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Tampilkan postingan dengan label adults. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label adults. Tampilkan semua postingan

Sabtu, 21 Januari 2012

Obama admin: 2.5M young adults gain coverage

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FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2011, file photo, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius participates in an roundtable discussion on health information technology and job creation at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. The Obama administration says the number of young adults going without medical coverage has shrunk by 2.5 million since the new health care law took effect. A new analysis to be released Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, finds the drop is two-and-half times larger than indicated by government and private estimates from earlier this year. The health care overhaul allows young adults to stay on a parent’s plan until they turn 26. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File) FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2011, file photo, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius participates in an roundtable discussion on health information technology and job creation at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. The Obama administration says the number of young adults going without medical coverage has shrunk by 2.5 million since the new health care law took effect. A new analysis to be released Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, finds the drop is two-and-half times larger than indicated by government and private estimates from earlier this year. The health care overhaul allows young adults to stay on a parent’s plan until they turn 26. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)eval("var currentItemd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 1;");eval("var nextd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 0;");eval("var previousd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 0;"); WASHINGTON (AP) — Young adults trying to get traction in a tough economy are getting a welcome assist: the new federal health care law has markedly improved their access to health insurance.

The number of young Americans ages 19-25 lacking health insurance has shrunk by 2.5 million since President Barack Obama's health care overhaul took effect, the administration announced in an analysis released Wednesday.

That drop is 2½ times as large as the decline indicated by previous government and private estimates from earlier this year, which showed about 1 million had gained coverage.

The improvement comes even as the uninsured rate stayed basically stuck for those a little older, ages 26-35.

Under the health care overhaul, adult children can stay on a parent's plan until they turn 26, a provision that has proven popular in an otherwise divisive law.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the numbers show the law is making a big difference for families with adult children.

"Many of them gained coverage earlier this spring, meaning the law was there for young people as they graduated from college or high school and began their careers," she said.

Administration officials said there are a couple of reasons for the better-than-expected result.

First, there is more data available now than earlier this year. Secondly, analysts are slicing the numbers more precisely than the government usually does.

The health care law's main push to cover the uninsured doesn't come until 2014. But the young adults' provision took effect last fall, and most workplace health plans started carrying it out Jan. 1. Since then, families have flocked to sign up adult children making the transition to work in a challenging environment.

The overall fate of Obama's law remains uncertain, with the Supreme Court scheduled to hear a constitutional challenge next year, and Republican presidential candidates vowing to repeal it. But this provision seems to have gotten a seal of approval from consumers.

"The increase in coverage among 19- to 25-year-olds can be directly attributed to the Affordable Care Act's new dependent coverage provision," said the HHS analysis.

Using unpublished quarterly statistics from the government's ongoing National Health Interview Survey, analysts in Sebelius' policy office determined that nearly 36 percent of those age 19-25 were uninsured in the third calendar quarter of 2010, before the law's provision took effect.

That translates to more than 10.5 million people.

By the second calendar quarter of 2011, the proportion of uninsured young adults had dropped to a little over 27 percent, or about 8 million people.

The difference — nearly 2.5 million getting coverage — can only be the result of the health care law, administration officials said, because the number covered by public programs like Medicaid went down slightly.

Overall, nearly 30 million Americans are ages 19 to 25.

"From September 2010 to June 2011, coverage rose only among those adults affect by the policy," said the HHS report.

The National Center for Health Statistics has documented a broadly similar trend in its official publications, only it's not nearly as dramatic.

Administration officials said those statistics did not focus on the change from calendar quarter to calendar quarter, as does the new HHS report. Instead, they pool data over longer time periods, and that has the effect of diluting the perceived impact of the law, officials said.

Traditionally, young adults have been more likely to be uninsured than any other age group.

Some are making the switch from school to work. Others are holding down low-wage jobs that don't usually come with health care. And some — termed the "invincibles" — pass up job-based health insurance because they don't think they'll use it and would rather get extra money in their paychecks.

