Can You Work if You Have Autism?

(Photo: Unsplash/Tim Gouw)

Can adults with autism be employed and do something that they’re good at?

According to Michael Carley, a speaker, author and consultant who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as an adult, you may actually work better, given the right circumstances and support.

But this is not playing out in reality. And it’s not just because people with autism are being shunned by employers.

“More often, it is the stigma from within that hinders people with autism from seeking employment. All their lives, they have been given signals that they are not prepared for working life,” says Carley.

However, he says that there is great potential for people with autism to achieve success in their work, as is the case for many of those working in Silicon Valley or famous historical personalities like Albert Einstein, Mozart, Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson — who were all diagnosed in retrospect as having ASD.

Neurodiversity is an asset

There is an increasing push to embrace the concept of neurodiversity to explain the issues and behaviours of people with autism.

Neurodiversity is a way of explaining the differences among individuals when it comes to processing thoughts, emotions and experiences.

The United Nations provides an all-encompassing definition of autism that describes the neurological variations that exist within the spectrum: “Autism is mainly characterised by its unique social interactions, non-standard ways of learning, keen interests in specific subjects, inclination to routines, challenges in typical communications and particular ways of processing sensory information.”

The different characteristics of people with autism is about their wiring, not their character, says Carley.

All too often, a neurotypical narrative is used to describe people with autism, turning the positive traits of autism into pathological issues to be "fixed".

Hidden disabilities or hidden talents?

As autism is widely misunderstood, harassment and bullying of people on the spectrum are very common. Adults with autism have different sensory, social, communication and behavioural experiences, which can present challenges at the workplace.

Dr Choy Sook Kuen, co-chair of Autism Initiatives Malaysia, describes autism spectrum disorder as a type of hidden disability because its characteristics are not physical.

“Adults who have not been assessed or diagnosed come across as having behavioural issues,” she says.

However, having colleagues with autism can force a workplace to make constructive changes. For one, all the staff — both the neurotypical and the neurodiverse — will have to “bend” a certain amount to accommodate everyone’s differences, in order to foster a more productive working relationship.

Carley provides another example: “People with ASD often don’t understand sarcasm or euphemisms. As a result, working with people on the spectrum often forces everyone around them to be better communicators.”

It’s a long game at play, but if educators and employers are willing to invest in the potential of people with autism, the results will eventually feed into the bottom line.

---

Listen to the podcast ‘Can You Work If You Have Autism?’:

In the next part of this series, we look at how employers can change their recruitment practices to be more inclusive towards people with autism.