee resource groups and networks to support workers with their own or a family member’s neurological difference.

由於70%的殘障人士症狀並不明顯，普通人無法察覺，所以可以肯定的是，還有更多的企業也聘用了那些腦部異常的勞動者，如自閉症、注意缺陷多動症、閱讀障礙、運動障礙、多發性抽動症、口吃或情緒失調患者。許多企業還成立了各種員工資源小組和聯繫網絡，爲這類員工及其家人提供相關的幫助。

“We see differences in physical, cognitive, and mental health as differences in the human condition,” says Lori Golden, abilities strategy leader for EY. “The most relevant challenge for business is to bring in the very best talent for the work we do and create an environment that can unleash the full abilities of every person.”

“我們把生理、認知以及心理健康方面的差異看作是人與人之間必然存在的差異。”安永人力策略主管洛利o戈爾登介紹說，“對於企業來說，最大的挑戰是選聘最恰當的人才，並且創造一個能讓每個人充分發揮能力的工作環境。”

Individuals with a neurological disability often possess a strength associated with their condition, in the same way a blind person may enjoy a keen sense of smell, hearing, or taste. For instance, people with ADHD tend to be innovative, curious, and active. “There are a huge number of jobs that are open to people who are super creative, energetic, and information seeking,” notes Karin Wulf, a William & Mary history professor who spearheaded the college’s neurodiversity working group.

神經疾病患者往往由於存在這種差異而具備某種能力，這和盲人可能擁有敏銳的嗅覺、聽覺或味覺的情況類似。例如，多動症患者富有創造力，充滿好奇心並且十分活躍。“對於那些特別有創意、精力充沛並熱衷於吸收信息的人來說，有無數份工作可以供他們選擇，”威廉瑪麗學院歷史學教授卡林o伍爾夫指出。伍爾夫是該院神經系統多樣性工作小組的帶頭人。

About 2% of the population has an atypical neurological structure, the same percentage within the U.S. as the Jewish population, a group that no recruiter would consider discounting in a talent search, points outs John Elder Robison, author and neurodiversity scholar-in-residence at The College of William & Mary.

作家兼威廉瑪麗學院神經系統多樣性常駐研究學者約翰o埃爾德o羅賓遜指出，全世界約有2%的人擁有異常的神經系統結構，這個比例和猶太人在美國人口當中的比例相同。而在選聘人才時，沒有僱主敢忽視猶太人羣體。

“Neurodiversity, from the standpoint of a human resources department, is poised to be the next civil rights frontier that will have to be dealt with,” says Robison, who realized he was on the autism spectrum as an Adult. “One in 50 is not small.”

“從人力資源部門的角度來看，神經系統多樣性必將成爲下一個爭取公民權利的前沿陣地，”羅賓遜預測，他在成年之後發現自己是一名自閉症患者。“五十分之一這個比例可不算小。”他說。

This revolution poses challenges for both neuro-atypical individuals and employers. Workers must learn to understand and manage their own brain differences and how and when to disclose it to colleagues and supervisors. Companies must create inclusive cultures that encourage openness about how each person works best, not to mention screening and recruiting the best talent without being blinded by neurological conditions that aren’t relevant to a job’s requirements.

這場革命給神經性障礙患者和僱主都帶來了挑戰。作爲員工，人們必須學會理解和掌控自己大腦的多樣性，在同事與主管面前掌握好公開這一差異的時機和方式；作爲企業則必須創造包容性的企業文化，鼓勵開放的心態，讓每位員工充分施展才華。而且，在篩選和招聘時，不會因爲與工作需要無關的神經系統障礙而漏掉優秀人才。

“In the autistic community you have a significant number of people, often with substantial technical skills or education, who are systemically undervalued by the job market as a result of not interviewing well or not making eye contact,” says Ari Ne’eman, president and co-founder of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network and the first openly autistic presidential appointee.

“在自閉症患者中，有相當一部分人掌握了重要的專業技能或者受過良好的教育，但是這些人總是因爲面試表現不佳或拒絕眼神接觸，而被勞務市場低估，”阿里o尼爾曼說道，他是美國自閉症自我宣傳網絡的總裁兼共同發起人，他還是美國曆史上第一位獲得總統任命、公開承認患有自閉症的人士。

In partnership with ASAN, Freddie Mac established a paid internship program that places candidates with autism in three areas: information technology, enterprise risk management, and the single-family mortgage business.

