By: Vanessa Blanchard

I’m a writer, artist, and advocate who loves living in Maine among the trees and oceanside villages. I’m also autistic, ADHD, and PTSD. My education, both academic and personal, has centered around mental health and neurodevelopmental disabilities, as well as discrimination and the socioeconomic consequences of living disabled in America

Contents

How We Got Our Info: We Asked Autistic People
⚠️ Mistake #1: Not Understanding Autism
⚠️ Mistake #2: Not Accommodating Autistic Needs
⚠️ Mistake #3: Missing the Signs of Bias and Discrimination
⚠️ Mistake #4: Missing the Signs of Autistic Burnout
⚠️ Mistake #5: Missing the Signs of Autistic Masking
Bonus Mistake!: Not Building an Inclusion Loop
🧠 How can Spectroomz help

It’s very likely you’ve already interviewed and hired autistic folks.

Autism prevalence in the US is 2.2% (that’s over 5,500,000 autistic adults, or 1 autistic person of 44 people).
According to StackOverflow, that number almost doubles among tech employees.
Autism prevalence has also increased by 243% since 2000, so this pool of employees is only growing.

Research indicates that companies that hire inclusively make more profits than companies without diverse staff. There are many financial benefits to inclusive company cultures:

28% higher revenue over 4 years
Higher retention rates among staff
Better reputations among the community
More market potential
Better overall growth

But autistic people are seriously under-employed. A UK study found that 31% of autistic people were employed in 2020 and 39% were employed in 2021. Autistic people report issues such as burnout, sensory overload, and social friction as the main reasons they struggle to maintain employment.

So it’s important that companies know not just how to hire autistic employees, but also how to retain them.

How We Got Our Info: We Asked Autistic People

Spectroomz is working to help autistic people find stable employment. From our earliest days, Spectroomz has focused on input from autistic people to develop our approaches and strategies.

We've built a community of 12k members with 25k visitors to our site each month.

We've reached out to autistic, continuously, through our newsletter, surveys, discord, and other online conversations, asking questions like:

What kind of work do you want to do?
What accommodations do you need?
What helps/hinders your productivity?
What are your experiences with employment and asking for accommodations?

As the author, I've also researched employment, discrimination, and wage statistics and have found that many of our experiences are supported by what is measured in these studies.

Today, we aim to combine the statistics with quotes from real people who've been there.

All quotes are anonymous and pulled from our surveys and conversations.

This part of our outreach is geared towards teaching companies a few major mistakes that are commonly made that cost companies in turnover and lost profits. Everyone deserves to win in this one.

⚠️ Mistake 1: Not Understanding Autism

Learn how to hire and keep autistic employees

There's a huge disconnect between autistic people and the research and general understanding held about them in public spaces. For example, autism is reported to come with “social deficits.” But research into social dynamics between autistic and non-autistic people show that non-autistic people tend to automatically dislike autistic people based on nonverbal cues (see thin slice judgements in Mistake #3)

Another example comes straight from the CDC, which reports that boys are 4 times more likely than girls to be autistic. A quick check with the autistic community finds that it clearly is not true (a disparity in access to healthcare and a diagnostic bias contribute to these misconceptions).

The truth is, autism is a neurotype that comes with a wide range of personalities, strengths, weaknesses, and communication styles. While autism can be quite disabling, it isn’t a disease that can be cured or overcome. It’s our brain. Many within the community view autism as something closer to a culture, with a language or style of communication all our own.

🧠 So here’s what to do:

Learn a bit about autism. Seek out autistic employees and meet with them. Help them organize to provide information, training, and mediation between members of the team and management. This will increase positive outcomes from conflicts as it will help bridge the gaps between communication styles.

Form Employee Resource Groups to help protect and advocate for autistic-friendly environments and culture. They’ll also serve a vital role in the development of autistic talent after hiring.

⚠️ Mistake #2: Not Accommodating Autistic Needs

Learn how to hire and keep autistic employees

Autistic people commonly report that they don’t feel comfortable disclosing their autism to their employers. Many worry that coming out at autistic will mark them for a form of discrimination specific to autistic people where their needs are denied and they are pushed out of their position (see thin slice judgements in Mistake #3).

Here is a quote from one of our survey responses:

“I’ve been in this position since September 2021 and it’s the first position where I asked for accommodations. They were heavily scrutinized and denied. I’m not sure how much of that had to do with me not knowing how to advocate for myself vs my supervisor not understanding autism/adhd.”

What’s frustrating about this issue is that most of the accommodations autistic people seek are super easy to do. Many of them don’t even cost anything. In fact, research indicates that 59% of accommodations are free while the remaining ones cost an average of $500/person.

