When Jill Willcox got ready to start her own business in 2017, she knew the one trait she wanted all her employees to have. And that’s how the Boston-based software testing firm started hiring neurodiverse people.
Starting Iterators LLC was much more of a personal project for Jill since both her children identify as neurodiverse. Her son Oliver has ADHD and speech impediment, her daughter has dyslexia, and her husband has severe social anxiety. The entire family now serves at the company.
“We honestly believe the best testers tend to be neurodiverse. There are lots of people who are overlooked, and we just think that that doesn’t make sense,” Jill had said in a 2018 interview with Boston Globe.
Before starting Iterators, Jill had been working in the health and social welfare sectors. She gave a start software testing business a go because Oliver was unable to find himself a job despite being good grades as he was not able to make a great impression on hiring managers during personal interviews. She also knew that the often-repetitive task of software testing that would seem tedious to neurotypical people was just the right one for neurodiverse people.
