Yang-Tan Institute Partners with Hewlett Packard
Cornell University is pleased to partner with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to facilitate the distribution of materials developed for HPE’s Dandelion Program. The Dandelion Program assists organizations and individuals in developing programs to provide skilled employment for people on the autism spectrum. Materials developed in the support and execution of this program will be made available through the open source online repository at the Cornell University ILR School via Digital Commons: digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/dandelionprogram/.
“Hewlett Packard Enterprise has truly been a thought leader in the employment of autistic people, and I am very proud and excited that HPE has chosen to share their learnings from the Dandelion Program in partnership with Cornell University,” said Susanne Bruyère, Director Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, Cornell University.
“We believe that these materials can be extremely helpful to companies who are currently implementing or considering starting programs targeting employment of individuals on the autism spectrum. The experience and successes of the Dandelion Program can contribute to assisting potential employers to better understand effective programs for on-boarding autistic people into competitive, often highly technical jobs, and setting them up with the appropriate skill sets to thrive, as well as in building a more disability-inclusive workplace overall.”
“We are so excited to be able to share our learnings from our Dandelion Program with rest of the world through a relationship with Cornell University. We commenced this journey nearly three years ago when we announced a partnership with SAP and Specialisterne during the United Nation’s World Autism day. Since then, we have developed a program that not only employs people with the ‘autism advantage’, but also focuses on building careers, individual skills and resilience,” said Michael Fieldhouse, Director – Emerging Businesses & Federal Government, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “We believe that we have made a sustainable, positive impact on the individuals we have employed, to our workplaces and the community. We will continue to add and update material as it comes available through continue improvement and research being conducted by Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University.”
Materials available include the following:
- Dandelion Program Governance Plan
- Dandelion Management Training
- Dandelion Program Charter
- Dandelion Program Plan
- Dandelion Program Standard Issues and Risks
- Dandelion Project Management Plan
- Dandelion Transition Plan
- Guidelines for Organisational Buy and Business Value
- Program Rollout Outline and Suggested Schedule
- Program Rollout Reporting
“We have worked closely with HPE over the last years and I am impressed with the result. The knowledge sharing is a concrete outcome of the collaboration HPE, SAP and Specialisterne announced at the UN ”World Autism Awareness Event at the UN headquarters in April 2016,” said Thorkil Sonne, Founder, Specialisterne.
Further information about these materials and workplace practices to facilitate disability inclusion for individuals with autism and other applicants and employees with disabilities more broadly can be directed to Cornell University to Susanne Bruyère at: yti_ilr@cornell.edu.
To learn more about HPE's Dandelion Program, watch the video.