Employment Gaps for People with ASD
Employment Gaps for People with ASD
Topic 6: Employment Gaps for People with ASD
Adults with autism have major difficulty in finding employment after high school. This is partially due to the termination of services provided by the school system, but there are a number of other factors that contribute to the problem.
An adult with autism was asked how they function on the day to day, and what reasons they believe that this reality might be the case. This is the response that they gave:
"Amongst other things, having autism means that I have a much lower battery life for any kind of social activity. Going out in general takes a lot of energy. Trying to pass as neurotypical takes even more of it. Both? Quite difficult. But a lot of us with autism have to try our best every day.
Even something as simple as a grocery store trip can take a long time to recharge from. Someone unfamiliar might think that a grocery store trip is not social, but I would beg to differ. The autopilot that people have for these scenarios when they don't have a nonverbal language disability doesn't exist for me; I can hide it, but that doesn't mean I don't experience it or that I experience it with less severity.
Going to the store requires three parts: the travel to the store, physically being at the store, and coming back home. Driving for me is not an option (due to how autism affects my spatial awareness, it is actually dangerous at this time for me to drive by myself) so I have to walk, and that means that I have to calculate my chances of running into people and rehearsing smiling and nodding curtly at them as I walk past, even though my instinct is to keep my eyes glued to the sidewalk and make no attempt at a greeting. I have to do the same thing at the store when I run into people or interact with anyone; I have to remember every last thing I have ever been taught about how to act like I'm neurotypical.
The lights in the store are bright and the ambient noise is often deafening, so I often have to wear headphones while out and tinted glasses to help with the fluorescents. This means that to most I look closed off from the get-go, and even on days where it's not as hard for me to remember social rules and I pass as non-autistic quite easily, I still often look intimidating or upset for that reason alone. Coupled with my resting Batman face, my output of 'neutral' is the non-autistic person's 'unhappy'.
The main problem, the heart of it all, is that my autism and the way it presents is in such a way that unless I exert all of my energy into being a version of me that doesn't quite exist, I will always be viewed as a threat or as "Other" because of how my brain is wired. My intention does not actually matter because of how our culture views difference. I am not afforded the luxury of social rest; if I am not paying strict attention to the signals I am putting out at all times, it can have dire consequences. A simple grocery store visit is so taxing; consider, then, how much harder a social task like going to work or acing a job interview would be."
Unemployed on the Autism Spectrum: How to Cope Productively with the Effects of Unemployment and Job-hunt with Confidence, written by Michael John Carley, describes the many challenges people with autism face when looking for a job (2016).
1. Transportation: Unless one lives in a city, affordable transportation may not be a reality. Adults with autism may not be able to get to a job without affordable transportation. Some young adults/adults with autism don't feel comfortable driving, choose not to get a driver's license or are unable to get a driver's license due to certain impairments. For this reason, they are dependent on public transportation, taxi, Uber, Lyft or some other mode, like walking or their bicycle (M. Pelich, personal correspondence, 2018).
2. D&I Representation: Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Programs focus on minority groups and recognize the need for equal representation. However, people with disabilities are underrepresented in company strategies to hire minority populations. This is especially true for people with disabilities that are not visibly apparent.
3. Intimidation: As mentioned above, many employers do not even think of accomodating people with ASD because they are simply not aware of the mandated requirements. However, if employers do know their applicant has ASD they can often be intimidated by the possible accommodations they may have to make for employees with disabilities. Many times they do not think they are required at all or in that matter to find out how to help them in the workplace. However, Carley (2016) states in "almost all instances or investigations show that they will cost less than was initially thought" (p. 35).
4. Self-worth: People with disabilities can often enter a depressive state in which they feel they are not good enough for certain jobs. Individuals with autism sometimes have difficulty seeing their gifts and underestimate their worth or value to the employer. They also have trouble recognizing how to translate their gifts, talents, intelligence or training to a viable career or job (M. Pelich, personal correspondence, 2018). If they feel like they will not be successful, they will not network, apply, or even seek employment which will keep them from positive opportunities for growth.
Try putting yourself in the shoes of someone with autism. Watch the following video by The National Autistic Society (1 min, 49 sec) called "Could You Stand the Rejection?" before completing the next activity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAehvcnFjmI
Activity: These are only a few challenges people with disabilities face when looking for employment. What other specific challenges do you think people with autism face when job searching? Before learning about how people with autism can overcome unemployment challenges, brainstorm some ideas about how we could help adults with autism overcome some of these challenges.
Adults with autism seem to be more likely to be unemployed than other adults with disabilities (Drexel University School of Public Health, 2015). In two National Longitudinal Transition Studies, as well as the Pathways survey of diagnosis and services, adults with physical, developmental, mental and behavioral disorders were followed and questioned regarding employment and job security. Results revealed that "two-thirds of young people with autism had neither a job nor educational plans during the first two years after high school" (Drexel University School of Public Health, 2015). Adults with autism in their 20's were less likely to be employed than adults with other disabilities, whom 58% were found to be employed. Specifically, "74% of young people with intellectual disabilities, 95% with learning disabilities, and 91% with a speech impairment or emotional disturbance were employed in their early 20's" (Drexel University School of Public Health, 2015). Paul Shattuck, an associate professor at Drexel University's School of Public Health, states that jobs requiring social interaction are plentiful, but are exact types of work that people are troubling for people with autism (2015). Shattuck also mentions how, while programs do exist to assist adults with autism find employment, many are focused on only adults with very "low functioning autism", while adults with autism who are cognitively high are "forgotten." All people with autism need the proper support to find employment and to successfully maintain social stability. The Drexel University study revealed that "1 in 4 young people with autism was completely isolated - meaning he or she had not seen or spoken with friends in the past year" (2015). Shattuck goes on to state, "autism doesn't go away when people turn 18. We need to figure out how to help adults on the spectrum as well." (2015). While adults with autism have personal challenges they may need to overcome, their are also issues that arise when seeking employment.
