Only 22% of autistic people are in employment

[ofwarren]

Do you work, and if so, what kind of job?
I've worked in admin roles mainly and I qualified as a teaching assistant but I just can't stay in employment without total and utter burn out. The longest job I've had is 2 years and that was before having kids. Since having them, I haven't worked at all. I literally have no capacity to give anything else after looking after them and the home.

I'm not autistic but several of my colleagues are. I'm a scientist.

It’s difficult to discuss without rehashing the whole “functioning” debate, which understandably causes discord.

‘ It’s scarily low isn’t it, 22%’
People don’t want to employ us for the same reason they don’t want to be friends with us. Because they find us odd, or uncomfortable to be around because we don’t get the learned NT behaviours quite right, or we have certain idiosyncrasies of speech and don’t do small talk right, etc. Employment is a lot like friendship, you have to eat lunch with the person and chat with them and sit with them all day. If NTs don’t want to be my friend it’s not surprising they don’t want to hire me either.

That’s before you even consider silent discrimination if you happen to disclose your autism. I can imagine employers sucking their teeth and going ‘ooh, avoidable hassle there, let’s just hire someone who won’t have difficulties or need any adjustments’. Then they make up a completely different reason not to hire you. I’d be willing to bet that a lot of the autistic people who are employed are in public sector jobs and places where disability is supported rather than silently discriminated against.

This thread is very interesting. I used to work as an engineer and I would definitely say I have autistic tendencies. I was prob all lucky to chose that career. I remember really enjoying the days of sitting doing calculations and finding any high powered meetings really exhausting and I couldn’t cope with a full day of meetings and talking to people. I guess that’s the burn out some of you are mentioning?

I struggled to stay in any job for very long due to burnout and poor mental health but I’ve been with the same company now for over 10 years although it hasn’t been plain sailing and I’ve had some periods of time off . I have to be incredibly careful about burnout and often go for a sleep at lunchtime and sleep most of the weekend just to cope so it isn’t much of a life!
I wouldn’t be able to cope if my job wasn’t so flexible and I sometimes just say I need to rest for a couple of hours and do my work later in the day if I’m feeling particularly vulnerable. As I’ve reached my 40s I feel I have become a bit more resilient but it could also be I now recognise when I need some quiet time and ensure I take it because I know otherwise it will lead to me becoming ill.
I still feel vulnerable though, I think if I happened to end up with a manager that doesn’t understand me then I could easily end up unemployed again despite being in a well paid career at the moment

I have an autistic relative who works night shifts as a radiographer. She loves the fact that the office politics are essentially nonexistent at night, and the variety and responsibility at night running the service on her own are attractive too. I do wonder if she will eventually burn out because I don't think endless night shifts are good for anyone but she makes very good money and it suits her.

[quote duvetdayforeveryone]@ofwarren I'm definitely in top 100 for worst human being.

I used to volunteer in a children's centre, in a stay and play group. The parents would talk at me about their problems/stresses, and I would listen, nod, and not judge them. I'd tell them, "forget about the past and focus on what you can change going forward". Parents used to like the fact that they could tell me anything with no judgement whatsoever.

I have no idea what I'd do now. The children's centre no longer run the group I used to volunteer in.

Is there a job where the main talent needed is to have the ability to not judge people?[/quote]
Have you thought about bar work in a locals/regulars pub. That's pretty much what I look for in my staff. My regulars like staff who will listen to their woes and worries. It is a good quality.

I am lucky in that in some ways physical sciences has made advances as is more welcome to women in general and has always been something of a bastion for ND people.

I think though we could get together and make a national networking group for ND women in employment and ND women looking for employment and it would ideally be for any type/levels of employment. I only got my current job in part through contacts, really. I would either be unemployed or possibly a self-employed programmer otherwise but both would be hard.

Also it would be bettter for everyone if the DWP actually counted people's self-betterment as jobseeking activities rather than just looking for jobs. How exactly is applying for unsuitable, uncommuntable jobs a better use of time than learning to code for instance?

Interesting about the job interview thing. My CV is great but I repel people at interviews. I’ve got an IQ of 150, but can’t even get a minimum wage admin job.

@JohnMcCainsDeathStare

I am lucky in that in some ways physical sciences has made advances as is more welcome to women in general and has always been something of a bastion for ND people.

I think though we could get together and make a national networking group for ND women in employment and ND women looking for employment and it would ideally be for any type/levels of employment. I only got my current job in part through contacts, really. I would either be unemployed or possibly a self-employed programmer otherwise but both would be hard.

Also it would be bettter for everyone if the DWP actually counted people's self-betterment as jobseeking activities rather than just looking for jobs. How exactly is applying for unsuitable, uncommuntable jobs a better use of time than learning to code for instance?

I love this idea!

There are charities that help autistic adults find work (eg Aldingbourne Trust in Sussex) but I’m guessing that’s a postcode lottery and won’t always be able to help depending on skills etc (and dare I say it “functioning” level - I hate that term!)

The jobcentre should be counting the things you say as relevant activities though I think?! Maybe I have been very lucky with my work coach (she is understanding of my physical health too) but she was clear that the studying I was doing was valuable and counted as activity towards getting a career in the future.

So… autistic women’s working network? Something like that? Or ND women - ADHD is such a barrier too and yet can be a huge asset in many jobs.

@Babdoc would you reckon that work as a ODP would suit someone with aspergers? My ds2 isn't sure what career he would like to do. He's interested in scientific and medical things, but he's not super academic.

