In the United States, several groups, including the New York Horological Society, the National Association of Watch Collectors and the Autism Society of America, say they have not heard of any watch companies that employ people on the autism spectrum, and James Sprague, editor of the Horological Times, the monthly publication of the American Watchmakers Society, said that while several companies have released special edition watches to raise funds for autism-related causes, FTS is the only company he knows of that employs people with the condition.
At Gem City College's horology department in Quincy, Illinois, several students who identify as autistic or dyslexic have enrolled in the school over the past two years, and they thrive on the in-depth, hands-on learning at the lab table, says Philip Stohler, a watch repair instructor at the school. “They just learn differently than they would at a traditional university or in a traditional classroom,” he says.
The idea of autistic people working in the watch industry makes sense to WOSTEP-trained watchmaker Daniel A. Spitz, who has twin 17-year-old sons with autism. He said he hasn't heard of a watch company hiring someone on the autism spectrum, but he thinks it could work, including at large watch factories in Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere. He said many autistic people can't tolerate noise, but the watchmaking environment is generally quiet.
Spitz, who is based in Delray Beach, Fla., and recently opened Delray Beach Vintage Watches, stressed that people with autism “need purpose, just like we all need purpose,” and that many have bursts of intelligence in certain areas, allowing them to do more than just repetitive tasks, he said.
“They can put on headphones,” he said, “and they'll listen to their own music or put on sound-isolating headphones and they'll show you some things.”
Critical Support
In Arizona, SARRC provided FTS employees with a half-day initial training session to better understand autism and the challenges autistic people often face in the workplace, and also assisted clients who wanted to apply for FTS jobs with writing resumes and preparing for interviews.
