AUTISM IN THE WORKPLACE—COULD LOCKDOWN BRING A BREAKTHROUGH?

By Mark Palmer

SECURING AND MAINTAINING A JOB CAN BE CHALLENGING FOR MANY AUTISTIC PEOPLE. SO MUCH SO THAT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, ONLY AROUND 20 PERCENT OF AUTISTIC ADULTS ARE EMPLOYED, DESPITE MOST WANTING TO WORK. THE CAUSES FOR THIS APPALLING STATE OF AFFAIRS ARE VARIED, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE A YEAR IN LOCKDOWN COULD TURN OUT TO BE A SIGNIFICANT STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. SO, WHAT IS GOING ON, AND WHY MIGHT THINGS NOW CHANGE FOR THE BETTER?

Iam of an age that during my school years if the word “autism” was used at all, it was generally negative and only towards “misbehaving” boys. It was believed they would grow out of it, and autistic girls and adults were completely unheard of. While none of this is remotely true, there is still a widespread misconception that autism is a severe disability that renders individuals unable to perform any useful function in life. In addition to the inhibiting effects of this inaccurate preconception, there are two key areas where autistic people struggle with work despite having skills and talents that should make them ideal for the job: navigating the recruitment process successfully and thriving in an environment in which they may be ill-suited.

Work practices have changed almost beyond recognition in many areas in recent years. However, while recruitment may now involve some tests or an assessment center, there is still one feature that remains front and center of almost all employee selection processes: the interview. I write as an autistic person who has passed an exhausting two-day assessment center filled with every imaginable type of exercise and psychological evaluation, only to be rejected at the final stage “rubber stamp” interview. I know of other autistic people who have had similar experiences.

If you wanted to devise a way to almost automatically screen out most autistic people, an interview would be very close to the perfect solution. While all autistic people are different, many of us struggle with some or all of the elements that make up the all-important interview. For example, coping with a new environment and speaking to unfamiliar people, plus needed social skills and face-to-face conversation in general, and maintaining eye contact for any length of time. All of these aspects can be a challenge for many of us.

But what does an interview assess anyway, beyond how good the candidate is at interviews? Would you rather have an employee who can talk well about doing a job or one who can actually do it, even if they struggle to look you in the eye and tell you how good they would be?

The COVID-19 lockdown has inevitably brought changes to the way interviews and recruitment, in general, are carried out. There may well still be a chat over Microsoft Teams or Zoom, but already, this removes some of the barriers to an autistic candidate. They will likely be at home in a comfortable and familiar environment. Eye contact is much harder to assess over a video link, and it is much easier to refer to notes. But perhaps even more significant is that in some cases, potential employers are giving greater weight to other evidence—practical demonstrations of the skills needed, samples of work, and references from those who have seen what the candidate is capable of in the right environment. All these changes help both autistic candidates to be given a fairer assessment and employers to make a more rounded assessment of all candidates than they might get from extensive reliance on a traditional interview.

Once an autistic person has secured work, there can be further barriers to success. Modern workplaces are often not designed with autistic people in mind. Many office spaces are large, openplan areas that are brightly lit and have discussion areas right next to workspaces to better facilitate “collaboration.” If you are sensitive to noise or bright lights, or even the smells wafting over from the nearby open plan kitchen area, this is just about the worst possible work environment around. Hypersensitivity, a condition present in many autistic people, means you may be unable to filter out the many different voices you can hear or are left in pain from the bright lights, among a myriad of other possibilities. How can you find a quiet, muted corner to work in when the office space is designed not to have them?

Again, the lockdown has brought relief in this area for many autistic people in office-based jobs. Many of us have now been working at home for over a year in environments we can design and control to meet our own needs. Many employers would never have allowed their staff even to try this before it was forced on us by circumstances. However, the general feeling seems to be that for many employers and employees, homeworking has been an enormous success, with a very real prospect that working all our contracted hours at an office will become a thing of the past for many of us. With the technology now available, remote working can be just as effective as being physically present. For autistic people who have struggled with unsuitable office spaces for many years, this could be a huge step forward.

If we can get past these barriers stopping autistic people from securing work and performing well in employment, they have a vast amount to offer. Like all of us, autistic people are all different, but there are a number of areas of huge value to employers where autistic people frequently excel.

Autistic brains work differently, and we sense the world around us in a different way from others. This means we have different thoughts and ideas. So often in business, employers are looking for an edge, a unique approach, the next big thing; they need ideas. Autistic people often excel in this area. We see patterns others miss, cannot help ourselves from approaching problems from new angles, and make connections between seemingly very different things.

A common stereotype is that autistic people are often nerds and geeks who are brilliant at maths and tech jobs. While this is true of some autistic people (as it is, of course, true of some people in general), autistic people can also be very creative. For example, there are many hugely talented autistic artists and writers. In addition, our love of order can make us excellent at administration and management, and our problem-solving skills have much broader applications than information technology (IT)!

Autistic people are also frequently able to focus intently on a piece of work or assignment. We become so absorbed we may start to completely lose track of what is happening around us, not hearing phones ringing or people trying to talk to us. Again, what an asset to an employer to have staff so dedicated to their work!

So many autistic people have so much to offer the world of work and are desperate to be given a fair chance. Things have been improving slowly for some time with the advent of specialist schemes aimed at recruiting neurodivergent staff, but there is still a long way to go.

While this pandemic has been a huge tragedy at many levels, changes in working practices that can be of significant assistance to autistic people entering and thriving in the workforce could be one positive outcome of this enormously difficult time. The world of work has been changed forever, with many asking why physical presence at a workplace is necessary for many jobs. Greater flexibility in where and how we work, if maintained as “normality” resumes, can only be a good thing for autistic people.

Mark Palmer is a freelance writer specializing in mental health, autism, and neurodiversity.

Website: www.markpalmerwriter.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkPWriter Email: mark@markpalmerwriter.co.uk

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