Andrew Jones has Asperger's syndrome and is the senior web developer at Small Planet, Inc. an advertising and design agency in Rutland, Vermont where he has worked for the last eight years. Andy is recently married and the couple is expecting their first child sometime in July. David Townsend is the President and owner of Small Planet and has been working with people of disability in the workplace for the past nine years.
"Recognizing the Ability in a Disability"
by David Townsend, President, Small Planet, Inc.
So, here's the question: can we as employers - leaders in our companies and communities - move beyond our fears and ignorance and recognize the talents and abilities in others for what they are? Without reservations? Without prejudice? It's a tough question that challenges how we see people and about whom we can hire if we're willing to suspend what we know in favor of what we might learn.
The first time I met Andrew Jones I was not impressed. We needed help in the production end of things and he had been recommended to me as someone with talent, and more importantly at the time, the skills I was looking for. Andy showed up for his interview not appearing at all prepared for work in a professional environment. To top it off, his resume - which included four jobs in the prior three years - wasn't exactly a testimony to his dependability.
The interview didn't go well and I passed on hiring him, never expecting anything more to come of it. But a few weeks later, encouraged by the person who had recommended him, I called Andy and asked him back for a second interview. To my amazement, he showed up with a fresh haircut and neatly dressed, signaling to me that, at the least, he was serious about the position. Based on his second interview, I decided to take chance and took him on.
The first few weeks of Andrew's work went well enough - he was given assignments, completed them (most in astonishing little time) and quietly went about his business. He showed up on time, did his work (and did it well) and, in short, seemed to be the kind of employee that employers dream about. Other than his extraordinarily quiet demeanor - Andy rarely said anything unless asked and could never be counted on to carry a conversation - things seem to going along swimmingly. That's when I began to take notice of some unusual behavior.
On my rounds around the office to check in with people and see how things were going, I would often notice Andy 'surfing' the web or working on something other than his immediate assignment. When queried if he had finished the work that had been given to him, the invariable answer was always "yes". Why then, I asked, hadn't you told someone you were ready to move on to the next thing? He would always say that he would make sure to let someone know the next time and then return to his assignment. While I had chosen to address what appeared to be a lack of communication, it was really the surfing - which I assumed was personal stuff being done on company time - that was nagging at me. So, I finally confronted him with it, only to find out that during his time "in between assignments" Andy was looking for software or programs that would help the company do a better job in a number of areas. Wow! Did I feel like a fool? Here I was thinking the guy is goofing around on the company nickel and he's really investing it well. Ouch!
The years passed and Andy's role in our company grew. Soon he was out of the production end of things entirely and heading up our web programming area. We were a growing company and he was growing with us. His ability to focus for long periods of time on complex problems that would make anyone else's eyes glaze over was, and remains, truly amazing. Over time, people in the office who interacted with him learned to be direct and precise in their communications and to be clear about setting deadlines. Attempts to get Andy to exercise what we felt was simple initiative continued to be frustrating, but his remarkable knowledge about all things web and interactive helped to overcome the communication issues. We simply learned to adapt. Then one day, things started to come undone.
While the details of the event are something that don't bear on the outcome of this story, the results of the incident called his years of loyal service into question and eventually led to his disclosure of having Asperger's Syndrome. Now his behavior over those years began to make some sense. The short, direct communication style, the ability to focus on complex and detailed problems, the task centeredness, and his intense loyalty to the company . . . all fit the classic description for high-functioning autism. I'm happy to say that we were both able to get over our bump in the road, although it took a lot of work on both ends to restore the trust that had been unfairly called into question. So, after nine years, what I have learned?
- That I am (and we all are) to some degree, victims of what we think we know, captured by our own prejudices.
That what one may consider a disability can be, in truth, an ability. Most other people could not (and most likely would not want to) do what Andy does, with the attention he can give, over the time spans he can concentrate. Simply put, he possesses a unique and powerful ability. His Asperger's and its attendant conditions of focus, orientation to detail, and task centeredness are actually the reasons he is so good at what he does.
That you can't always judge someone by their appearance (no matter what all of the hiring books tell us).
- That anyone has something to teach someone else. In this case, Andy's need to have his communications precise and to the point has improved my ability to give good direction to everyone.
Part of me will always remain embarrassed by the limitations of my judgment and behavior when I think about Andrew Jones and part of me will be glad for the opportunity he has given me to expand how I see and interact with all people. After speaking with other employers from businesses small and large, I also realize that how I felt and how I reacted were not very different than how they would have responded. Knowing that, I believe that the only way we, as a community of employers, are going to change the current dynamic of disability hiring, is to speak up and share our experiences and learning, and in doing so, break down the barriers of our current thinking and open our businesses and communities to a whole body of highly skilled, highly motivated people who can help them grow.
Through his own hard work and loyalty to our company, Andy has built quite a life for himself and I am proud to be a part of it.