Advice sought by an employer from parents of individuals with Aspergers

[Bilbobaggins18]

Hi

I work in HR in a Tech company.

We employ many highly talented people technical roles (such as coding) some of which are diagnosed with Aspergers.

We want to do the best for all of employees. I wanted to hear from parents of children who are diagnosed with Aspergers or Autism - how can we make their working environment more comfortable for them?

For instance, I worry that they can get isolated in their technical roles, perhaps with a remote manager based in the US. We would like them to connect more with social groups locally so they have a "tribe' to
share common interests in the latest innovations within the company for instance.

I would really appreciate some feedback from parents who have sons or daughters working in tech and please share with me what they find frustrating in their workplace and what we can do better.

We hugely value these talented individuals and want to ensure they have a comfortable working environment.

Thank you !

Why don't you ask them?

Sensory issues are key. Bright lighting and background noise can be major issues.

Surely best person to ask is them? Or people with aspergers, I have asd and work remotely in a tech company, I'd be id my company asked parents rather then me, they wouldn't do that for a nt. That would make me feel uncomfortable as hell, especially the trying to force "tribes"

Sounds like you're trying to arrange a suitable environment for pets or something 😂

No advice but it’s lovely that you’re making the effort. My own experience has repeatedly been that employers don’t want to hire me because I’m “weird”, “won’t fit in” and make them “feel uncomfortable” (genuine comments from interviewers).

Why didn't you ask Posters with Aspergers/Autism what they want/need?

As said, why aren't you asking them? You wouldn't ask the Parents of NT employees.

That's the first thing you've got wrong.

Don't force contact with outside groups. Why do you think you've actually got the right to do that?

" My own experience has repeatedly been that employers don’t want to hire me because I’m “weird”, “won’t fit in” and make them “feel uncomfortable”"

What do people with additional needs want? Acceptance for who they are. Then to be valued for their skills and given the same respect as you would if the additional needs were not there.

They don't need to be put into one big group. They are individuals, with their own personalities.

Ask the individual want they want and need.

Undiagnosed Aspergers and mother of a 16yo with Aspergers here

I don't think your query is insulting or inappropriate. You're not writing to the parents of your employees with ASD, you're just asking for input from parents of people with ASD to ask for their insight. Presumably you will be asking those employees for their ideas too, and doing other research? If so then I commend you. I hope my ds finds an employer that cares enough to think about meeting his needs.

I can only speak for myself and to an extent my ds, as people on the spectrum differ hugely - but some initial ideas would be:

don't try to force socialisation - make it available and accessible, but don't push. If the person doesn't want to have that relationship with co-workers, that is a valid choice and you could make them very miserable by requiring something of them that they may find very stressful.

Make sure that your company's general culture and practice is to respect personal boundaries, have a clear and consistent and explicit procedure for grievances/support and supervision/communicating changes before they happen

Make sure that feedback to the employees is regular, structured, clear and constructive. Nebulous, unexpected or emotional feedback can make a person with ASD very confused and uncomfortable.

If I think of anything else, I'll come back.

If you've met one person with autism then you've met one person with autism.

Perhaps you could speak to the employees in question on a one to one basis or small focus group type thing (inc other staff members too) and go from there.

You could ask if they enjoy working at XYZ, what do they like about it. Is there anything they dislike, and if so, Is there anything that can be done to improve their experience at XYZ. e.g If your lighting was too bright, you could offer to put dimmer bulbs in their area of work or if background noise was an issue, let person wear ear defenders at desk etc...
..there are many more examples I could give but it isnt necessary as I dont know these guys!
It's so hard to generalise, as each individual, whether they are neurotypical or not will have their own set of challenges.

To be honest I think just keeping a line of communication open is enough.
As long as these individuals know they are welcome to come to you to discuss any issues or at least be able to leave some sort of feedback that is picked up on a regular basis then thats great.

I can only hope my childs future employer would be as considerate and thoughtful as you are!

One thing to consider though, and I'm only going by my own experience here is that sometimes its easier not to accomodate every need as not all needs will be the same, one persons comfort may be anothers trigger!

Again in my own experience its easier to get my child to follow 'the rules' (in his case, school rules, your case workplace rules) as best he can anything else we work on but by no means does he get any special treatment but does get extra support and a few breaks here and there just to pace and clear his head.

The difference being youve got adults who I assume are fully capable of communicating their needs.

I would just think carefully on how youre going to present your idea as the last thing you want is a list of impossible demands and the other employees feeling left out.

Thank you all for your inputs.

I'll take on board that it is important to ask the employees except that many of them may not be diagnosed and tha's the challenge.

I just thought that it might be helpful to hear from parents as you are closest to the individuals. We do care about them very much and want to do right by them.

just ask all employees what can be done to improve the work place, rather then singling them out, including the ones I'm presuming your guess diagnosing.

Make sure that feedback to the employees is regular, structured, clear and constructive. Nebulous, unexpected or emotional feedback can make a person with ASD very confused and uncomfortable.

This is really helpful thank you.

This is exactly what we need to hear to make sure these valued employees are comfortable so I love this to consider for our performance management process !!

hey don't need to be put into one big group. They are individuals, with their ed own personalities.

Thank you. I get that and it's completley valid.

How can we support people who we sense might be isolated due to being aspergers? We want to reach out and d ensure they are connected - just wondering how we can make their working life more pleasant and meaningful?

We want all of our employees to have the same experience at work - that s what we would like to achieve.

sorry for my typos !

Re working life being meaningful, if they get to work on proper projects, get their ideas listened to etc it will be meaningful.
I can't tell you what will make their work place more pleasant as we don't know them or how the work place works, this is something you will have to ask colleagues about.

They might want to be isolated, legitimately! I have zero desire to be friends or attend social events with work colleagues, I have my gaming friends online and that's as much social and peopleing as I need or desire!
Dont force people into interactions, if you want social occasions to be inclusive to allow a wide range of people to come make sure you mix up the kind of things that get done.

.....I'm not being mean I was answering your questions

Can't see where anyone was being mean.

f they get to work on proper projects, get their ideas listened to etc it will be meaningful.

This is good and helpful thank you.

•Dont force people into interactions, if you want social occasions to be inclusive to allow a wide range of people to come make sure you mix up the kind of things that get done.*

So - what would you recommend to get our coders together who might not naturally want to get in a social group?

Why do they have to get together? Is it essential for work?

Have you considered they don't want to be connected? Ugh, horrible.

Ask them for their opinions. Be clear in your interactions. And make sure anyone in authority is worthy of respect.

I have my gaming friends online and that's as much social and peopleing as I need or desire!

You sound like someone we might want to recruit...what roles are you looking for?

Many people with Asperger's get all the enjoyment and fulfillment at work they need from doing the job itself, and don't need a social element to 'improve' the experience. I second the PP who mentioned constructive feedback. Let them know they're doing a good job and keep things factual and unemotional.

Sounds like you're trying to arrange a suitable environment for pets or something

We do do not consider our employees as pets. On the contrary, we strive to prove the best employee experience for all of the individuals in our organisation.

To that end we have been voted the best employer in Europe this year. Don't be so cynical.

I already have a job I work remotely for a software company, so I'm not looking for roles!
Also I could be the worlds worst coder, I wouldn't want to a company to think I could be a good fit just on the basis that I'm an antisocial nerd . I want to be hired on my technical skills and hope they can overlook my weird autistic hermitness, rather then the other way around!

It would also be useful for them to have somewhere they can "escape" to for a short period of time if they feel overwhelmed. My daughter is a mature student and she has this in place. She wouldn't want to disrupt /distress other people if she feels a meltdown is imminent.