Other early coverage expansions in the health care law have not worked as well, including a special program for people with health problems turned away by private insurers. Many applicants found the premiums unaffordable.

Young adults are less expensive to cover than people who are middle-aged, and many companies have spread the extra premiums among their workers. Benefits consultant Delloite LLP has projected additional health plan costs in the range of 1 percent to 2 percent for covering young adults.

Before the health care overhaul, families with adult children faced a hodgepodge of policies. Some health plans only covered older children while they were full-time students. Others applied an age cutoff.

Associated Press

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Minggu, 04 Desember 2011

Daily Aspirin Cuts Colon Cancer in High-Risk Adults

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Reduction in risk of colon cancer in people who took 600 mg of aspirin daily for at least two years, compared with those who took placebo. The randomized trial, published in The Lancet, focused on patients with Lynch syndrome, a rare genetic condition that predisposes people to colorectal and other cancers, so the findings don't easily translate to the general public. [via MedPage Today]



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Senin, 24 Oktober 2011

CDC Tracks Thoughts of Suicide in Adults, State by State

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Stephen H. Sheffield / Getty Images Stephen H. Sheffield / Getty Images

More than 8 million Americans thought seriously about suicide in the previous year, according to a new government survey. More adults who considered suicide lived in the Midwest and West than in other parts of the country.

The findings were reported on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its first state-by-state look at suicide contemplation. Unlike previous research that has tended to focus on rates of actual suicide, the new analysis asked about the thoughts and behaviors that precede it.

"This report highlights that we have opportunities to intervene before someone dies by suicide. We can identify risks and take action before a suicide attempt takes place," said CDC director Dr. Thomas M. Frieden in a statement. "Most people are uncomfortable talking about suicide, but this is not a problem to shroud in secrecy."

LIST: 20 Ways to Get Happier

The study was based on responses from 92,264 people aged 18 or older who took part in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2008-09. The survey [PDF], which collects data on health risks related to drug, alcohol and tobacco use, as well as mental health, is conducted every year, but 2008 and 2009 were the first years in which all respondents — not just those who reported suffering from depression — were asked whether they had had serious thoughts about killing themselves at any point in the previous year.

Their answers reveal that suicidal thoughts and behavior vary widely by region. In general, adults in the West and Midwest were more likely to have considered suicide than people in the South and Northeast. Adults in Georgia, for instance, were least likely to report having had suicidal thoughts (2.1%) in 2008-09; residents of Utah, at 6.8%, were most likely.

Georgia also had the lowest rate of suicide planning (0.1%), but it was a northeastern state, Rhode Island, that had the highest: 2.8% of people in the tiny state reported having planned to kill themselves. Overall, 1 in 100 American adults (2.2 million total) said they had planned a suicide in the previous year.

MORE: What Does a 400% Increase in Antidepressant Use Really Mean?

Georgia and Delaware had the lowest rate of suicide attempts, at 0.1%, or 1 in 1,000 people. Rhode Island again was at the top: 1.5%, or 1 in 67, residents reported having made a suicide attempt. In total, the CDC found, one million Americans said they had attempted suicide in the previous year.

The study didn't explore exactly why suicidal thoughts were more common in some states than in others, but the authors offered some theories.

It could be due to "selective migration," which suggests that people who are at greater risk for suicidal behavior tend to migrate to the same areas. Or it could have to do with sociodemographics. The CDC found that women were more likely to contemplate suicide than men, and younger adults were also more likely to think about it — and to act on those thoughts — than older ones. States with more women and younger people might therefore register more suicidal thinking.

Demographic differences may also help explain why regions that have high rates of suicide contemplation are not necessarily those that have more suicide deaths: while women are more likely to think about suicide than men, they're less likely to actually succeed.

PHOTOS: Pure Yoga. 99% Practice, 1% Theory

Other contributors to suicide may lie in the local social environment. Areas with more unemployment and higher divorce rates may have higher rates of suicidal behavior. People living in areas with sparse social networks and inadequate medical support might also be left at greater risk.

