Hello
Can you describe what condition you have?
I have what's called high-functioning autism.
I have difficulty understanding
social interaction
I have difficulty put, putting... putting...
Putting anything on my mind into words
the hardest thing is
every day is a challenge
Can you tell me how many jobs you've applied for?
Off the top of my head
196
He wasn't diagnosed till the age of four
I think by then we realized, because he wasn't, sort of, talking in sentences
and he did sort of have some odd behavior
But we didn't know anything about autism at that time and it's been a learning experience ever since
I find everyday tasks
hard and demanding
Every single day I'm constantly worrying
because with all the
unpredictability in the world
I'm always in a state of anxiety
lots of plain and daily situations like, like, paying for things
or going out and about to do things [are] such a struggle
I often have routines
And have trouble anticipating change
my biggest fear in the future is to not get a job until way [later] [in] my life
Or worse, not at all, ending up living on the streets
Can you list for me your academic qualifications, please?
first class honours degree in games and graphics [?] technology
So this one time I think you were probably just coming up for two there
Thomas's autism means that he has a way of thinking which is
methodical and analytical, he'll spot the smallest detail, something that you or I wouldn't actually notice
We sort of noticed quite early on that
he would be really good at the games, because he seemed to have a really good hand-eye coordination
and he had an amazing memory
at sort of a young age
The purpose of my final project was to create a virtual reality game in which the screen can be rotated by gesture
Since graduating three years ago, Thomas has been desperately hunting for a job in the computer games industry
We all thought, "Oh, he'll get a job. He's got a first class degree"
and then sort of, for the first year or so
we were all a bit shell-shocked, really
because there was nothing there for him
his autism has meant he struggled in job interviews
And he's been rejected every time
interviews are really difficult for him
if something comes up that he doesn't expect to be asked, he'll stumble over his words
He'll forget, you know, sort of, the things he ought to say about himself
I can never be too sure
what the questions that they ask might be so I may be thrown off by
by a completely unexpected one which I don't have an answer prepared for
if I were to get a job, that would, that...
that would mean I'd be able to enjoy life a lot more because I'd be able to
be able to feel like I've contributed to society
to have that.. that sense that, you know, he's achieved that
would be just the most amazing thing in the world really
After months of searching, Thomas has made a breakthrough
Mum
Do you think it's worth making a good impression by dressing up?
Just, my concern is they may think I'm taking it too seriously
Well aren't you taking it seriously?
Yes
Well there you go then
A computer games company is recruiting for a new tester
And they want to see what Thomas is like on the job rather than how well he performs in an interview
He's waited such a long time for an opportunity like this
so I guess everything's built up to this moment and
This is massively significant for him today
If he does well, he could be offered a real job
Okay?
Have a good day, okay?
I'm really proud of you. You'll do a great job today.
All right? You show them what you can do, yeah?
Okay, see you later
Good luck, bye
The company produces realistic driving games
for PC, Xbox, and Playstation
and they're hunting for new talent
[How're you doing, nice to meet you]
that can prove themselves in real work situations
At a normal job interview, you'd never be able to see what somebody can offer the company
so to get them into the office to see how they get on while they're actually on the job
could be very helpful
for his first job, Thomas is tasked with helping to locate a bug in the simulator when multiple cars enter the pit lane
We've been chasing the same bug now for about
four or five days? this multiplayer bug needs to be desperately fixed
Requiring careful attention to detail
[slow down, slow down, slow down... brake, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake...] ...could be well suited to his autistic strengths
[It's only my first time]
[Oh, I know, it's perfectly fine]
It helps to have a massively good eye for detail when doing these checks because it's kind of hard to sometimes see a bug
Unless you're really looking for it
One hour in, and Thomas has assisted in reproducing the error
Hang on. It's...something's stopped. Something's stopped.
I think I've got it. / We've got it. We've got it. Ha!
This is perfect
You can see the FPS is gone/ Yes, I can see that
Yeah, so that's running about four FPS, so we've managed to repro it
That's testing 101, my friend, high-five
It's up to us to make sure there's no knock-on effects of the fixes.
Yes, that sounds like something for regression testing
It is regression testing, you've got it in one yeah. So you know regression testing/ Yes
perfect
unbelievable
Thomas has performed well, but the prospect of lunch and social interaction with colleagues
presents a potentially bigger challenge
I think we're taking you to the pub
right
You alright with the pub? Yeah? Cool.
I find it difficult to talk to others, because I'm never sure of the right words to say
I suppose some might assume I have no personality because of that
I find it hard to talk to people if they're already engaged, out of politeness
I'm standing outside a crowd. I just feel like I want to get into that crowd but my difficulties mean
I just don't...just don't know how to
Just how to go about it
Quite a big burger, no?
It's fine
I see myself as
As a bit different to other people
But I'm trying my absolute best to be normal
and that's probably one of the hardest things to do when you have a disability
Thomas has struggled to talk and socialize, but his work has been impressive and the team want to give him a bigger task
To test the performance of a new flight simulation game.
We're gonna have to try and
work out how the game is running on low-end hardware
Any bugs which are still in it and any poor frame rate issue is now going to be a massive issue
So what he's doing is actually quite important
Thomas needs to methodically check every level in the game for crashing weak spots
But his keen eye spots something else: a graphics error
How are we looking, Thomas?
See any more crashes? / More of a glitch than a crash. You know that was a strange color
Right there.
yeah, see it?
uh, yeah
That's a thing that a lot of people can easily gloss over and not realize it's there
So it's good when you've got an eye for detail like that and you're spotting things like that within the game
It's good, it's good testing
You found something which our render person thought we'd already fixed, which we hadn't
Good bug hunting. Thank you very much
You're welcome
By the end of the day, Thomas has worked through all of his tasks
Come in
The team want to feedback about his work and give thoughts on his career prospects
but what I liked today, which really impressed me today, was you finding the two bugs
you found a bug with [the] water shade
and everyone's thanked you on the forums
It's actually been quite helpful
If we were to be able to offer you some work here
How would you feel about that?
I'd be delighted/ Would you? That's great. We would love it if you could come and work with us.
Does that sound cool? / Yes. Thank you very much
He's shown to have good qualities and good strengths. He can think outside the box as he's demonstrated with today's work.
So I think the man could be well suited for the industry.
I think it could be a beginning of a very long and fulfilling career
Thank you very much for your effort. We really appreciate it, and it's been nice having you in the office
Hello, you're back!
so, how did it go?
Um it went very well, thank you. /Good.
They said in my appraisal that they'd like to offer me part-time paid work.
Wow!
No, really?/ Yes, really
That's amazing Thomas
very
Very very well done indeed
I'm just totally overwhelmed
It's so much more than we could've hoped for
This is massive
It could just basically turn his life around, give him the career that he's always wanted
I'm pretty much the kind of employee that no one has discovered yet
that kind of hard-working employee that could go very far, but
But he needs a chance, and I think today I managed to show that