Autism at Work
/First in a new series of blog posts focusing on neurodivergence in the workplace.
My aim for this series is to provide helpful information to neurodivergent adults who are distanced from the workplace or who are working or seeking work. I also would like to encourage employers or managers to think more closely about their workplace practices and how they can make them more inclusive to people who have different neurodevelopmental types to the majority.
Autism
Autism is a neurodevelopmental difference that pervasively affects the way a person thinks, feels and experiences the world. While autistic traits are not universal and are often specific to the person, patterns of common traits may include different preferences for sensory processing, social communication and monotropism which is a tendency for interests to strongly and intensely pull the person in.
A particular challenge for autistic people is the invisibility of autism. Many autistic people do not have a formal diagnosis, and this is particularly true of autistic adults. Many traits which are considered signs of autism in children are only sometimes seen in autistic adults. This could be a result of either practice or masking.
A Neurominority Culture
Autistic people are a neurominority and may face challenges and stress because autism is not always properly understood or accepted by non-autistic people. This lack of understanding can impact on a person’s mental health, access to education and employment, access to services and participation in the community. It can also result in autistic people trying to change or mask in order to belong or fit in, which can be harmful and exhausting for autistic people. HSE research suggests that autistic people are more likely to have chronic mental and physical health conditions than non-autistic people.
Like many other marginalised communities, the autistic neurominority has cultivated resilience, their own culture and have continued to navigate a world that was not built for them.
Most people have something they don’t understand about their own thinking or processing but autistic people have typically been through a deeper process of introspection and have emerged with a clearer sense of their own needs and preferences separate to social norms.
One way to learn about autistic culture is to pay attention to the online conversations that autistic adults are having with each other and with the wider population. We are probably a generation away from fully understanding autism and we are in a process of learning and discovery. Openness and willingness to learn is going to be key to any progress.
image source: 5 Tips for Creating a Sensory-Friendly Office | Pinnacle
Monotropism as a Workplace Strength
More researchers in recent years have started listening seriously to autistic perspectives on their own experiences. Theories to describe autism are shifting from negative language (phrases like “executive dysfunction” and “repetitive interests”) to aspects of autistic experience previously overlooked (such as sensory processing and the nature of autistic interests). Diagnostic frameworks are now starting to tie together these strands while still providing insight into the reasons why difficulties may happen.
Monotropism is characterised by intensity. The main characteristic feature of autistic special interests is really about how much people focus on them rather than how restricted or repetitive they are. Autistic interests pull people in very strongly and persistently compared with most people. That can be a huge asset in many fields of work – intense focus is indispensible in science, maths, technology, music, art and philosophy, among others.
Obviously autistic people are not the only ones capable of hyperfocus and persistent interests, but it is a common feature of the autistic psyche, and one that is too often squandered when workplaces are not set up to allow it. A person gains confidence when they are allowed to work with and through their strengths and workplaces should nurture this.
Creating Autistic Stability in the Workplace
Many social differences are sensory processing differences at heart. Autism is a heightened sensitivity and helping autistic people to maintain a sense of stability should be a priority at workplaces.
Sensory processing can relate to language processing. When a person’s attention is elsewhere, noise input might register as an unwelcome interruption or it might not register at all. This may be why autistic people often need more processing time and can find the back-and-forth of neurotypical conversation difficult to keep up with. An autistic person may need extra time to process language and find it easier to communicate in writing or with visual cues (such as email) rather than coping with the challenge of conversation and the combination of spoken words, body language and eye contact that it requires.
Another area of autistic stability is routine. It’s widely understood that routines can often help autistic people, a lot of which is about minimising mental load. Routine helps to reduce the amount a person has to think about, which helps to maintain focus and stability. Another big part of it is that changing plans involves an exhausting mental shift. The ability to feel in control is central to all of this, and externally imposed routines sometimes backfire for that reason.
Autistic inertia can be a stress response to an externally imposed change, particularly when a person is naturally monotropic. It refers to a difficulty in starting, stopping or changing direction when focused on a task. This is central to many of the difficulties autistic people face in life, but it is also part of what makes autistic thinking distinctive and valuable.