In some states with high rates of suicide, residents may have greater access to lethal means, such as guns. Previous research by the CDC has found that states with the highest suicide death rates include Alaska, New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana.

The current data indicate that suicide prevention strategies should be better targeted at the local level, to those in greatest need. Prevention measures can include broad public-education campaigns that improve public awareness of suicide risk, as well as individualized cognitive-behavioral therapy for people who are at risk of committing suicide, such as those with a history of suicide attempts.

"Suicide is a preventable tragedy," said Pam Hyde, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which collaborated with the CDC on the new study. "With this new data we will be able to work more effectively to reach people at risk and help keep them safe."

MORE: Do People Really Drink More When the Economy Tanks?

Sora Song is the editor of TIME Healthland. Find her on Twitter at @sora_song. You can also continue the discussion on Healthland's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIMEHealthland.



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Sabtu, 22 Oktober 2011

CDC Tracks Thoughts of Suicide in Adults, State by State

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Stephen H. Sheffield / Getty Images Stephen H. Sheffield / Getty Images

More than 8 million Americans thought seriously about suicide in the previous year, according to a new government survey. More adults who considered suicide lived in the Midwest and West than in other parts of the country.

The findings were reported on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its first state-by-state look at suicide contemplation. Unlike previous research that has tended to focus on rates of actual suicide, the new analysis asked about the thoughts and behaviors that precede it.

"This report highlights that we have opportunities to intervene before someone dies by suicide. We can identify risks and take action before a suicide attempt takes place," said CDC director Dr. Thomas M. Frieden in a statement. "Most people are uncomfortable talking about suicide, but this is not a problem to shroud in secrecy."

LIST: 20 Ways to Get Happier

The study was based on responses from 92,264 people aged 18 or older who took part in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2008-09. The survey [PDF], which collects data on health risks related to drug, alcohol and tobacco use, as well as mental health, is conducted every year, but 2008 and 2009 were the first years in which all respondents — not just those who reported suffering from depression — were asked whether they had had serious thoughts about killing themselves at any point in the previous year.

Their answers reveal that suicidal thoughts and behavior vary widely by region. In general, adults in the West and Midwest were more likely to have considered suicide than people in the South and Northeast. Adults in Georgia, for instance, were least likely to report having had suicidal thoughts (2.1%) in 2008-09; residents of Utah, at 6.8%, were most likely.

Georgia also had the lowest rate of suicide planning (0.1%), but it was a northeastern state, Rhode Island, that had the highest: 2.8% of people in the tiny state reported having planned to kill themselves. Overall, 1 in 100 American adults (2.2 million total) said they had planned a suicide in the previous year.

MORE: What Does a 400% Increase in Antidepressant Use Really Mean?

Georgia and Delaware had the lowest rate of suicide attempts, at 0.1%, or 1 in 1,000 people. Rhode Island again was at the top: 1.5%, or 1 in 67, residents reported having made a suicide attempt. In total, the CDC found, one million Americans said they had attempted suicide in the previous year.

The study didn't explore exactly why suicidal thoughts were more common in some states than in others, but the authors offered some theories.

It could be due to "selective migration," which suggests that people who are at greater risk for suicidal behavior tend to migrate to the same areas. Or it could have to do with sociodemographics. The CDC found that women were more likely to contemplate suicide than men, and younger adults were also more likely to think about it — and to act on those thoughts — than older ones. States with more women and younger people might therefore register more suicidal thinking.

Demographic differences may also help explain why regions that have high rates of suicide contemplation are not necessarily those that have more suicide deaths: while women are more likely to think about suicide than men, they're less likely to actually succeed.

PHOTOS: Pure Yoga. 99% Practice, 1% Theory

Other contributors to suicide may lie in the local social environment. Areas with more unemployment and higher divorce rates may have higher rates of suicidal behavior. People living in areas with sparse social networks and inadequate medical support might also be left at greater risk.