房地美公司與自閉症自我宣傳網絡合作，發起了一項帶薪實習計劃，目的是爲患有自閉症的應聘者提供三大領域的工作，包括信息技術、企業風險管理以及獨棟住宅房貸業務。

“This is an untapped reservoir of talent that we have discovered,” says Megan Pirochukoas, a senior diversity specialist at Freddie Mac, who warns that other employers ignore autistic candidates at their peril. “You’re overlooking someone who is highly analytical, very focused, and very task-oriented, who likes to be in that space.”

房地美資深多樣性專家梅根o皮羅楚卡奧斯介紹說，“我們發現這是一個尚未開發的人才寶庫，”他提醒說，忽視自閉症應聘者是有風險的。“因爲你忽視的可能是分析能力出衆、專注力極強、能夠高效完成任務的人才，他們很喜歡這種工作狀態。”

Adults with autism tend to be underemployed because they often face challenges with social interaction. So Freddie Mac coached hiring managers to dig deeper if they received a resume with a spotty work record and to be open to adapting the screening process so autistic candidates could shine, such as giving interview questions in advance. Managers and employees who would be working with interns also received neurodiversity training ahead of time and participated in a buddy system to pair interns with neurotypical employees in their group. The housing finance company brought in ASAN about halfway through the 16-week internship for a pulse check, so interns would have a safe place to address concerns or problems they might be experiencing.

成年自閉症患者就業很困難，原因是他們往往在社交方面存在障礙。如果收到的簡歷中的工作經歷部分看起來有些問題，房地美公司要求人事經理深入挖掘，甚至允許通過提前通知面試問題等方法改變招聘程序，以便發掘自閉症應聘者的閃光點。有機會與患有自閉症的實習生共事的經理與員工會提前接受神經系統多樣性方面的培訓，並參加公司的夥伴系統。在這個系統中，組內的實習生與一般員工結成工作夥伴。在歷時16周的實習計劃進行到一半時，房地美會讓ASAN參與摸查，以便實習生有機會能放心說出自己遇到的困擾和問題。

Now in the fourth year of the internship program, Freddie Mac has hired several interns as permanent full-time employees. Managers have discovered that some of the tools they developed for working with autistic adults—such as being extremely clear with instructions and asking how people prefer to communicate—are actually useful practices for all employees. Some Freddie Mac employees even came to realize that they themselves might be on the autism spectrum.

現在是實習計劃進行的第四年，房地美已經僱傭了多名這個計劃的實習生作爲長期全職僱員。經理們發現，他們爲成人自閉症患者開發的工具，例如極爲清晰的指南，以及詢問人們更傾向於何種交流方式的做法，實際上對所有僱員來說都很有用。有些房地美的僱員甚至意識到，他們自己也可能患有自閉症譜系障礙。

Outside of an internship program aimed at a neurodiverse population, it’s tricky for an employer to hire inclusively. For one, it’s illegal to ask a candidate whether he has a disability. So instead, employers must be sensitive and responsive to differences that may relate to a neurological condition.

而在專門針對神經系統多樣性人羣的實習計劃之外，僱主的招聘都需要非常小心。舉例來說，詢問一個求職者是否有神經障礙是違法的。所以，僱主們必須十分敏感，能夠覺察與神經系統相關的行爲差異。

“It’s very hard for us when somebody hasn’t disclosed [their condition], so our recruiters have to be thinking about it but they can’t be assuming,” says Barbara Wankoff, director of workplace solutions at KPMG.

“如果求職者不主動透露[他們的情況]，我們很難發現。所以，我們的招聘人員必須思考這一問題，但是不能提前下結論，”畢馬威會計師事務所（KPMG）的工作場所解決方案總監巴巴拉o萬科夫介紹。

For individuals with a brain difference, neurodiversity at work can seem even more fraught. It’s important to focus on what skills and value you can bring to a workplace, not on the accommodations you may need for your disability, says Scott Sonnon, a Bellingham, Wash.-based author and tactical fitness instructor for the federal government who was institutionalized as a child and deemed unteachable.

而對於存在大腦差異的個人來說，神經多樣性似乎在職場中爲他們帶來了更大的困擾。斯科特o索內是一位華盛頓州貝靈翰姆的作家，也是聯邦政府的技巧性健身教練，但是他在孩提時曾有過被收容的經歷，而且一度被視爲沒有學習能力。他指出，工作時必須專注於自己所擅長的技能和能夠爲工作機構帶來的價值，而不是對自己的缺陷耿耿於懷、百般迎合，這一點十分重要。

“If I view my dyslexia and dyspraxia as a disability that must be endured, I put myself in the worst position neurologically,” says Sonnon, who finds that the more conscious he is of having trouble with word access, the longer the pauses in his speech. “It’s so therapeutic and healthy to be able to laugh at the tradeoffs and embrace the fact that you have advantages.”

