"At the Culver City office, overhead lights bothered one or two colleagues so much that everyone agreed to work without artificial lights, so that often, by the end of the day, they are all working in pitch darkness, rectangles of soft, bright light from their computers illuminating their faces. Absences, in general, are not encouraged, but they are accepted as a cost of doing business with a population that often experiences depression. Managers adjust, within reason, to their employees’ boundaries, rather than the other way around, such as when employees suffering from gastrointestinal problems — a little-understood but common issue for some people on the spectrum — call in to explain, in great detail, why they won’t be coming in that day.... Some Auticon employees have skills that would likely earn them higher pay were they employed at a big company in the United States. But Auticon invests heavily in their training and offers the kind of bespoke workplace systems that allow for their success...."
From "Open Office/What happens when people who have trouble fitting into a traditional workplace get one designed just for them?" (NYT).
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Bartleby.com, scriveners.
Work at home.
For those who came up in an earlier iteration of capitalism, it was stunning to first see the open office at tech companies where VPs making $400,000 a year (with millions in stock options) sat doing their business with everyone else.
Work in the dark with lights from computers. Not good.
Those computer lights are blue lights that are known to cause eye damages and even cancer.
"Blue light exposure may increase the risk of macular degeneration.
The fact that blue light penetrates all the way to the retina (the inner lining of the back of the eye) is important, because laboratory studies have shown that too much exposure to blue light can damage light-sensitive cells in the retina. This causes changes that resemble those of macular degeneration, which can lead to permanent vision loss."
https://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/blue-light.htm
This saves the taxpayers in Social Security Disability payments.
Plenty of people have trouble functioning on a 9-5 schedule. Some insomniacs are incredibly efficient workers in the middle of the night.
If you own stock in Auticon, get out.
That is where Ritmo works.
Doesn't sound so very different from managing a law school faculty.
"WTF?" -- Robert A.M. Stern
Auticon, stylised as auticon, is an international information and communication technology consulting firm that exclusively employs adults on the autism spectrum as Information and communication technology consultants. auticon identifies as a social enterprise.
They're selling autism?
An idea! A tv series titled The Good Coder.
- Krumhorn
This company should be put out of business. We can't afford to have a free market solution to exploiting talents of those "on the spectrum". Unreasonable accommodations must be forced on everyone by governmental ukase.
they are all working in pitch darkness, rectangles of soft, bright light from their computers illuminating their faces
Pitch darkness illuminating their faces.
You don't have to be crazy to work there, but it helps.
"There" = NYT.
When reading this, I immediately thought of the opening office scene in Joe Versus the Volcano, especially the part about the light issues. After re-watching that scene, it really does seem even more fitting.
"But Auticon invests heavily in their training and offers the kind of bespoke workplace systems that allow for their success...."
I know they can get the job, but can they do the job?
These sorta folks are definitely more weirdo and more work re getting good work outa them v normals.
But, normals have no idea how awful we are. We accept the annoyance and effort required to make stuff go, cause that's the way it is. Privilege.
IOW, if we were in a world where most folks were like them, we would be the ones in a special office where everybody feels good about asking what we all did on the weekend and what happened re The Bachelor or re insights of Fyodor D and Kantianism or re whatever is triggering, upstairs.
Anyway, this piece makes it seem like this concept is throwing darts at a target, w/ a blindfold on, and having done a 4000 degree spin, and on crack.
Presumably, in a hundred years we'll have brain science that will actually solve all of this stuff, including dealing w/ all the meth-head, non-spectrum losers who don't seem to have an excuse for their failing at contributing more than they take. And so on.
IMHO.
The worst office environment I've ever experienced was the two-person office with the person who never stopped talking. I'd have rather worked in a stairwell in the dark if I had had the choice.
Most offices have horrible lighting. Not too dark, but too bright. If you can keep the lights off during daytime in a tower of windows you have much more pleasant light than you do with the overhead lights on and the shades down. When the lights must be turned on, it's like being in an LED-lit trophy case.
The best office lighting plan I've ever seen was actually a windowless warren attached to a semiconductor factory. Every desk had several warm task lights that you, the individual, could control. All the overhead lights were kept nightclub dim.
For the record, parents with Aspergers are really bad at connecting with their children.
If you , at your workplace, are an acquaintance of, or better yet, a friend of, a parent who is unable to empathize with his or her child in a decent way because of their neurological condition, you have an opportunity to do a good deed. Talk to the parent, and encourage the parent to get help, whether in the form of professional or religious counseling. And pray for them, prayers are effective.
by the end of the day, they are all working in pitch darkness
sounds like WaPo, Democracy's Mortuary
Henry,
Lighting is pretty cool now. I only have this stuff when at my own places (not work), but the lighting system changes the wavelength and brightness depending on the hour of the day.
And, of course, there are tons of situational lighting options that override the auto stuff. E.g., all-bright for cleaning, and all sorts of options for entertaining and such.
At the most tech place there are racks of gear and half a dozen full size low voltage panels (plus others that are not in the main control room), but it feels like the Alexa and Hue type stuff is making a version of this that is accessible for everyone.
Plus, I literally pay 1/14 FTE just to have the damn thing maintained (w/ extra cost for adding/changing). Sure, the system also does sound and climate and all the windows have two (in and out) motorized coverings and alarm and cameras and tons of exterior (theater/sound/light/propane heaters/etc) stuff. But still those Alexa things seem amazing.
IMHO.
The NYT could tell me the sun was shining and i would go outside to fact check them.
@space. I have no control over my office lighting, unfortunately, other than to locate near a window.
The opening scene of "Joe vs. the Volcano" was great!
Unfortunately they followed it with the rest of the movie.
Queue Silicon Valley quip here.
Seems like being the Human Resources Manager there would be a challenging job.
I am Laslo.
This makes me want to buy stock in Auticon. Not out of charity buy because I think it's brilliant and likely to be successful. If you can channel that hyperfocus and special interest into something profitable, you could have a real moneymaker.
Stephen Cooper said...
For the record, parents with Aspergers are really bad at connecting with their children.
You know this for a fact or are you just trying to play expert? And before you answer; I've got a stepson who's on the autism spectrum.
Seems like being the Human Resources Manager there would be a challenging job.
Mr. Pants serves a minor role on the board of a tiny autism charity that works to bring people on the spectrum into the workplace. I have asked him, what about autistic people who struggle with social expectations and conventions. Especially in the metoo era this seems like a HR trainwreck waiting to happen. Who wins: the woman who does not want to listen to inappropriate comments about her physique, or the guy who has bona-fide paperwork stating that he's not capable of grasping what is appropriate and what isn't. There are currently no answers to this.
I’ll bet they don’t mind being told to learn to code....
I would prefer not to.
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