In some states with high rates of suicide, residents may have greater access to lethal means, such as guns. Previous research by the CDC has found that states with the highest suicide death rates include Alaska, New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana.

The current data indicate that suicide prevention strategies should be better targeted at the local level, to those in greatest need. Prevention measures can include broad public-education campaigns that improve public awareness of suicide risk, as well as individualized cognitive-behavioral therapy for people who are at risk of committing suicide, such as those with a history of suicide attempts.

"Suicide is a preventable tragedy," said Pam Hyde, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which collaborated with the CDC on the new study. "With this new data we will be able to work more effectively to reach people at risk and help keep them safe."

MORE: Do People Really Drink More When the Economy Tanks?

Sora Song is the editor of TIME Healthland. Find her on Twitter at @sora_song. You can also continue the discussion on Healthland's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIMEHealthland.



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Minggu, 25 September 2011

Million young adults get health coverage under law

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WASHINGTON (AP) — At least one part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul has proven popular. With the economy sputtering, the number of young adults covered by health insurance grew by about a million as families flocked to take advantage of a new benefit in the law.

Two surveys released Wednesday — one by the government, another by Gallup — found significantly fewer young adults going without coverage even as the overall number of uninsured remained high.

The government's National Center for Health Statistics found that the number of uninsured people ages 19-25 dropped from 10 million last year to 9.1 million in the first three months of this year, a sharp decline over such a brief period.

New data from an ongoing Gallup survey found that the share of adults 18-25 without coverage dropped from 28 percent last fall to 24.2 percent by this summer. That drop translates to roughly 1 million or more young adults gaining coverage.

The new health care law allows young adults to remain on their parents' health plans until they turn 26. Previously, families faced a hodgepodge of policies. Some health plans covered only adult children while they were full-time students. Others applied an age cutoff.

Elizabeth Wilson, an aspiring opera singer who lives near Indianapolis, said her mother's plan dropped her in the midst of a medical crisis because she had turned 23. At the time, Wilson was in the hospital under treatment for an inflammation of the pancreas. Because of the overhaul, she has been able to get back on the policy.

"It means I don't have to spend every penny I make to get health care," said Wilson, now 24. "I can use some of it to further my studies — or buy food."

The two surveys were welcome news for the administration, which is trying to fight off attempts to repeal the law — which some GOP lawmakers and candidates call "Obamacare" — or to overturn it in court.

"It's very disappointing to hear some people in Congress talk about repealing the law and taking away this security," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Repealing Obama's law, which Congress approved in March 2010, would end the requirement that health plans cover young adults up to age 26. But some GOP lawmakers say they would include such a mandate in replacement legislation to follow.

While the bleak economy has made it hard for young people to get jobs, fewer are being forced to go without medical care, defying an overall trend of rising numbers of working-age Americans who lack coverage.

"While we did not see a drop-off in any other age group, we did see a drop in this age group," said Frank Newport, Gallup's polling director.

Gallup found that the share of 26- to 64-year-olds uninsured rose from 18.1 percent in the fall of last year to 19.9 percent this summer.

Public opinion remains divided about Obama's overhaul, but coverage for young adults has proven to be a popular and relatively low-cost benefit in these days of prolonged school-to-work transitions. The provision technically took effect last fall but wasn't implemented by most workplace health plans until Jan. 1.

"The big change started in the last quarter of 2010 and continued further in the first two quarters of this year," said Newport. "Bingo, it started going down," he said of the percentage of uninsured young adults.

Those young Americans are still more likely to be uninsured than any other age group.

Some are making the switch from school to work. Others are in low-wage jobs that don't usually offer coverage. And some in this group — sometimes termed the "invincibles"— pass up workplace health insurance because they don't think they'll use it and would rather get a little extra in their paychecks.

The latest surveys are in line with other findings. Mercer, the benefits consulting firm, found a 2 percentage-point increase in workplace health plan enrollment as a result of extending coverage to young adults.