“如果將自己的閱讀障礙和運動障礙視作必須忍受的殘疾，就會讓自己的精神狀況處於最糟糕的境地，”索內指出。他發現，越是意識到自己難以啓齒，演講的停頓時間就越長。“對這一問題一笑了之，並承認你所擁有的優勢，這是一種很好的治療和健康的心態。”

When he gives a speech or lecture, Sonnon says he trades off every 15 to 30 minutes with an assistant, “usually someone who has a rapid intensity and more rapidly firing brain organization like ADHD,” he explains. “It’s great for the audience. They get the rapid infusion of many topics at once. Then they come back to the slow, big boom.”

索內表示，當發表演說或演講時，他每15到30分鐘需要與一名助理交換。“通常他們能夠快速迅速大量信息量，而且和ADHD患者一樣，擁有能更快運轉的腦組織，”他解釋說，“這對觀衆來說是個好事，因爲可以一下子獲得包含很多個主題的內容。然後，他們又回到一個緩慢的狀態，等待爆發。”

Jean Winegardner, 41, loved her work as a copy editor and excelled at the job, but struggled to fit into the workplace in the years after graduate school, before she was diagnosed with autism. “The social aspects always got to me after a time and I would find a reason why I needed to quit,” Winegardner writes in an email interview. “I think that if I had understood my neurological makeup earlier, I could have found ways to help myself cope with the way workplaces work and how I could fit into them.”

現年41歲的珍o瓦恩加德納非常熱愛她的文字編輯工作，而且做得非常出色。不過，在畢業後的那些年，她一直很難融入工作環境，後來被診斷爲自閉症。“工作一段時間後，我總是遇到社會交往方面的困擾。然後我就會找一個理由辭職。”瓦恩加德納在一封電子郵件採訪中寫道，“我想，如果我早點理解了我的神經構造，就可以幫助自己找到應對職場工作以及適應環境的方法。”

Autistic employees can be more focused, waste little time socializing, and persevere until they complete their tasks, she notes. “I think it is wonderful that some companies are actively seeking out autistic people because of their strengths. I only hope that this acceptance and understanding spreads,” writes Winegardner, who now works as ASAN’s office manager and writes a blog called Stimeyland.

她提到，患有自閉症的員工精力更爲集中，在社交方面浪費的時間也不多，而且能夠持之以恆直到任務的完成。“我認爲，一些公司看重這一優勢並且積極尋求這類人才的做法值得肯定。我唯一的願望就是社會對這類人羣的接納和理解能夠繼續下去，”瓦恩加德納在博客中這樣寫道。目前，瓦恩加德納擔任ASAN的辦公室經理，並且開了一個名爲Stimeyland的博客。

Everyone interviewed for this article agreed that disclosing an invisible disability like autism or ADHD is a challenging personal decision.

所有受訪者一致認爲，公開自己的自閉症或ADHD等隱性殘疾是一個很艱難的個人決定。

“Every person has to decide, is the risk of severe social isolation greater than the possible greater social acceptance?” says Robison. “This is much like coming out and saying you’re gay in a straight workplace or you’re Jewish in a Christian workplace. Some people will say, ‘I can’t relate to that.’ It may drive you apart from your coworkers and it may bring you together.”

“每個人都要盤算一下，被社會嚴重孤立的風險是否會高於受到寬容接納的可能性。”羅賓遜說，“這就相當於在一個滿是異性戀的辦公室裏站出來說自己是同性戀，或是在一個全部信奉基督教的工作場所裏承認自己是猶太人。有人會說，‘我要隱瞞這個問題。’這可能會讓你與同事漸行漸遠，也可能讓你們更加融洽團結。”

First, consider whether you can manage your condition—or find a workaround— without naming it. For instance, EY’s Golden says she helped a colleague on the autism spectrum develop scripts to give colleagues and clients a heads up that he lacked some social graces. He told them he had a habit of sometimes saying the wrong thing and asked them to do him the favor of pointing it out, if it happened.

首先你要考慮是否能夠控制自己的病情，或是找到一個變通方法，這樣就無需提到病情。譬如，安永的戈爾登曾幫助一位自閉症譜系障礙的同事設計了一份臺詞，以提醒其他同事和客戶，他的行爲可能欠缺一些社交禮節。他會告訴其他人，他有時會說錯話，並且希望他們在他說錯話的時候能幫他指出來。

“That way, he accomplished several things: he took away the surprise factor, he made himself vulnerable and therefore more likable and approachable, and he invited people to be part of the solution,” Golden recalls. “An individual with any kind of disability needs to—above all—know him or herself, what his strengths and weaknesses are, and be able to make … decisions on that basis.”

