When Thorkil Sonne’s son was diagnosed with autism in 1999, he read up on the disorder. What he learned worried him: there is no cure for autism, there is less support for children with “invisible” disabilities like autism and almost no support for adults, and autistic adults often have trouble finding and keeping jobs.

Despite the challenges, people with “autism spectrum disorder,” or ASD have unique strengths and abilities. When he was seven, Sonne’s son recreated a complicated map from the index of a European road atlas, complete with page number references, from memory. The boy hadn’t made a single error in the complex drawing.

Sonne realized that the ability to pay close attention to details, work painstakingly at tedious tasks for long periods of time, and perform repetitive tasks without errors were all very desirable skills for work like software testingand data validation.

He founded Specialisterne which means “specialists” in Danish. The company’s vision is to channel the skills of people with ASD into work that suits them, in an environment focused on helping them succeed.

Specialisterne is not a charity – it’s a for profit business whose clients include Microsoft and LEGO. Sonne told Wired, “This is not cheap labor, and it's not occupational therapy. We simply do a better job."

Sonne started a foundation which has inspired other companies in several countries to replicate Specialisterne’s model. MIT are lauding his successful social enterprise. To Sonne, this revolutionary business model is simple. He told Atlantic Monthly, “I think normality is whatever the majority decides it will be, and in our company people with autism are the norm.”

(Photo courtesy Jeff Kubina via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

In common vernacular, a “warm person” is someone who is open, amiable. A new study gives a more literal meaning to the term. The study suggests that temperature actually affects peoples' sense of judgment.

In an experiment, two groups of people were asked to watch a movie in separate rooms with a temperature variance of five degrees. Afterwards, participants were asked to discuss the experience. Curiously, those who had been in the warmer room described the film in more concrete, physical terms, and also expressed feeling socially closer to the experimenter.

What’s the commonality here? The researchers claim their findings suggest a link between our concepts of "relations" generally (between people and things) and temperature. The study could provide some vital insight into how the body’s physical condition affects cognition, refuting the age-old notion of a mind/body duality.

BPS Research Digest: A Warm Room Makes People Feel Socially Closer

(Photo courtesy Sarah Gilbert via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

Swish, swish! November 11th is the official day to honor our favorite fall fabric: corduroy. The elementary school staple gets its due each year on 11/11 (the day that most resembles the material).

The Corduroy Appreciation Club (yes, it really exists) is holding meetings for corduroy-enthusiasts across the country. Author Sloane Crosley will share his love of all things ribbed tonight in New York for a mere $11.11 cover charge. An invite is required. Rumor has it, secret corduroy rituals are involved.

Tell us about your favorite corduroy item. I'm currently wearing a brown corduroy skirt and Virginia is known for her collection of corduroy pants in a rainbow of colors (and mourns the loss of her threadbare orange corduroy jacket).

What's in your closet?

(Photo courtesy hoveringdog via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

In honor of our nation's veterans, Word of Mouth is stepping away from the microphone to bring you part three of the Boots On The Ground: Stories From The War In Iraq series from the Peabody-Award winning public radio program To the Best of Our Knowledge.

Philip Gourevitch talks about the Errol Morris' film Standard Operating Procedure about the American soldiers at Abu Ghraib. Commander of Coalition Forces in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004, General Ricardo Sanchez discusses his experiences at Abu Ghraib. Mike Hoyt, executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review talks about his work on Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists Who Covered It. Brian Palmer was embedded for CNN three times with the 1st Battalion/Second Marines between 2004 and 2006. And Deborah Scranton, director of The War Tapes talks about giving New Hampshire National Guard soldiers the chance to record their experiences in combat in Iraq for one year.

Keep the Veteran's Day spirit alive with this incredibly moving documentary. The Way We Get By tells the story of a group of senior citizens who go to the Bangor International Airport at the crack of dawn to greet troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Get your tissues handy for today's screening on PBS's POV.

(Photo courtesy The U.S. Army via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

Ding! Another round of Championship Ideas Smackdown has begun.

We had a killer ideas meeting yesterday and now we need YOU to tell us what you want to hear on Word of Mouth next week:

• Death to Receipts
• Microcinemas
• Tech Crafting
• The 2012 Industry
• Private Prisons
• Carbon Footprint of Pets
• School House Rock for Science
• DIY Video Game Designers
• Is NBC Too Big To Fail?
• A Mixtape for your Kitchen
• The Psychology of Terrorism
• The Chemicals In My Body
• Generation Recession
• An Electric Piano That Actually Sounds Good
• The Muslim American Teenager's Handbook
• The Search For Dying Languages
• Rock Stars of Egyptology
• New Hampshire Tech Fest
• ClimateCounts Scorecard
• Neuroscience of Navigation
• Why Now is a Good Time to Open a Restaurant
• Census Conspiracy Theories

Whew. There's no way we can pick from all these winners (it's like Sophie's Choice over here), so let us know what you want to hear!

(Photo by etrusia_uk via Flickr/Creative Commons)