When Paige Binsley stepped through the doors at Southern California Edison’s Santa Monica Service Center, she once again felt honored to be a part of the team working to solve today’s biggest software challenges.

“The work done at Edison is important, and it is great to be a part of it,” said Binsley.

Along with 12 of her colleagues from auticon, she is working with SCE to quality test disaster recovery systems for critical Transmission and Distribution applications.

Binsley and the other analysts at auticon are all on the autism spectrum. auticon, a company that serves global technology clients by recruiting, training and employing adults on the autism spectrum for careers in technology, is working to combat the stigma against these individuals in the workplace.

Binsley, who has a bachelor’s degree in human biology from the University of Southern California, a culinary arts certification and describes herself as creative and detail-oriented, still found herself unemployed for a year before joining auticon. “It was a challenge to find work that fully utilized my skills and also offered a supportive environment.”

According to a study by the National Autism Society, up to 90% of adults on the autism spectrum are unemployed or underemployed, and in auticon’s 2020 global impact report, it noted its average employee was unemployed for three years.

Evan Rochte, a senior analyst also working on the SCE disaster recovery project, was unemployed for more than five years before joining auticon six years ago. “Having opportunities to work with companies like SCE shows me I am more capable than I ever thought,” he said.

“When I began working for the company, I could not believe how overlooked individuals on the autism spectrum were in the workforce just because they could not interview like everyone else,” said Rebecca Beam, auticon’s U.S. president.

"When you have met one person on the spectrum, you have met one person, but what we know about our team is that they are very good at attention to detail, pattern recognition and have uncompromised honesty,” Beam added. “They’re very good at finding the devil in the details, which makes our employees great for testing and looking for bugs.”

Hsin-Yih Su, a senior advisor in SCE’s IT department, works closely with auticon, and like Paige, remembers how excited she was to introduce the software regression testing project to the analysts.

“Not just at Edison, but in our own lives, we have a social responsibility to help people who have any type of disadvantage,” said Su. “auticon is excellent in the testing space and their employees are dedicated to the work they do.”

SCE works closely with A.B.L.E. (Abilities Beyond Limits and Expectations), an employee resource group that promotes inclusivity and community for employees with disabilities and caregivers of individuals with disabilities.

“Working with auticon shows Edison’s commitment to individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences,” said Sonya Estrada, A.B.L.E. board president.

Binsley, who joined auticon in January, wants employers to know the importance of considering neurodiversity in hiring practices and management.

“Individuals on the spectrum can be an excellent addition to a team, and they might benefit from an accommodation in order to thrive in the workplace,” Binsley said.

SCE has been working with auticon since 2018 on various ongoing IT projects.

“I live near the Edison Thousand Oaks Service Center and I am happy when I see one of their trucks drive by,” Binsley said. “I feel a sense of pride to be able to say that I have worked on a project for SCE.”