“這樣一來，他一下解決了幾件事：消除了意外因素，表現脆弱變得更加招人喜歡且平易近人，而且他還邀請其他人一起參與建立解決方案。”戈爾登回憶道，“無論你有何種缺陷，最重要的是要了解自己，瞭解自己的優勢和劣勢，並能夠在此基礎上作出決定。”

Similarly, San Francisco lawyer Louise, 40, manages her bipolar disorder with humor and discretion. If her medication causes her to stutter or have trouble accessing a word, she says she’ll make light of it, saying, “I really can’t talk today!”

類似的情況還有來自舊金山的40歲律師路易斯，她用幽默感和判斷力來控制自己的躁鬱症。如果藥物導致她說話出現結巴或是說話困難，她只會輕描淡寫地說一句：“我今天真的不能講話！”

She manages her trial schedule in keeping with her mood cycles, using the manic energy for her benefit in the run up to a hearing or trial, and then telecommuting when she inevitably crashes afterwards. “Being medicated and watching myself as I do, I use periods of high intensity and high energy to get a lot done, knowing there’s always going to be a period that I don’t have any energy and I have to work from home,” she says. “Sometimes it’s very useful for me to be manic when I’m a litigator, so long as it doesn’t tip into the panic range. I have a lot of energy; my brain moves very quickly.”

她將開庭安排與情緒週期保持一致，狂躁的情緒有助於她出庭辯護，而在情緒不可避免地崩潰之後，她又可以選擇遠程辦公。她說，“我會在服用完藥物後觀察自己的表現，然後將精力最集中最充沛的時期拿來完成大量工作，然後在沒有任何能量的時候在家辦公。有時候，這對我來說非常有用，作爲律師我可以表現狂熱，只要情緒不會陷入恐慌的程度就好。而且我還能獲得充沛的能量，大腦可以飛速地運轉。”

Out of fear of losing her license to practice law, she keeps her condition a secret at work, and asked that her full name not be used in this article.

出於對失去律師從業執照的擔憂，她在工作時都會將病情隱瞞，在接受本文采訪時也要求不使用她的全名。

Educator Beth Baker, 62, says she must constantly remind herself to listen 60% of the time and speak 40% of the time, to compensate for her self-diagnosed Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. “All of us develop strategies and tactics for making it through the day and dealing with life, and dealing with the rough edges and approximations,” says Baker, a coach and facilitator based in Richland Center, Wis., and director of the International Trauma Abatement Project.

62歲的教育家貝斯o貝克則表示，她必須不斷提醒自己，要用60%的時間傾聽，40%的時間說話，這樣才能控制她自我診斷出來的阿斯伯格症——一種自閉症譜系障礙症候羣。她說，“患有這種病的人都在想盡辦法、用盡策略熬過每一天，在邊緣和極限狀態掙扎。”貝克目前是威斯康星州里奇蘭中心的一名教練和輔導師，她還是國際創傷消除項目的負責人。

If your invisible disability may affect your work performance, you should consider disclosing it at least to human resources, where it will stay confidential. For instance, if you have epilepsy, your employer would benefit from being prepared in case you have a seizure. The discussion with human resources should revolve around the tools, equipment, and environment you need to do your best work, not about the disability itself, Golden notes.

如果你的隱性殘疾影響到了工作表現，你至少應該考慮通知人力資源部，他們會替你保守祕密。比如，如果你患有癲癇症，一旦癲癇發作，你的僱主能夠及早準備加以應對。戈爾登指出，在與人力資源部交談時，應當以你需要何種工具、設備以及環境來實現最佳的工作狀態作爲主題，而不應重點討論你的疾病。

Neurotypical employees can learn from and benefit from the advances made by neurodiversity advocates. An increased awareness of differences in people’s brain function and communication preferences could improve the work that everyone does.

健康的員工可以從神經多樣性倡導者所取得的進展中學習並受益。人們對大腦功能和溝通偏好差異認識的提高有助於改進所有人的工作表現。

“Can you imagine if you went into a workplace and everyone had a sense of their abilities and their mode of interaction?” William & Mary’s Wulf says. “We’re right at the beginning of the wave. It hasn’t crested.”

“你能夠想象得出，當你走進某個工作場所，大家都對自己的能力和溝通模式瞭然於心嗎？”威廉瑪麗學院的伍爾夫說道，“我們正處於這樣一種浪潮的開端，未來還有發展空間。”（財富中文網）