越来越多雇主开始将神经多样性人群视为应当珍惜的人力资本。一家IT咨询公司只雇佣孤独症者，认为他们拥有“不同的操作系统”。



Greta Thunberg describes it as her “superpower”. Unfortunately, not everyone views autism that way. 6park.com
格蕾塔•通贝里(Greta Thunberg)将孤独症（autism，又译为自闭症）形容为她的“超能力”。遗憾的是，并不是人人都这样看待孤独症。 6park.com
For the teenage Swedish activist, having Asperger’s syndrome — a form of autism — has helped power her environmental campaigning. “It makes me different, and being different is a gift, I would say. It also makes me see things from outside the box,” she told the BBC. 6park.com
对这位十几岁的的瑞典活动人士而言，患有阿斯波哥尔综合征(Asperger’s syndrome)——一种孤独症——赋予她能量，帮助她更好地开展她的环保运动。“这使我与众不同，我会说与众不同是一种天赋。这也使我跳出思维定势看待事物。” 6park.com
But more commonly, people diagnosed on the autism spectrum — about one in 100 of the population — are stigmatised and excluded. In the UK, only 16 per cent of autistic adults were in full-time paid employment in 2016, according to the National Autistic Society. Other neurodiverse people, including those with dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Tourette syndrome, can face difficulties and discrimination in the workplace. 6park.com
但更普遍的是，被诊断出孤独症的人——占总人口的约百分之一——受到了歧视与排斥。英国国家孤独症协会(National Autistic Society)的数据显示，2016年，英国只有16%的成年孤独症者从事着全职带薪工作。其他神经多样性人群，如那些患有读写困难、运动障碍、注意力缺陷多动症(ADHD)和图雷特综合征(TS)的人，在职场可能会面临困难和歧视。 6park.com
But attitudes are changing as employers come to see neurodiverse people as a human asset that society should treasure, not as a liability to be marginalised. Neurodiversity, which is both a neurological concept and a social movement, is emerging as the “final frontier” in the diversity debate. 6park.com
但人们的态度正在发生变化，目前，雇主们开始将神经多样性人群视为社会应当珍惜的人力资本，而不是需要边缘化的负担。神经多样性既是神经学概念，又是社会运动，如今正成为多样性辩论的“最后阵地”。 6park.com
The case for reconceptualising our understanding of autism and celebrating neurodiversity is powerfully made in a new book by Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge university. Using the 2018 UK Brain Types Study of 600,000 people, Professor Baron-Cohen identified five brain types along a spectrum from empathising to systemising. 6park.com
关于为何应重建我们对孤独症的理解以及欢迎神经多样性，剑桥大学(Cambridge University)孤独症研究中心(Autism Research Centre)主任西蒙•巴伦-科恩(Simon Baron-Cohen)的新书给出了强有力的理由。利用2018年对英国60万人进行的大脑类型研究，巴伦-科恩确认了在共情能力光谱（光谱的一端是“共情”，另一端是“系统化思考”）上存在的5种大脑类型。 6park.com
He suggests that there is an overlap between hyper-systemisers, as he calls them, who tend to be good at pattern recognition and relentless experimentation, and autistic people. It is this systemising mechanism, a kind of if-and-then algorithm, that is one of the main engines of human ingenuity. 6park.com
他指出，他称为“超级系统主义者”的那个人群，与孤独症人群存在重叠，“超级系统主义者”往往擅长模式识别和严格的实验。正是这种系统化机制，一种“如果-那么”的算法，是人类创造性的主要引擎之一。



For more than 20 years, Prof Baron-Cohen has worked with autistic people in Cambridge and says such children often struggle at school, where they are not suited to changing subjects every 30 minutes when the bell rings. They then lack the necessary academic qualifications or social skills to shine at an interview and often fail to land a job. Two-thirds of those who come to his centre report feeling suicidal. 6park.com
20多年来，巴伦-科恩一直在剑桥研究孤独症人群，他说，这些孩子在学校常常很吃力，因为他们不适合一响铃（每30分钟）就换一个科目。他们因此欠缺必要的学业证明或社交技能，无法在面试中脱颖而出，也往往找不到工作。来到剑桥大学孤独症研究中心的孤独症者中，有三分之二称他们有自杀的念头。 6park.com
In Prof Baron-Cohen’s view, the most effective means to respond to this “human tragedy” is to help autistic people find meaningful employment. “The concept of neurodiversity is revolutionary,” he says. “Autistic people have strengths, they have real talents. They do not just have disabilities.” 6park.com
依巴伦-科恩之见，应对这种“人类悲剧”的最有效方式就是帮助孤独症患者找到有意义的工作。“神经多样性的观念是革命性的。”他说，“孤独症人群有长处，有真正的才能。他们有的不仅仅是缺陷。”