It's a less expensive group to cover than middle-aged or older adults, and many companies have spread the extra premiums among their workers. Delloite LLP, another major benefits consultant, projects additional costs for covering young adults in the range of 1-2 percent.

Other early coverage expansions in the health care law have not worked as well, including a special program for people with health problems turned away by insurers.

The law's main push to cover the uninsured isn't scheduled until 2014. At that time, more than 30 million people are expected to get coverage through a combination of expanding Medicaid and providing tax credits to make private insurance more affordable. And insurers will no longer be able to turn away people in poor health.

Gallup continuously surveys nearly 1,000 people a day. Its analysis includes 89,857 respondents interviewed between April 1 and June 30. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 1 percentage point; it is higher for subgroups.

The government's National Health Interview Survey is one of the primary sources of information on the U.S. public, relying on detailed household interviews. The latest results are drawn from interviews with more than 20,000 people from January through March. Wednesday's report also found an uptick in public coverage for young adults, but officials said that increase was not statistically significant.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Stobbe in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Online:

Gallup survey: http://tinyurl.com/3dy4nrk

HHS report: http://tinyurl.com/3mvc7wg

Associated Press

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Startup company succeeds at hiring autistic adults

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In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, Aspiritech co-founder Moshe Weitzberg works with employees at the nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs, as they test a new program in Highland Park, Ill. Aspiritech hires only people with autism disorders. Traits that make great software testers _intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail _ also happen to be characteristics of autism. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, Aspiritech co-founder Moshe Weitzberg works with employees at the nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs, as they test a new program in Highland Park, Ill. Aspiritech hires only people with autism disorders. Traits that make great software testers _intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail _ also happen to be characteristics of autism. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, Aspiritech co-founder Moshe Weitzberg, standing left, works with employees, from left, Katie Levin, Rick Alexander and Jamie Specht, at the nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs as they test a new program in Highland Park, Ill. Aspiritech hires only people with autism disorders. Traits that make great software testers _intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail _ also happen to be characteristics of autism. Marc Lazar, Aspertech's autism specialist works in the background. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, Aspiritech co-founder Moshe Weitzberg works with employee Katie Levin, reflected in a computer screen, at the nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs, as they test a new program in Highland Park, Ill. Aspiritech hires only people with autism disorders. Traits that make great software testers _intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail _ also happen to be characteristics of autism. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, Marc Lazar, autism specialist for Aspiritech, a nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs, works with employee Alan Sun, as they test a new program in Highland Park, Ill. Aspiritech hires only people with autism disorders. Traits that make great software testers _intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail _ also happen to be characteristics of autism. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)to be characteristics of autism. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, employees Oran Weitzberg, left, and Rick Alexander, celebrate a breakthrough, at Aspiritech, a nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs, as they test a new program in Highland Park, Ill. Aspiritech hires only people with autism disorders. Traits that make great software testers _intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail _ also happen to be characteristics of autism. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)eval("var currentItemd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 1;");eval("var nextd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 0;");eval("var previousd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 0;"); HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — The software testers at Aspiritech are a collection of characters. Katie Levin talks nonstop. Brian Tozzo hates driving. Jamie Specht is bothered by bright lights, vacuum cleaners and the feel of carpeting against her skin. Rider Hallenstein draws cartoons of himself as a DeLorean sports car. Rick Alexander finds it unnerving to sit near other people.

This is the unusual workforce of a U.S. startup that specializes in finding software bugs by harnessing the talents of young adults with autism.

Traits that make great software testers — intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail — also happen to be characteristics of autism. People with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, have normal to high intelligence and often are highly skilled with computers.

Aspiritech, a nonprofit in Highland Park, Ill., nurtures these skills while forgiving the quirks that can make adults with autism unemployable: social awkwardness, poor eye contact, being easily overwhelmed. The company's name plays on the words "Asperger's," ''spirit" and "technology."

Clients, nine companies in Aspiritech's first two years, have been pleased.

