Introduction
And even when measured in later years, the unemployment rate for people with autism is still the lowest, even compared to other disabilities. This problem is not only widespread, as the number of identified autistic persons increases every year, but it is also influential, as can be seen from the statistics. Some organizations are committed to providing employment through supported employment schemes specifically aimed at individuals with autism.
Literature Review
As previously noted compared to the rest of the population, autistic individuals are more likely to be unemployed, underemployed (in roles that do not use their skills and experience) or employed in roles for which they are not suited (Baldwin, Costley and Warren, 2014). Again, these emergent qualities are only generalizations, but they suggest some of the underlying advantages that may be inherent to the employment of autistic individuals (Baldwin et al., 2014). A study examined the social and economic impact of unemployment of autistic individuals in Australia.
However, if hiring autistic individuals would be so beneficial, why don't more employers do it. By creating this type of workplace, the employer creates a workplace that can sustainably employ autistic individuals.
Methodology
What needs to be in place to ensure that the workplace can be inclusive to meet the needs of the individual and consider their unique perspectives while keeping the organization successful. We then looked at this question from the perspective of an employer who hires autistic individuals to answer where are the challenges they face when trying to integrate autistic individuals. The structure of all the interviews was semi-structured by following an interview guide built from the three research proposals in the literature review, and the questions following the main themes from the literature.
Although the main questions came from the interview guide, the interviewees were given some freedom regarding the topics they wanted to share from their personal experiences so that the data could flow naturally from them. By balancing this need to respond to propositions made from literature with the freedom of expression from human experience, concepts can emerge naturally. Throughout the interviews, the interviewees showed that they could start to answer one question, but by discussing their knowledge from it, they felt the need to move on to an adjacent topic because of observations they might have, or the need to provide more information, creating a rigid basis for their thoughts.
The primary data, being the transcripts of the interviews, were reviewed manually every three times. During each revision, the researcher approached the text from the perspective of each statement and manually highlighted quotations in the text that felt relevant. Then, after reviewing the text from the perspective of each research proposal, each group of highlighted quotations was reviewed to find recurring categories by which they could be grouped.
These categories were selected considering the themes of the literature review and looking for comparisons.
Analysis
Interviewee Profiles
List of categories emergent from structured interviews
Personal Environment – Refers to the workplace environment and its elements with which the autistic individual interacts. In this example given, such a space may not be suitable for some autistic individuals due to the noise level of an open space with several others. Knowledge and Expertise – Refers to the niche knowledge and expertise that some autistic individuals possess.
Compared to their neurotypical peers, some autistic individuals may have a wealth of knowledge about certain topics due to their focus in a particular area. In the context of autism employment, there could be a potential source of autistic individuals as employees who are currently unemployed today and thus within reach of a particular organization if it has the ability to retain them. Many references in the data mention autistic individuals and their personal feelings of loyalty to their work.
Diversity climate – Refers to the degree to which employees accept their environment as diverse. Autistic individuals fall under the category of neurodiverse individuals because their neurochemistry and development differ from a neurotypical individual, which you would describe as the majority of the population. In this context, we refer to transforming the organization to create sustainable employment for autistic people in a way that is mutually beneficial.
There are several examples of large organizations establishing programs specifically aimed at hiring and retaining autistic individuals.
Discussion
Comparison of results to research propositions
It is important to note how these issues are all related to the communication skills of autistic individuals as these processes take place without considering their qualifications. Second, autistic individuals face a range of misconceptions about autism spectrum disorder that can potentially work against them. And without accommodations in place for autistic individuals to communicate successfully, they will struggle.
Personal work environment is also a recurring theme in the data where autistic individuals may face struggle. This is further supported by the literature when we look at the outcomes of employed autistic individuals and compare to the data. This quote alludes to the fact that there is an untapped potential in the intelligence of autistic individuals.
Additionally, another advantage referenced by the literature and data was the employee loyalty that some autistic individuals exhibit in the workforce. Another advantage can be seen as inherent in the fact that autistic individuals face statistically high unemployment rates even compared to other disabled groups. Throughout the data there is a theme of embracing diversity among employers to hire autistic individuals.
Interestingly, although the motivation is to accommodate autistic individuals when we examine the outcomes, we can see that the benefits of this transformation can extend to other employees throughout the organization. This organizational science concept aligns with employer behavior for those who want to integrate autistic individuals and embrace this diversity as an advantage from the examples in the data. This theme of transformation of the environment appears throughout the data, where the organization adapts itself in some way to support the needs of autistic individuals.
Conclusion
To elaborate on these benefits, we need to consider not only the perspective of autistic individuals, but also the employers who can integrate them into their organization. The literature supports the idea that meaningful employment creates positive benefits for autistic individuals due to the sense of competence and financial independence it brings. However, we revisit the 'organizational' component of the research question to ask why employers should seek to employ autistic individuals in the first place.
The results have shown that since there is a large population of unemployed autistic individuals and that they generally have equivalent qualifications compared to their peers, then this means that organizations that are trying to find people to fill their lack of workforce may potentially consider employing autism. Furthermore, despite the challenges that autistic individuals face in a traditional workplace, the literature and data highlight that autistic individuals bring unique advantages when provided with appropriate support. This shows that investing in transforming the organization to accommodate autistic individuals allows the organization to take advantage of the unique benefits derived from those individuals.
Which not only provides employment to autistic individuals sustainably, but seeks to perfect a model that can be implemented in other organizations so that they can reduce unemployment rates while showing the benefits. To this we refer to the 'innovations' component of the main research question of the third proposition, because even an incremental innovation in the organization can be considered a major transformation. This is what suggests the true value of employing autistic individuals, that if this is truly a valuable innovation, then the organizations that can invest themselves in employing autistic individuals are not just solving a societal problem, but also capturing a competitive advantage compared to those who are unable. to make this change.
It is through creating meaningful employment opportunities for autistic individuals that organizations can capitalize on their unique value, but only if they can avoid the pitfall of misunderstanding the requirements of this change and therefore organizational innovation is a necessary process that employers should pursue if they hope to make an impactful change.
Implications
This includes employment coaches and several support organizations that work with autistic individuals to help them find and maintain employment. The data and literature show that there is considerable overlap between the areas in which autistic individuals are knowledgeable and skilled and their personal interests. Recognizing how these areas of personal interest might fill the workplace appears to be a promising way for autistic individuals to experience collaboration.
Second, facilitators can act as mediators between autistic individuals and employers bridging the communication gap. For example, some employers have reached out to autism specialists for consultation on how to modify their workplace environment to be suitable for autistic individuals. Partnering with these types of employers appears to be a potential route for autistic individuals to transition to after developing their personal skills through the facilitator's help.
However, as this research suggests, roles may need to be reversed to adapt the organizational environment to autistic individuals. We've covered how expectations and misconceptions act as barriers to entry into the workplace for autistic individuals, but even those trying to promote autistic recruitment in their organizations can fall prey to their own assumptions. Second, the scope of the focus was organizational, with most of the focus being on autistic individuals and employers.
And despite the focus and scope of this research around autistic individuals, we note that the neurodiversity movement encompasses much more than just autism.