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Qualcomm Institute, University of California San Diego
Axis and their service pet, Minnie
Featuring art assets Axis made during their nine weeks as an intern, including concept art, player characters, interactable objects, and concept art.
These past nine weeks working for UCSD’s NeuroDiversity in Tech program have been life-changing. My seven-year-old self, DSi in one hand and a colored pencil in the other, would be stimming with joy to learn they’d one day be the lead artist for a published video game made by an entirely autistic team.
Growing up my autism was treated as something I had to mask, a vulnerability I should avoid sharing with others for my security. I’ve spent the past decade working to challenge this stigma, but whenever I participate in a job interview these old insecurities rise back up. The unfortunate reality is that 85% of college-educated autistic adults are unemployed mainly due to discriminatory hiring processes. (Source: https://www.benefitnews.com/news/how-to-create-equitable-workplace-experiences-for-autistic-talent) Because of this, I face the constant dilemma of how much to reveal about my disabilities during job interviews. If I’m lucky, my disabilities will be viewed as a diversity asset and my employer will actively ensure they are accommodated and respected. If I’m unlucky, the hiring manager will view me as a liability and unhirable. I am so grateful that this program was the former.
The NeuroDiversity in Tech internship provides neurodivergent young adults with a supportive work environment designed specifically to provide us practice navigating employment opportunities all while creating spectacular projects to feel proud of. My team’s project, Hue Hunt: A Light-Hearted Quest, is an educational video game designed to teach eight-year-olds basic properties of light physics. Who would have thought it would evolve into a story with Spanish-speaking frogs and skateboarding monkeys? It was an absolute joy to develop these zany ideas with the rest of my team during our whiteboard brainstorming sessions. I cannot thank my coworkers enough for going above and beyond at creating an enriching and supportive community. I’d also like to thank our client, Professor Nick Antipa, for embracing the direction we took his game and graciously permitting me to base our mad scientist’s design on him.
Hue Hunt: A Light-Hearted Quest will soon be available to play for free on Itch.io. I hope it delights you to play.
During my time at the NDTech internship as a programmer, I learned real-world applications of industry-relevant game development technologies such as Unity, C#, and GitHub, as well as soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and public speaking. With the interdisciplinary nature of game development, I was even able to learn some additional skills outside my specialization, such as project management with Jira. The mentors were some of the most understanding and knowledgeable people I have ever met in these technologies, while many of my fellow employees were bright people who later became trusted friends. Even after my time interning at NDTech, the help from my program advisor for letters of recommendation, connections to the people from the program, as well as the experience itself, played a major role in getting a part-time job on-campus, as well as getting into prestigious universities such as USC and UC Berkeley.
This is exactly what you want from a game internship- a space that promotes collaboration, passion, and adaptability. The people here are understanding and there’s no better way to foster creativity than empathy and love for what you do. I was able to learn new things about game creation, as well as apply what I knew in a game space that celebrates my neurodiversity.
The NDTech summer internship was a great experience for me. It successfully prepares neurodiverse people for future professions. In the internship, I was the artist for one of the games produced. Drawing is a major hobby of mine, and I was given the opportunity to do it as a profession in this internship. I was also introduced to tools, websites, and softwares that I had never heard of before that allowed me to enhance my art for the game. For example, I was taught how to use Spline, which essentially allowed me to add a sense of depth to my art by putting the 2D sprites I drew into a 3D space. The internship even prepared me for future professions. Not only was this done through lunchtime learning sessions, but also the coaches helped me finish a resume, begin to make a portfolio, and create an account on LinkedIn so I can find and apply for other jobs that interest me. This internship was a fun and very helpful experience, and I would highly recommend it to neurodiverse people who want to learn how to find jobs and how to work in professional environments.
ND tech was a very gratifying experience. I felt really accomplished seeing our game gradually morph into the vision we had at the beginning. The internship also made me a lot more confident in my abilities and comfortable working with a team. Thank you so much for this opportunity.
The ND Tech Summer Internship program was a transformative experience for me as both a college student and a game designer. I have been fortunate enough to participate in this program as both an intern and a coach. At the time I applied to be an intern in 2022, I was just beginning my journey into video game design. The NDTech internship program helped prepare me for what would eventually become my career. During the program, I also gained skills that helped me graduate from UC San Diego and prepared me to find a job afterwards.
As an intern, I was able to explore what it would mean to truly be a game designer and practical ways that I could apply my skills. Despite my anxieties that my inexperience would hinder me and my team, I was met with nothing but support, encouragement, and given a place where I could learn and strengthen my knowledge. I have a disability that results in partial paralysis of my left arm, shoulder, hand, neck, and spine. Having brachial plexus palsy has always made it extremely hard for me to play video games since many games include mechanics that are not easily adaptable for handicapped players. Not only were my coach and my team supportive and understanding during our game’s development, but we also were able to have a focus on creating a game which would be able to have adaptable features added in. NDTech creates an encouraging, welcoming, and safe space for folks who may otherwise feel unwelcome in the tech industry. This program gave me the confidence to pursue a career in game design.
Returning in summer of 2023 as a coach was an incredibly rewarding experience as well. I loved getting to help facilitate and create a space where all of our interns felt welcomed and appreciated. It was incredible to watch how they were all able to work together to imagine and create video games. It was my goal to make sure that everyone felt like they had a place to belong – to feel celebrated for who they are and the unique skills everyone brings to the table. Having someone believe in you can be a very powerful thing and the NDTech program not only provides interns with that support, but also helps them gain skills and knowledge to believe in themselves.
Previous to this internship, I had no coding or computer science experience. With the help of my coach, I was taught basic skills to operate and utilize the Unity game engine. After a year of strengthening those abilities and exploring the field of game development, I was able to return to the program and help coach interns with not only Unity but also helped teach interns how to use software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Audacity for sound design, and Procreate for iPad.
I also helped run workshops with the interns to write successful resumes, build confidence in their interview abilities, creating LinkedIn profiles and website portfolios, and other skills for workplace preparedness.
Neurodiversity in Tech, Qualcomm Institute
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