Hi, I wanted to post something regarding the subject of autism and employment (and wanted to get some insight on what kind of experiences people have had). In my case, I have been employed for 5+ years - I started working when I was 19 (as a temp at uni) which lasted for 1 year and 3 ½ months, then I did a part-time job as an admin assistant for a care provider which lasted 2 ½ years and now I work as a receptionist for a local council and have been in this job for 1 year and 3 ½ months.
I haven't experienced discrimination as such - however I do find that working in office environments is exhausting because of the fluorescent lighting, constant monotony of admin tasks, people (more-so clients) etc and have either been trying to find a work from home office role or one which is term-time only.
I've recently been listening to videos on the topic of autism and employment - (if I am wrong please correct me), according to statistics, around 10% of autistic people are in some form of employment which is quite concerning. Unfortunately, most autistic people are either underemployed or unemployed - one thing I have noticed is that the government/job centres in particular are very out of touch with this issue, often pushing individuals into unsuitable, zero-hour jobs (mainly in retail, care work or warehousing), either that or some other form of customer service.
I feel modern workplaces are the equivalent of high school settings: if you come across "different" you are automatically a target for others and are one step closer to being pushed out.