Empathy – seeing a situation or the work environment from the other person’s point of view – is key to resolving workplace conflicts and restoring workplace stability. It is best to try to work with someone and understand what is at the root of difficulties rather than go against them.
image Source: melton Design Build
Autism + Environment = Outcome
Dr. Luke Beardon at Sheffield Hallam University developed what is known as the Golden Equation: Autism + Environment = Outcome.
This means that if an autistic person is experiencing chronic stress or burnout at work, they may think it’s their fault when in actual fact the workplace environment is not creating the right conditions for them to thrive. Outcomes are directly related to the environment as much as they are to the individual.
If you are an employer, it may be worth considering where you can make sensory-friendly accommodations so that strong external stimuli — like scents, visuals, or sounds — are reduced or controlled.
If you are autistic, it may be worth examining workplace conditions, either alone, with a manager or with a trusted ally who knows you well. A quick audit may give you a sense of what is lacking.
· The nature, quality or threshold of the tasks expected of you.
Are you being asked to spend the majority of your time in people-facing work if your preference is otherwise? Is your work a good technical fit for you?
· The degree of regularly scheduled support, job coaching or mentoring offered.
Do you have a regularly scheduled meet up with your manager, and is an agenda organised before this meeting to give structure to the conversation? Do you have an interest in training or moving into other areas but are being overlooked?
· The environmental conditions of your workspace. Could small changes have huge impacts on your workspace?
These could be sensory or social demands such as music on headphones, wearing ear defenders, moving your desk, adjusting the quality of overhead light, reducing social demands or expectations, providing quiet spaces for privacy, increasing the days you work from home, adjusting hours to what suits you best.
· Whether your preferences and comfort levels are accommodated.
Can calls be more infrequent and with people asking for permission before calling. Are you more comfortable expressing yourself by email. Can the default in meetings be agreed as camera off. If you tend to ask a lot of questions, do your colleagues understand you do this in order to understand and ultimately perform better?
· Whether your workplace is the right balance of cultural fit for you.
How does your manager show you that your opinion is worth seeking and valued? Has there been a real focus on working to suit everyone’s strengths?
Autism: Know Your Rights
It is important to know current policies that point to autistic rights and where to get support.
AsIAm, Ireland’s Autism Charity, has a great summary in the Employment Section of their FAQ page of the relevant EU and Irish laws that support the rights of autistic people when they enter the workplace. These include the Equal Status Acts 2000 and the Employment Equality Acts.
The Autism Innovation Strategy aims to be the building blocks for a more autism-inclusive Ireland and a framework for cross-government policy actions on autism. The strategy’s purpose is to focus on unique challenges to Ireland’s autistic population not currently covered under existing disability frameworks. Currently at draft stage, the strategy has just completed a period of public consultation. It is important to keep an eye on this as it will inform government policy. The draft strategy can be viewed here.
The strategy recognises that there is significant work to do to better support autistic people in Ireland. The values underpinning the actions in the strategy are:
· Rights Focused · Person-Centred · Neuro-Affirmative · Delivered within the mainstream, where possible
The National Disability Authority was established to advise and inform the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when it comes to policy and practise for people with disabilities. The NDA produced guidance in 2018 in order to support employers in assisting autistic people in employment. This can be viewed here
If you are an Irish employer wanting to enhance your own accessibility, there are inclusive tools that you can develop to bridge the employment gap. You may not know where to begin. This Focusondiversity blog post on how a workplace can enhance its accessibility contains a lot of useful resources
Thank you for reading. The next post in this series will focus on Autism and Accessing Employment.
Sources
An Office Designed for Workers With Autism | The New York Times
AsIAm Ireland’s Autism Charity: Frequently Asked Questions | AsIAm
Autism in the Workplace Report 2021 | AsIAm and IrishJobs.ie
Assisting People with Autism in the Workplace | National Disability Authority
Draft Autism Innovation Strategy 2024 | Gov.ie
Interview with an employee at a majority-autistic company | Ask a Manager
Me and Monotropism: A unified theory of autism | BPS
5 Tips for Creating a Sensory-Friendly Office | Pinnacle
