SuperTesters

Super-Testers?

The trouble with any article like this is that we walk on dangerous territory, since we are purposefully labelling people, and that’s troubling. It’s important to remember that people are people, and people who are different as a result of a condition are still people. All people with Aspergers Syndrome are different and most have significant differences in their co-conditions. Not all of the information here will apply to all people with Asperger Syndrome.

I’m also sure that those of you already working in the testing community probably work with some people with Aspergers, knowingly or unknowingly and already think that the condition doesn’t matter as long as the job gets done. People with Aspergers Syndrome are often particularly suitable for software development for a number of reasons:

Excellent rote memory

People with Aspergers Syndrome often have a very good memory for facts and events. They may be terrible with people's names but can often easily remember product keys, IP addresses and even entire routines. In testing, this can mean that they remember a lot of detail about their particular data set and it can result in both increased efficiency and early detection of problems.

In the coding world, this ‘gift’ often means that people with Aspergers Syndrome can develop without having to constantly refer to help and manuals. API calls and their parameters are easily recalled and whole routines used in other projects can easily be remembered without having to open old projects. It makes for much speedier coding.

Hyperfocus

When a person with Aspergers is really concentrating on something, particularly if it's closely aligned with their ‘special interest’, they can go into a state referred to as ‘hyperfocus’. In this state, the person tends to shut off most input around them and concentrate solely on the task. It's this single-minded drive which enables many people with Aspergers complete large amounts of work in a seemingly small amount of time. It also ensures great clarity of thought.

The main drawback with hyperfocus is simply that the person can be so absorbed in the subject that they will accidentally miss meeting appointments, lunch and even

knocking off time. While this is usually a great feature for employers, care must be taken to ensure that long durations do not cause harm, such as keyboard overuse injuries.

Attention to detail

Software development and testing is one of those places where attention to detail is actually helpful if not essential. Coding relies upon very strict grammatical rules, and in all languages a clear syntax. It helps to have someone who is obsessive about the way that things are written, displayed and put together. Apply the same trait together with a curious mind to testing and fewer stones are left unturned.

Rules orientation

People with Asperger’s Syndrome like routine and structure in their working environment and are often punctual in getting into work on time and finishing tasks/projects on time. Many also like doing tasks to a set of rules and are conscientious in their work as a result and if not then the rules need to be improved.

Unique point of view

People with Aspergers often have quite a different frame of reference which leads to different points of view. Often the new point of view is the result of looking at excessive details and the big picture at the same time – something that most people find difficult. When data and procedures are looked at in this manner, different patterns tend to emerge and these can result in radical approaches which cut development, testing or processing time significantly.

The different point of view is also quite useful when it comes to debugging. People with Aspergers may try to view the code from the point of view of an object or variable. They can tell you what they can and can't see at the time, leading to easy tracing of undeclared objects and unpassed variables. It's quite a good debugging technique.

Motivation

The special interest is a major motivating force in the life of a person with Aspergers Syndrome. An employee with a special interest in computers will enjoy computing to such an extent that they do large amounts of research and testing in their own time at home.

This results not only in much better education but also cost savings as the ‘paid for’ time that an employee spends on a problem is drastically reduced.

If all this makes a person with Aspergers sound like a superhero, then it's probably not telling the entire story. People with Aspergers Sydnrome can make very capable employees and in some fields they are actually much more efficient than neurotypicals. Unfortunately, these people have issues too, chiefly in their interactions with other people.

You may find that your ‘aspie workers’ have difficulty in social situations but if that's not a major job requirement, then they're probably the best people to have in testing and development.

And this is exactly why we created our company. The reality is that despite all of the above in the UK alone there are half a million people with a diagnosis of Aspergers and Autism, with only 15 percent in employment. All that Autism Works sets out to do is positively discriminate; by that I mean that we just make it easier for someone with Aspergers to work with us. To the best of my knowledge there are only a few companies doing something similar in the world, check out Specialisterne,

Passwerk and Aspiritiech.

Hopefully by shining a light on what can be achieved more companies will adopt our policies and we will not only create better working environments but also be much more tolerant of people’s differences.