Hard to say without knowing him, Barrow. He might prefer a career as a medical physics technician, which is hospital based and involves maintaining medical equipment, with less patient contact than an ODP.
Theatre can be a stressful environment when things are not going to plan, and he would need to be calm in the face of airway emergencies, major blood loss, etc as an ODP.

I was thinking for ND women in general not just autistic women. I could make a start via Juno at the University but this would be the aim of making it for more general employment as part of outreach.

Yes, I was wondering about the stress aspect. He's in air cadets and likes taking responsibility.

I saw that figure recently when I was looking for autism information to show my son, who is 9 and autistic. I thought it was really unhelpful, and I do question its accuracy. I decided not to show my son the video on national autistic society website as I felt it was too negative about employment and mental health.

I wonder whether it reflects the fact that years ago autism was only diagnosed if it was at the "severe" end and many people were missed? I work with autistic people and so does my DH, I also have friends who are autistic who work, all these people are in "professional" jobs.

I appreciate there's another side to the argument which is that some autistic people find work difficult and they want that recognised. But for a child, it's not that helpful to be told you're probably going to end up unemployed.

I also think a big gap is that HR people are not generally trained on how to interact and build interviews that are more appropriate for ND people. I wonder if that is due to a lack of will, particularly in some jobs.
Certainly, a fondness of appearences over substance has been the downfall of me many a time.

‘Also it would be bettter for everyone if the DWP actually counted people's self-betterment as jobseeking activities rather than just looking for jobs’
I found claiming benefits to be incredibly stressful. Just the pressure of being rejected from interview after interview, and being forced to do it repeatedly even though it made me feel scared and stressed. Being forced to apply for jobs that I didn’t feel able to do, like public facing jobs. In some cases I was terrified they’d offer me the job because I didn’t feel able to do it but I’d be forced to accept it otherwise they’d stop my benefits. Not to mention the added stress because someone reported me for having a boyfriend living with me (he didn’t live with me) and they insisted on coming out to inspect because of suspected benefit fraud and I was terrified. Then someone reported me for fixing my neighbours computer because she gave me £50.

After a while I actually withdrew my benefit claim and took a loan so I could look for appropriate jobs without the constant pressure and stress and fear caused by the job centre. When the loan ran out I moved back in with my parents for a few years. It would have been way more helpful for the job centre to support me in doing training activities at home and internships with an employer who might value my work once they got to know me. Instead of just traumatising me by pushing me into interview after interview for inappropriate jobs which I was terrified to be actually offered.

I found attempting to claim benefits so depressing and fear-inducing that I gave up. The killer was that they thought it was better for me to abandon a PhD write-up for an entry level job rather than restrict my search for jobs that would enable me to write up.
So I had to live off the bank of DH for 6 months.

I remember trying to do an AMA thread on long-term unemployment as a skilled person but that went to Shitpost City and I got a ban.

I have been employed full time throughout my adult life, but I think I have struggled to 'get on', as it were, due to my autism. I was fired from my first job, have been made redundant from a couple of other roles (where I think I was an obvious choice due to my lack of fitting in with office culture). Have been in my current job 15 years and would be terrified to leave as I am so crap at interviews. Fortunately they know about my autism now (diagnosed later in life), it's a specialist role and reasonably well paid. Working from home has suited me much better, and I will never go back to the office full time. My diagnosis made a huge difference to me, as previously I was so depressed about not being able to make a good impression and 'play the game'. I knew there was something wrong with me and it was a relief to have a label for it. I'm intelligent, hard working, but just never clicked in an office environment (it was similar at school - teachers hated me! I always had plenty of friends though). My psychologist told me about the 22% statistic - I wonder how many undiagnosed people are struggling and wondering why...

@JohnMcCainsDeathStare

I was thinking for ND women in general not just autistic women. I could make a start via Juno at the University but this would be the aim of making it for more general employment as part of outreach.

What’s Juno?

That’s a shame about the AMA thread - why did that go so wrong

I can totally see why others have struggled with jobcentre appts. I hate filling in forms and all that stuff as it is. I had periods of unemployment before and found it absolutely soul destroying. This time round I was very lucky with my job coach thankfully.

I’ve actually just made contact with the woman who diagnosed me - as part of my work I’m trying to engage with autistic adult support. I believe there is a local project about employment so I will report back when I’ve found out more.

I'm so sad to read this statistic. DH is autistic and had a wonderful job for about 12 years but the department closed and he was made redundant, never lasted more than a few months anywhere else and hasn't had a job in over ten years now. I've always wondered why as he is a lovely and hard working man but just doesn't get office politics.

Both DH and I are autistic. He works as a GP and is very successful as he is hyper focused on his work. I have bounced from one job to another over the years. All of them have damaged my mental health. I now work for myself and don’t really let other people (except DH) know what a failure I am. I actually only work maybe 3-4 hours each week. I do volunteer a little too. But even with doing so little, I still struggle to keep the house nice, function day to day etc. People look at me and I seem absolutely fine and ‘normal’ but I am generally a bit of a mess. I struggle with life but constantly feel the shame of being ‘lazy’ or a failure.

I have had various jobs over the years, many of which meant that I didn't have to speak to people. I do a part-time customer service/admin job at the moment which is Facebook and Email based, which suits me well.
I work with young children, babies & toddlers plus an older child who is on the autistic spectrum. These days I avoid working an open plan office environment, I have in the past but it did not work out all that well as I was seen as being interfering because I would hear what others were saying and I would point out when they were wrong!