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Autism and issues with employment

lina-chan

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.

Parents

  • I’m underemployed I believe, but I know that a job that would have suit my skills and knowledge would be too much for me. I wouldn’t do it well because of my stress issues and overwhelm. If you are on a high responsible post, you can’t just refuse talking on the phone because you have problems with it, you have to be professional, make small talk, show appropriate expressions, take right and quick decisions. Plus mostly driver license is a must but I can’t drive. These are tasks which would lead me to depression or worse. So I’m happy that I have a job that suits me. It’s in a warehouse, in fact it is often too loud, but I use earplugs and just do my job. Sometimes I hear “oh you have graduated. Why don’t you make a good career but sit in a warehouse of a hardware store?” I don’t really know what to answer, but I just say I’m happy there. 
    mir is concerning that do many autistic people can’t find a job at all- those who are able to work. A person with high needs can not work at all. I think that it’s because during the interview NTs chose automatically a person who has good communication skills, looks in the eyes, reads the expressions etc. here we loose. This is just my opinion based on my experience and observations. I think I got my job, partially because I forced myself to look the boss in the eyes and smile a bit. It wasn’t that bad, his eyes are hazel and not that penetrating. 

Reply

  • I’m underemployed I believe, but I know that a job that would have suit my skills and knowledge would be too much for me. I wouldn’t do it well because of my stress issues and overwhelm. If you are on a high responsible post, you can’t just refuse talking on the phone because you have problems with it, you have to be professional, make small talk, show appropriate expressions, take right and quick decisions. Plus mostly driver license is a must but I can’t drive. These are tasks which would lead me to depression or worse. So I’m happy that I have a job that suits me. It’s in a warehouse, in fact it is often too loud, but I use earplugs and just do my job. Sometimes I hear “oh you have graduated. Why don’t you make a good career but sit in a warehouse of a hardware store?” I don’t really know what to answer, but I just say I’m happy there. 
    mir is concerning that do many autistic people can’t find a job at all- those who are able to work. A person with high needs can not work at all. I think that it’s because during the interview NTs chose automatically a person who has good communication skills, looks in the eyes, reads the expressions etc. here we loose. This is just my opinion based on my experience and observations. I think I got my job, partially because I forced myself to look the boss in the eyes and smile a bit. It wasn’t that bad, his eyes are hazel and not that penetrating. 

Children
  • in reply to Alien0n3arth
    Alien0n3arth said:
    I think that it’s because during the interview NTs chose automatically a person who has good communication skills, looks in the eyes, reads the expressions etc. here we loose.

    As someone who has done a lot of recruiting over the years I can confirm this is true.

    We are rarely just looking for someone who has a skill that can sit in isolation and do a job without interacting with others.

    Almost every job has regular contact with at least the team who share the same purpose and the candidate needs to be able to have a flow of information to and from the team in order to deliver this.

    This area is the biggest point of friction for autists - we don't typically interact well, don't pick up on the less explicit signals from NT colleagues and can easily offend others unintentionally. Strict adherence to rules can also be a problem ironically as knowing when rules can be bent is very useful when you need to deliver a project on time / in budget and there become grey areas on what is acceptable to do.

    Most hiring managers have had bad experiences when hiring ND staff who struggle with the stress even when all accommodations have been made for them. This does cause a bias to develop suggesting that this ND group has a much higher "failure" rate as a hire than an equivelant NT so a subconcious avoidance of them is common.

    I've heard senior management describe it as the hiring process being analogous to buying new tyres for your car (the car being the team in this analogy) - would you buy tyres that have a known predisposition for blowing out when in use or getting lots of punctures? No, go for the ones you know are more likely to be reliable.

    My pedantic nature pointed out that this would amount do discrimination at which point the management walked away - I guess it is one of those grey areas where rules are bent.

    It is a good point you made.