"They exceeded my expectations," said Dan Tedesco of Shelton, Conn.-based HandHold Adaptive, which took a chance on Aspiritech to test an iPhone application. "There is a pride in their product you don't usually see in this type of work."

Aspiritech was founded by Moshe and Brenda Weitzberg after their son, Oran, now 32, was fired from a job bagging groceries. Oran was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when he was 14. He now works at Aspiritech.

"He went from failing at bagging groceries to being one of the best software testers on our team," said Brenda Weitzberg.

The Weitzbergs modeled Aspiritech on a successful Danish company called Specialisterne, or "the Specialists." Specialisterne also employs software testers with autism. Its satisfied clients include Oracle and Microsoft.

Other companies in Belgium, Japan and Israel are either hiring or training adults with autism as software testers.

This year, Aspiritech projects $120,000 in revenue, with 60 percent coming from donations and 40 percent from clients. The Weitzbergs hope to raise the client revenue to 50 percent next year.

"There have been a couple of attempts in the U.S. and Aspiritech is the one that's making it," said Scott Standifer of the University of Missouri's Disability Policy and Studies office and the organizer of a national conference on adults with autism and employment.

The exact unemployment rate for adults with autism is unknown, but it's thought to be high, Standifer said.

"We don't know how many adults have autism and, because of that, we don't know their rate of unemployment," he said. "We do know from tracking adults just emerging from high school that they are having great difficulty finding jobs."

A 2009 U.S. Department of Education survey found the employment rate for young adults with autism was on par with that for deaf-and-blind young adults, and well below the rate of those with blindness alone or learning disabilities or traumatic brain injuries, Standifer said.

Since Asperger's syndrome didn't become a standard diagnosis until the early 1990s, many of Aspiritech's software testers were adults when they first learned they were on the autism spectrum. They are pioneers, the first generation of adults with Asperger's.

Katie Levin, 35, was diagnosed in her late 20s with Asperger's. As a child, she'd been labeled as mentally ill.

"Asperger's is not a mental illness," she said. "I definitely feel like I identify with the Asperger's community more than I did with the mental illness community." She tests software and runs Aspiritech's Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Rick Alexander, 24, another tester, has a degree in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology and completed an internship developing software for the city of Chicago.

"I have a lot of social anxiety. I don't like meeting new people," said Alexander, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome as a teenager. Like many of the other testers, he lives with his parents.

He'd rather be a software developer than a tester, he said. But selling himself in a job interview is "very difficult for me."

"When you're a child, the school is very concerned with you, the state is very concerned with you," Alexander said. Organizations help adults with autism, he said, but "you need to approach them and for somebody with Asperger's syndrome, it's very difficult to do the approaching."

Most research dollars have gone toward studying children with autism while adults have been neglected, said Molly Losh, an autism researcher at Northwestern University.

"Our vocational structure really isn't suited to funnel people with autism into the workforce," Losh said. Aspiritech "is a magnificent and innovative venture," she said.

Many businesses hire offshore companies to test software. Mike Mestemaker, director of engineering for Schaumburg, Ill.-based ISI Telemanagement Solutions, chose Aspiritech because it offered competitive rates but was based in the United States.

"They dove right in and worked very quickly," Mestemaker said. "They were very detail-oriented people. They really got the job done."

ISI was happy with the work and has hired Aspiritech for a second project, he said.

Aspiritech provides meaningful work (pay is $12 to $15 an hour) in a relaxed environment where bosses never yell if you're late and nobody minds if you need to be alone for a while. What's more, the company is building social skills. The software testers, who are in their 20s and 30s, are trained to work together and they take part in organized outings: miniature golf, bowling, eating at a restaurant.

"We want to improve social skills among people who tend to be socially isolated," said Marc Lazar, Aspiritech's autism specialist. For many of them, software testing is not going to be their lifelong career, Lazar said, "but while they're here they're going to improve their job skills and they're going to learn what kind of behavior is expected on the job and they're going to have more to put on their resumes."

___

AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/CarlaKJohnson

Associated Press

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