To accommodation requests from Spectroomz survey

Here are the most common accommodation requests we had from our surveys:

Remote/hybrid work
Flexible hours
Part-time hours
Breaks/Decompression time
Interview questions in advance
Written communication
Clear Instructions
Sensory Accommodations

🧠 Now, here’s what to do to help:

Consider incorporating some or all of these changes into the work environment and/or work culture. You’ll find that more than just autistic people will benefit from having access to these accommodations, and you’ll take the burden off of autistic folks to disclose (while also encouraging them to feel safe to do so).

⚠️ Mistake #3: Missing the Signs of Bias and Discrimination

Learn how to hire and keep autistic employees

Autistic people face a great deal of marginalization in society, and this is reflected in their work experiences. Below are some specific examples, complete with links to the studies that measured and defined them:

Thin Slice Judgements - This report covered three studies that all found a tendency for non-autistic people to judge autistic people negatively based on non-verbal cues (tone, gestures, expressions, etc). These negative judgments were pervasive and consistently resulted in the non-autistic person creating distance from the autistic person. However, the report also found that informing non-autistic people of this bias helped decrease its pervasiveness.
Mobbing - Mobbing is a form of group bullying that involves marginalization of an individual within an organization. This can take the form of policies that don’t allow accommodations, or a group of people who enable a single aggressor through silence (and everything in between). Mobbing has been found in schools, employment, healthcare, and more.
Ableism - Common forms of workplace ableism include

Assumptions that the person is faking (see distrust)
Pressure to overcome the disability
Measuring performance against non-disabled people
Assuming that a disability is fixed (as in the same every day) rather than variable. For example, assuming a person either always or never needs an accessibility aid.

Distrust - The graphic to the right shows the definitions of four types of distrust often applied to autistic (and other disabled) people. One common way you see this reflected at work is through the scrutiny and denial of accommodation requests.

One of the more frustrating aspects of this topic is how easy it is to accidentally operate with one of these biases. Even the most well-meaning of us might instinctively distrust an autistic person based on non-verbal misunderstandings. Or they might mistake a very valid accommodation need (such as part-time hours) as a lack of commitment to a role.

🧠 So what should you do?

Like we said before, research shows that knowing about a bias reduces its occurrence. So, the first step is to learn some of the signs of bias. This is an area where Spectroomz’s outreach into the community can really help.

Watch out for statements like this, which show the impacts that systemic distrust have on autistic people’s confidence and self-trust:

“I've never had my accommodations taken into consideration so it all sounds like too much to ask”

Someone saying this to you could mean that they’re putting a bit of trust in you. Someone saying this about you might indicate room for adjustment to your culture and/or hiring practices. Other warning signs of workplace discrimination to look for:

You don’t know if you have any autistic people on staff
An autistic person becomes isolated or separates from an individual or group (either gradually or suddenly)
Sudden emotional outbursts and/or increased absences
The autistic person is withdrawn and overworking
Their performance/productivity suddenly tanks
Repeated complaints about a problem that doesn’t seem to be getting fixed
They don’t develop their skills or advance within the company

We’re all human, so expect issues to arise. Employee Resource Groups can help significantly with this, both in identifying the problem and in supporting compassionate mediation.

Diagnosis is a Privilege

Many autistic people don't find out about their neurology until adulthood. It's probable that you've hired and worked with autistic people who didn't know themselves that they were autistic.

There many reasons a person may not be diagnosed:

It can be very expensive
There are long wait times for assessments (sometimes years)
Medical professionals use biased, inaccurate research to screen for autism
A diagnosis comes with few supports and many stigmas

Be prepared to encounter undiagnosed autistic people. Offer them the same accommodations you would offer someone with paperwork. Their autism is real, and it's kind to acknowledge that.

Remember, discrimination occurs even if no one knows that the person is autistic. Many who find out in adulthood express relief to finally understand why these social dynamics occur.

Please remember that autism exists without a diagnosis.

⚠️ Mistake #4: Missing the Signs of Autistic Burnout

Learn how to hire and keep autistic employees

As I mentioned before, burnout is one of the main reasons that autistic people struggle to maintain employment. It’s been reported that new autistic hires can be up to 140% more productive than employees with five to ten years with the company.

Yet, our surveys revealed a shocking number of responses where people described “pushing through” or “pushing past” things like fatigue, pain, stress, and anxiety. One person described their work ethic as “pushing myself past what I could handle.” Overworking is a common form of people pleasing in the autistic community. We’re trying to have enough value that we can hold the thin-slice judgements at bay. This is a form of autistic masking that is exhausting and damaging to our mental health.

This hyper-productive beginning could actually be the earliest sign of a pending burnout.

For autistic people, burnout means they are so depleted of energy that their executive dysfunction takes over. They physically cannot go into work anymore. It becomes difficult in these times to leave bed, get dressed, eat, shower, and emotionally regulate. It's extreme fatigue coupled with severe brain fog. It can take months to recover from.

🧠 How can you help?

