[HN Gopher] Mentra aims to match neurodivergent jobseekers with ...
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Mentra aims to match neurodivergent jobseekers with jobs
Author : rntn
Score : 39 points
Date : 2023-09-05 17:39 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (techcrunch.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (techcrunch.com)
| gnicholas wrote:
| There was an HNer who tried to build a job board specifically for
| neurodiverse folks a couple years ago, though it now seems to be
| defunct. [1]
|
| I wonder if these folks will have a different outcome; one
| difference is that they've raised millions. TBH, I could see that
| being an advantage or a disadvantage.
|
| 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34157907
| NoZebra120vClip wrote:
| How is this not a series of discrimination lawsuits in the
| making?
| mrguyorama wrote:
| The DOJ has been on vacation since Enron
| throw18376 wrote:
| "not having a disability" is not a protected class, nor is
| "neurotypical", so I think you can probably just do it.
| klyrs wrote:
| I'm pretty sure "disability status" cuts both ways.
|
| That said, this appears to be a recruitment firm. They aren't
| hiring people, they're matchmaking people with companies. I'm
| not sure how anti-discrimination laws would apply to this. I
| can imagine that if a company uses this recruiter and manages
| to erase that information before candidates meet the hiring
| team, it could be okay.
| throw18376 wrote:
| i don't actually know much about employment law, but as I
| understand it this is different from most of the other
| protected classes (race gender etc.) after googling I found
| this statement from the EEOC:
|
| https://www.eeoc.gov/foia/eeoc-informal-discussion-
| letter-32...
|
| "Favoring an individual with a disability over a non-
| disabled individual for purposes of affirmative action in
| hiring or advancement is not unlawful disparate treatment
| based on disability, and therefore does not violate Title I
| of the ADA.(1) Both the text of the ADA itself, as
| clarified by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and the EEOC's
| implementing regulations explicitly state that an
| individual without a disability cannot bring a claim of
| discrimination under the ADA."
| klyrs wrote:
| Ah, interesting. I wonder how (if) that will stand in the
| face of the Students for Fair Admissions ruling.
| gnicholas wrote:
| The first thing that comes to mind is "what if a neurotypical
| person sued?", but the more troublesome legal development
| would be "what if a person with a different kind of
| disability sued?" That is, if a company is just hiring people
| with ASD, can someone with dyslexia sue, on the grounds that
| they're being discriminated against?
| MagaMuffin wrote:
| [dead]
| mentalpiracy wrote:
| unfortunately the reality has become such that lawsuits and
| fines are just the cost of doing business, so long as the
| investor money keeps coming.
| extraduder_ire wrote:
| I wonder what percentage of this is going to be used for spotting
| points of interest from aerial photos.
| rollcat wrote:
| > Some research shows that neurodivergent people can make teams
| up to 30% more productive when placed in the right environments.
|
| This rings true for any kind of "difficult" team member. All
| people have intrinsic advantages, and many who are considered
| "difficult" to work with, either are in the wrong role, are
| expected to be doing something that's uncomfortable to them, are
| not strong with communication, deadlines, estimating, etc.
|
| Your job as a team leader/manager is to figure out how to best
| utilize their talents, without letting the shortcomings get in
| the way of the project / rest of the team. Someone's really bad
| with deadlines? Don't give them deadlines! Assign them to more
| "async" work like writing tests, documentation, maintenance, etc.
|
| For me, with a strong technical background but no experience
| managing a team, having found myself in that role for the first
| time, it helped to think of it as an optimization problem.
| Databases are great at handling many rows of columnar data. GPUs
| are great at heavily parallel work like matrices.
|
| Every human is good at something. [NSFW]
| https://www.oglaf.com/gifted/
| swayvil wrote:
| At the shop where I used to write code everybody would
| humblebrag about their massive concentration powers.
|
| "I looked up and suddenly it was 5AM... I forgot how to talk
| human... I had XRay vision like in The Matrix...".
|
| Neurodivergent is alive and well.
| GartzenDeHaes wrote:
| > deadlines, estimating
|
| IMHO, most of them can do well with these things as long as
| you're not asking them to completely make something up.
| sitzkrieg wrote:
| software estimates is making something up
| dimal wrote:
| Interesting that it's backed by Sam "remote work 'experiment' was
| a mistake" Altman. As an HSP, I can say that remote work is
| essential for me. I think many other neurodivergent people would
| agree.
| passion__desire wrote:
| I wouldn't want to travel e.g. crowded commute as Japanese and
| Indians have to go through.
| zamalek wrote:
| HFA + ADHD. I absolutely agree. I find that I focus easily when
| I have an ignored distraction just out of sight: a coding
| stream, a let's play, or what-have-you. It's as though it keeps
| the distractible part of my brain occupied, so the focusing
| side can get to work. I would never be able to do that at an
| office - it would be misunderstood as a distraction in the
| forefront.
|
| I'm also logical to a flawed degree, and RTO makes me actually
| angry (yay autism) because it's such an extreme example of
| illogical stupidity. Altman is the last exec on earth that I
| would want anything to do with.
| godelski wrote:
| As an ADHD person I abhor open offices. I do appreciate the
| ability to socialize and bounce ideas, but it never allows me
| to get into the zone. Someone walking by my desk or talking
| near me will disrupt me. Like my text editor, it helps when I
| can adapt my work environment to me. If you want me to succeed
| in the office, give me an actual office with a door and a
| window to the outside. Don't cheap out on the walls and make
| them thin, optimize long term outcomes not micro actions. A
| door let's me communicate to others that I'm in the zone and to
| not come in unless there's a level of importance. This isn't
| something I can get through slack or an open office. Slack
| won't let me say "only send me notifications if a user has been
| told I'm busy and asked if it can wait" (or not ping me until I
| turn off my focus mode).
|
| The problem really comes down to trying to fit everyone into a
| neat little box. But we're humans, not automata. Our variance
| is our strength, not a weakness. To each his own I guess.
| afraidofthemoon wrote:
| I just signed up, thanks for sharing.
| swayvil wrote:
| Neurodivergent is like handedness. You're lefty or righty and
| stuck that way for your whole life.
|
| Or are you?
|
| What if you could transform yourself from one neuro-shape to
| another?
|
| Be basically shapeless. Or shape-free. Or shape-optional. Maybe
| there are some other shapes too. Shapes that you never see in
| nature. Useful shapes. Extreme shapes that are only hinted at in
| myth.
|
| Well that would be pretty cool.
|
| I think meditation can do that. Meditation addresses your shape.
| Gives you power over it.
|
| As far as I can tell there is no ceiling on that power.
|
| (This message was brought to you by the national committee for
| the promotion of meditation)
| xena wrote:
| If meditation worked to make you less neurodivergent, trust me
| there's a lot of neurodivergent people that would be fucking
| zen masters in service of the goal to not have huge problems
| interacting with society
| swayvil wrote:
| What do you mean by meditation? I mean it's a funny subject.
|
| And so is neurodivergency for that matter.
|
| You're comparing one deep mystery with another deep mystery.
|
| How about a "maybe" or a "I don't know"?
|
| Or a "well here's my experience" even?
| TylerE wrote:
| Frankly, this is vitamin-C cures cancer level offensive to ND
| folks.
| swayvil wrote:
| Getting offended is easy. You don't even need a central
| nervous system. What else have you got?
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