Employment isn’t working

Hostile environment: workplaces need to be more autism friendly. Picture: Kirill-makes-pics

The economy is tanking and there are unfilled jobs all over the place, yet fewer than a third of autistic people are in work. For everyone’s sake, something needs to change.

According to Pro Bono Economics, the average unemployed autistic person would be £9,200 a year better off in a full-time job. Society as a whole would benefit too. Pro Bono calculates that doubling the employment rate for autistic people, adding 100,000 to the workforce, could boost the UK economy by £1.5 billion a year.

The Office for National Statistics says that while over eighty per cent of non-disabled people of working age had a job last year, only around half of those with disabilities were in paid work. This is bad enough, but among diagnosed autistics, the employment rate was just thirty per cent, the worst for any form of disability.

It’s not that we can’t hold down jobs. Yes, most of us have learning difficulties. We might struggle with reading and spelling (dyslexia), arithmetic (dyscalculia) or handwriting (dysgraphia), or take a little longer to get up to speed with new skills or to process instructions than neurotypical people. But that doesn’t mean we’re intellectually impaired. Forty per cent of us do have an additional learning disability, but even then, with the right support, paid work isn’t necessarily out of the question.

The National Autistic Society says three-quarters of unemployed autistic people would like to be earning. It would increase our standard of living, reduce the burden on the welfare state, possibly improve our physical and mental health – taking pressure off the NHS – and, not least, allow us to share our considerable skills, knowledge and creativity to benefit everyone.

We’re not the problem

The real issue is a neurotypical workplace culture that doesn’t allow for our differences. Employers are obliged by the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments so staff with disabilities can work comfortably and effectively, but this just isn’t happening widely enough.

Change needs to start with the recruitment process. Instead of completing an application form or providing a CV, candidates who struggle to express themselves in writing could be given the option of summarising their skills and experience verbally. To reduce the uncertainty and, therefore, stress of interviews, questions should be clear and could be sent out in advance along with details of the interview panel. It could also help to know you wouldn’t be expected to shake hands or make polite conversation.

Successful applicants might be most productive if they were allowed to work part-time, flexible hours or from home, while everyone could be happier if colleagues and managers understood that if we don’t make eye contact, laugh along with jokes or want to go on nights out, it isn’t because we’re rude or not ‘team players’.

We might need additional instructions for new tasks, to have these in writing as well as verbally, or to be given time to ask more questions – not because we’re being difficult, but because our brains process differently.

Someone sensitive to noise might require a quiet working or break area or noise cancelling headphones, while someone with photo sensitivity could benefit from changes to lighting, more screen breaks or glasses with FL-41 lenses to block headache triggering wavelengths.

It pays to listen

The key thing is for employers not to make assumptions but to ask each individual what would help them and to respond positively and flexibly. The gains in productivity and innovative new ways of thinking would far outweigh the cost.

Even the Government recognises this. Its Buckland Review of Autism Employment, published this week, includes 19 recommendations to make workplaces more inclusive for neurodivergent employees, ranging from greater employer awareness, better processes and procedures to improved staff training and support.

Its author, the MP Sir Robert Buckland, said: ‘I call on employers and government to lead this change and make these recommendations a reality.’ Let’s hope they’re listening.