Burnouts can be avoided by noticing early signs and intervening by making adjustments to workflow that allows for more sustainable routines. For example, encouraging access to flexible hours, vacations, breaks, and meditation apps could give autistic employees the freedom to rest and regulate without disrupting productivity in the long run.

Here are a few signs that an autistic person might be heading for a burnout:

Increases in anxiety and stress
Emotional outburst such as crying, panic attacks, or meltdowns
Decreases in productivity and attendance (can happen gradually or all at once)
Mistakes and avoidant behaviors become more common
The person withdraws or isolates
Self-care is suffering

Research shows that in the first 8 years of adulthood, autistics have an average of 3 jobs that they keep for an average of 24 months. We’re producing at 140% at first, but the majority of us aren’t making it to year five or ten. However, a culture that values work/life balance will see longer retention rates among autistic employees as burnout rates decrease.

⚠️ Mistake #5: Missing the Signs of Autistic Masking

Learn how to hire and keep autistic employees

Say you’re in the grocery store, and you’re in a bad mood. You know it’s not the cashier’s fault, so you hide your mood and force politeness. That’s a form of masking. However, for autistic folks, it’s different. Because autistic people are masking to avoid those thin slice judgements we keep talking about (we cannot stress its pervasiveness enough).

For autistic people, masking includes suppressing our thoughts, views, and feelings. It means suppressing our physical and emotional pain. We have to try to adjust everything about ourselves and our communication, down to our nonverbal cues, to avoid judgment and discrimination. We have to pretend (aka prove) we’re not disabled or “different” or “weird.”

This experience is nearly universal among autistic people, especially those who learn about their neurotype later in life. Most report some form of three major themes:

They do it to keep other people comfortable and happy with them
They do it maintain access to public spaces, healthcare, employment, and more
It’s exhausting and leads to burnout

A quote from one of our surveys said that autistic masking was, “Pretending to be [non-autistic] so I can get through the day unscathed.” And that it, “Leaves me feeling exhausted.”

What to do if an autistic person is masking around you

The first, and easiest, thing you can do is nothing. Don’t react. Masking is a survival instinct for autistic people. It can take years of careful practice and exploration to unmask. It’s often unintentional and not a reflection of any one person.

There are several things you might notice if an autistic person is masking around you:

Incongruities between phrasing, small details, behaviors, and non-verbal cues
A sense of forced or faked emotion
Excessive agreeableness and people pleasing
Signs of dissociation
Stress or agitation before or after a social interaction
Practicing “scripts” or a sense that what someone is saying is practiced
Excessive apologizing
Incongruities in stated beliefs, preferences, ideas, etc
Struggles with flow and pace of conversations that result in awkward exchanges
Panic during or after random and/or awkward exchanges
Burnout and/or meltdowns
Expressions of shame or self-effacing remarks, especially after a mistake, a conflict, or a part of their disability shows
Mirroring the behavior, phrasing, and mannerisms of those around them

Allow space for autistic employees to have a lengthy awkward phase in the first months to year of employment. Even beyond that, honestly. Many autistic people are just now learning about themselves and are exploring their authentic selves and their actual needs. While interacting with autistic employees, showing compassion and assuming goodwill will go a very long way in creating an inclusive culture.

Employee Resource Groups can help with education and training that allows for a compassionate understanding of autistic masking and thin slice judgment biases. This approach grants inclusion and privacy by mentoring management in autistic communication styles.

🎁 Bonus Mistake!: Not Building an Inclusion Loop

When you accommodate autistic individuals and nurture their professional growth, you end up with talented members of your staff to fill out management positions. By including neurodivergent folks in management, you save on resources needed to educate management on neurodivergent issues. You also have understanding talent that can nurture new hires.

Common autistic strengths include:

Problem solving
Innovation
Persistence
Detail oriented
Driven
Passionate
Valuing acts of service
Integrity

Companies with disabled folks in management positions experience growth in profit, scale, and reputation. Over a four year study, inclusive companies outperformed their peers by an average of:

28% more Revenue
30% more Economic Profit Margins
2x the Net Income

A screenshot from Accenture's research: The disability inclusion advantage

So, nurturing autistic talent and moving them up through the ranks creates higher profits and room for growth within the company.

In a Nutshell

The autistic community is full of diverse, talented individuals who deserve financial and economic independence and stability. They deserve to have these things without sacrificing their mental and physical health.
Accommodations are surprisingly simple and cost effective. They also significantly improve company profits and growth in both the short and long term.
Given the high unemployment rates among autistic folks, there is a huge untapped talent pool that any company with an inclusive and informed culture can access.

How can Spectroomz help

Learn more about autism. You can start by taking our course How to Hire (and Keep) Autistic Employees. You’ll learn what kind of obstacles autistic people face at work, what specific accommodations help, and how you can implement them in your company in cost effective ways.