Currently, worldwide statistics indicate that autism can occur in one out of every 100 children born, so developing awareness of the autism spectrum is very important. How do we approach employing neuro-atypical people? We answered this question on June 17 at the online #ASpirujemy conference!
The aim of the conference was to present the benefits of working with neuro-atypical people, to highlight what characteristics they have, when they can be more effective employees than typical people, and what difficulties we face in these circumstances.
After all, everyone would like to find a place that is attractive to them, where they can pursue their passions or the goals they have set for themselves in life. One of them is certainly a job that brings not only financial benefits, but also develops certain skills, as well as experience. Taking the above into account, a very important aspect is the possibility of getting a job for people with disabilities, or in this case, neuro-atypical people.
The #ASpirujemy conference we organized became a place where guests could learn what it is like to work with neuro-atypical people and hear what such people need in the workplace. In addition, participants listened to graduates of our project who talked about what is most important to them. The topic of employing people on the autism spectrum was covered in three different panels by experts, therapists, and people experienced in working with people on the spectrum.
We would like to thank our speakers for coming to the conference, because of them it became even more professional.
The speakers at our conference were:
Panel I – What is it like to AS-pire to achieve great things? A discussion devoted to the business benefits of hiring neuro-atypical people.
- Grzegorz Zajączkowski – Leader of Digitalization and the European Commission for Poland
- Grzegorz Marchwiński – developer and leader of IT teams for more than 20 years, and for the last 2 years also an entrepreneur and co-creator of such products as woonity.com and itradar.io
- Paweł Kazienko – head of the testing team at asperIT.com and creator of the testing training program at asperIT.org
Panel II – Why do we want to hire neuro-atypical people? During this panel, we hosted representatives from Boeing.
- Maja Tomczak – Services Manager Boeing Gdańsk
- Kamila Ożga – Talent Acquisition Manager Boeing Gdańsk
Panel III – How to start hiring people on the autism spectrum? This panel covered the most important tips from experienced people working with neuro-atypical persons on a daily basis,
- Maria Wroniszewska – Management Board Member at SYNAPSIS Foundation, Polish Federation of Supported Employment and international organization Autism Europe
- Angelika Łasocha – Founder of AUTYZM-Startup.
- Jacek Śmigiel – Head of tutors at asperit.org, co-creator of the social training methodology within the asperIT project
Panel IV – How new technologies affect the lives of people with disabilities.
- Maciej Kawecki – President of the Stanisław Lem Institute.
Thank you all for participating in the #ASpirujemy conference. We are extremely pleased that so many people willing to explore the topic showed up.
Please visit our YouTube channel, where you can find recordings from the conference -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtzaNHwoqtRs-OURc2Eg4bw
