{"id":3104,"date":"2022-10-25T13:49:47","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T13:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8d.nl\/?p=3104"},"modified":"2024-07-24T14:45:33","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T14:45:33","slug":"game-autism-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8d.nl\/en\/game-autism-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Serious game on autism and employment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Towards an inclusive labour market<\/h1>\n\n

“Players are presented with bite-sized scenarios and can then focus on the topics they know too little about.”<\/h4>\n\n
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As an employer or manager, how can you contribute to better integration of people with autism in the labour market? The European project Autism: Spectrum of Employment Skills, ASES<\/a>, revolves around that question. Within the consortium, we are developing a game that teaches managers how to make their job application process more accessible to candidates with ASD. Players also learn how to organise work and teams in such a way that people with autism can also flourish within the organisation. The serious game is specifically designed for European SMEs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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People with autism can be invaluable in the workplace. Unfortunately, precisely among this target group there is a considerable distance to the labor market. For example, the European Economic and Social Committee (EES) concluded that less than 10% of this target group is currently gainfully employed. One of the reasons is that standard application procedures do not sufficiently take into account the challenges experienced by people with autism. Thus, as a society, you exclude many people who would be very suitable for all kinds of jobs, but simply have more difficulty highlighting their skills in a classic job interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Existing initiatives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There have been previous initiatives designed to increase job opportunities for people with autism<\/a>. For example, there was an interesting pilot in the United States led by neuroscientist Leanne Chukosie, who aptly articulated the gap between people with autism and the job market: “There’s so much talent that’s sitting at home right now – and that’s a huge loss to the outside world. These are often exactly the workers you want: intelligent, able to focus for long periods of time, innovative problem solvers, loyal and reliable.” (Source<\/a>)\u00a0Together with her research team, Chukoskie launched a pilot in which 25 highly educated young people with autism were put to work learning soft skills you need in the job market. Innovative was the use of serious games to practice those skills. For example, the young people had to control a spaceship by looking at it; this was to practice maintaining eye contact – something that is important in the workplace and during job applications, but is often more difficult for people with autism.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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