Why are employers hesitant to hire people with ASD, and why it is hard for people with autism to keep a job?
Michael John Carley, author of Unemployed on the Autism Spectrum, offers significant insight into the struggles of people with autism trying to find employment. Carley has autism and expresses what he believes are some of the barriers that people with autism have to overcome in order to find a job. Some of these obstacles appear before even stepping foot in an employer's office for an interview. Employers are often hesitant to employ people with ASD because the possible accommodations necessary are intimidating (Carley, 2016). Employers wonder if they will be able to fully accommodate the person with a disability and how much these accommodations may cost.
For an example of how to provide reasonable accommodations related to libraries see Carrie Banks' page on Inclusive Libraries for Children Blog.
Employers are also reluctant to hire someone with ASD before they truly know if it will work out. Firing someone can be complicated and cost the employer time and money, which is why employers can be reluctant to hire someone with autism (Gill, 2018). They are required by the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to follow specific guidelines. This Act, "makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment against a qualified individual with a disability. The ADA also outlaws discrimination against individuals with disabilities in state and local government services, public accommodations, transportation and telecommunications" (US Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, 2018). Michael Carley, says that "someday, as all the progress in behavioral pluralism that we've made continues to spread, those employers will start to see that we've been making three times the accommodations to fit in" (Carley, 2016, p. 68). As employers continue to see the valuable skills and attributes that people with autism contribute to the workplace, and as their knowledge grows about accommodating autistic individuals in the workplace, we will see the numbers of people with ASD who are unemployed and underemployed decrease.
The Culture of the Hiring Process
One may not think of lying as the first thing you do when approaching a possible employer. However, when looking for a job, a potential employee does more "lying" than you you may notice. This has more to do with the "culture of the hiring process in America" than it is about lying. Many of us have been enculturated or coached to know how to answer the questions to the employer's liking. In other words, tell them what they want to hear (M. Pelich, personal correspondence, 2018). However, to a person with autism, a job interview can be extremely difficult because of the pressure to lie in order to obtain the job and appear typical, which may make them less threatening to the employer (Carley, 2016). A person with ASD is, by nature, extremely truthful and usually a rule follower. This can be problematic in the interview process because their "bare-bones" honesty may not be the answer the employer is looking for, seem brazen or self-righteous, or even be considered rude (M. Pelich, personal correspondence, 2018).
In a job interview there is a certain professional behavior that is expected. If an employer asks you how you feel about being a part of a large company, you may say you are excited for the potential for growth or perhaps the job stability, even if in reality you would rather have a job at a small business. You do not want to insult the employer and furthermore you want to get the job. To a person who is neurotypical, this white lie is not a big deal, because it is in some ways expected and seen merely as professional behavior. However, to a person with autism this very behavior feels like lying and is extremely bothersome.
Not only is it hard for people with autism to "lie" in a job interview, but it is also hard for them to suppress their ideas. Carley describes how it is hard for people with autism to see things from a different perspective other than their own, explaining how "whether the logical scenarios inside our brains are wise or dumb, our commitment to them is indisputable" (Carley, 2016, p. 65). If an idea is accepted by an employer it could mean growth for the employee. However, if the idea is not successful the person with autism may continue to insist on its validity, causing turmoil in the workplace. Unfortunately, to avoid this turmoil people with autism cannot truly be themselves in the workplace and have to behave in a way that to them, feels like lying. Carley believes that until we achieve a "behavioral pluralism," meaning multiple behaviors are accepted and understood, people with autism will have an extremely hard time finding and keeping jobs. He goes on to say, "until we learn this new language, these behaviors resonate with great negativity as 'professionalism' requires us to act in a way, or say things that, if we were truly being who we are, we would never do." (Carley, 2016, p. 66)
Activity: How do you think "behavioral Pluralism" would look in the workplace? Give three concrete examples of what employers, coworkers, and employees with autism could do to help create a successful work environment with behavioral pluralism in mind.
Some companies have found another way to recruit and hire rather than the old archaic interview process because so many qualified candidates cannot even get through them successfully, but those who know how to "act" can (M. Pelich, personal correspondence, 2018). Microsoft has a completely different selection process for their ASD candidates that involves project work, team work and practice interviews. More information about this process can be found on Microsoft's blog.
View the following video on Microsoft's website about hiring people of all abilities to understand more about their mission (1 min, 22 sec). Then, answer the question that follows. Video has subtitles, click here for full video transcript.
How is Microsoft changing the hiring process and empowering people with autism? How do you suggest more companies take advantage of this process and highlight individual's abilities rather than disabilities?
References
Carley, M. J. (2016). Unemployed on the autism spectrum: How to cope productively with the effects of unemployment and job hunt with confidence. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Gill, P. (2018). Volunteering to employment. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from https://raisetheflagforautism.com/volunteering-to-employment/
Roux, Anne M., Shattuck, Paul T., Rast, Jessica E., Rava, Julianna A., and Anderson, Kristy, A. National Autism Indicators Report: Transition into Young Adulthood. Philadelphia, PA: Life Course Outcomes Research Program, A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, 2015.