That message is increasingly reaching employers who value employees who think differently. SAP, the software company, aims to increase the number of its employees with a formal autism diagnosis to 1 per cent of its 70,000 workforce. Auticon, an IT consultancy firm, hires only autistic people, who it believes have a “different operating system”. Unit 9900 in the Israeli army recruits autistic people to spot anomalous patterns in satellite images. 6park.com
那些重视有着不同思维方式的员工的雇主正越来越多地接收到这一信息。软件公司SAP的目标是，让正式诊断为孤独症者的员工在其7万名员工中所占比例提升至1%。IT咨询公司Auticon只雇佣孤独症者，该公司认为他们拥有一种“不同的操作系统”。以色列国防军9900部队(Unit 9900)招募孤独症者识别卫星图像中的异常模式。 6park.com
In January, Universal Music launched a Creative Differences handbook to raise awareness of neurodiversity and help recruit a broader spectrum of employees. Since then, the company has been contacted by some 200 organisations from around the world keen to learn more. “We should be celebrating differences that lead to better ideas, outcomes and solutions,” says David Joseph, chief executive of Universal Music UK. “Companies need to change, not individuals. 6park.com
今年1月，环球音乐(Universal Music)发布了一本创意差异(Creative Differences)手册，以提高人们对神经多样性的认识，并帮助扩充雇员群体的多样性。自那时起，全球约有200家机构联系该公司，迫切希望了解更多信息。“我们应欢迎差异，差异会带来更好的创意、结果与解决方案。”环球音乐英国(Universal Music UK)首席执行官戴维•约瑟夫(David Joseph)说，“需要改变的是企业，而非个人。”



Mr Joseph says that all employers have an obligation to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate the needs of neurodiverse employees. But he recognises that this requires a stubborn commitment from senior management and all other employees. 6park.com
约瑟夫表示，所有雇主都有义务做出合理的调整，以适应神经多样性雇员的需要。但他认识到，这需要来自高级管理层及其他所有员工的坚定承诺。 6park.com
However, the concept of neurodiversity is itself controversial for some, who suggest it risks raising false hopes among those autistic people who are not suited to the workplace. 6park.com
然而，对某些人而言，神经多样性的观念本身就存在争议，他们认为这有可能让那些不适合工作的孤独症者产生虚幻的希望。 6park.com
James Cusack, the chief executive of the Autistica charity who is himself autistic, acknowledges that autism is an “umbrella diagnosis that covers a very, very broad spectrum”. “Getting into work will be extremely difficult for some autistic people and is not always a realistic goal,” he says. 6park.com
孤独症慈善机构首席执行官詹姆斯•丘萨克(James Cusack)自己也患有孤独症，他承认，孤独症是一种“涵盖范围非常广的总括性诊断”。他表示：“对某些孤独症患者来说，进入职场是极其困难的，而且并不总是一个现实的目标。” 6park.com
But he argues that employers should strive to accommodate employees from all non-traditional backgrounds, who can make a contribution. “Having people who think differently and see the world differently is really going to support innovation.” 6park.com
但他认为，雇主应努力适应所有可以做出贡献的非传统背景的员工。“拥有一些思维方式不同、看待世界的方式也不同的人，对创新真的有帮助。” 6park.com
Mr Cusack says we are all unique, and he is undoubtedly right. That is what neurodiversity is about — employers should never regard employees as categories, but as individuals. 6park.com
丘萨克表示我们都是独特的——毫无疑问，他是对的。这就是神经多样性的意义所在——雇主绝不应将员工视为不同类别的人群，而应将他们视为一个个不同的个体。