When German software giant SAP said it plans to employ hundreds of autistic people as IT experts, the news was welcomed especially at a small Berlin computer consulting firm.

德國軟體巨擘SAP宣布，將雇用上百名自閉症人士擔任資訊專業工作。這個消息特別讓一家柏林的電腦諮商公司感到興奮。

The pioneering company, Auticon, already employs 17 people who live with autism, the disorder characterised by difficulties with social interactions and exceptional abilities in specific fields.

這家名叫Auticon的公司是開路先鋒，早已雇用17名有自閉症的員工。自閉症的典型症狀是社會互動障礙，並且在特定領域有超凡能力。

"Many people say that if a company like SAP said it makes sense... it's very good for us," said its chief Dirk Mueller-Remus. "That means it's something serious, solid."

該公司執行長穆勒雷姆斯說：「很多人說，如果像SAP這樣的公司都說沒問題…那麼對我們非常有利，表示這是很嚴肅而確實的事情。」

SAP, which makes business software, said in May that after pilot projects in India and Ireland, it plans to employ hundreds of people with autism as software testers and programmers.

製作商業軟體的SAP於5月說，在印度與愛爾蘭的試行計畫結束後，將雇用上百名自閉症患者擔任程式設計師與測試人員。

An autism specialist, psychiatrist Kai Vogeley of Cologne University Hospital,told a German medical journal that people with autism who work can "develop confidence in themselves".(AFP)

科隆大學醫院專研自閉症的精神病學家暨佛格立在一份德國醫療期刊說，自閉症患者工作「可以培養自信」。（法新社）

● 詞解：
1.autism：自閉症
2.interaction：互動，互相影響
3.solid：固體的，確實的，慎重的

2013-07-07