For Some With Autism, a Watch Factory Is the Perfect Job

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For Some With Autism, a Watch Factory Is the Perfect Job

In the ******* States, several organizations — including the Horological Society of New York, the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors and the Autism Society of America — said they had not heard of any watch companies hiring people on the autism spectrum. And while James Sprague, the editor of Horological Times, the ********* Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute’s monthly magazine, said several companies had issued special-edition timepieces to raise money for autism-related causes, FTS was the only one he knew of that had employed people with the condition.

In the past two years, a handful of students have self-identified as autistic or dyslexic at Gem City College School of Horology in Quincy, Ill., and they have done well with the detailed, hands-on learning at the bench, according to Philip Stoller, who teaches watch and clock repair there. “They simply just learn differently than you would in a traditional university or a traditional classroom,” he said.

The idea of people with autism working in the watch industry makes sense to Daniel A. Spitz, a WOSTEP-trained master watchmaker who has twin 17-year-old sons with autism. He said he had not heard of any watch companies hiring people on the spectrum, but he believed it could work — including at large watch factories such as those in Switzerland and Germany. Many people with autism can’t handle noise, he said, but the watchmaking environment is typically quiet.

Mr. Spitz, who is based in Delray Beach, Fla., where he recently opened Delray Beach Vintage Watches, stressed that people with autism “need a purpose, like we all need a purpose.” And, he said, many have explosive intelligence in certain areas and can do much more than repetitive tasks.

“They can put headphones on,” he said. “They can listen to their own music or just sound-blocking headphones and, you know, they’ll show you a thing or two.”

Critical Support

In Arizona, SARRC provided a half-day of initial training to FTS employees so they would have a better understanding of autism and the kinds of challenges that people with the condition often face in the workplace. And for any of its clients who wanted to apply for FTS jobs, it helped them to put together résumés or prepare for interviews.

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