No Autistics Allowed

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I got a job call from my Union rep and he warned me that if during the safety orientation that I did not maintain eye contact and pay attention to every detail said that I would be fired. So I showed up at the job and went through the safety orientation and tried my best and after the safety orientation I was immediately fired. It seems it is the policy of the company that autistics are a danger to themselves and to everyone around them and the safety supervisor even told everyone that these day dreamers should not even be allowed to drive lest they cause accidents.

The countenance of this so called safety coordinator was indeed scary. It seemed as if he had a real ax to grind and that he was just full of bitterness and hate. The boss that actually did the firing was the rudest person that I ever met. He was like a viper that would get pissed off at the tiniest infraction.

Hello androbot2084,

I'm very sorry about what happened.

Have you considered speaking to a lawyer? It just might be unlawful discrimination.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

I think this is definitely a case of discrimination, whether or not they are yet educated about why. In any case their evaluation should be based on ACTUAL performance results, not something as subjective as eye-contact.
I say see if you can sue their balls off.
If not just forget those a**holes and move on. the world is full of stupid a**holes, as im sure you are well aware by now.

If they want to ensure employees understand the safety orientation they should have a test that all staff should take (simple questions, but a very high pass mark). This would also give them a written record they can use later if somebody denies knowing the correct procedure.

Full attentive eye contact is not a guarantee that somebody is actually paying attention to what is being said.

The question is would you hire an autistic, who does not pay attention, to control a nuclear power plant?

If someone was not paying attention, and failed the safety test then no.

However, that's not the question. Aspies are in fact very good at paying attention and spotting information other people don't is part of the diagnostic criteria! The question has to be is that person competent to do the job. If you passed the test, but were failed simply because you didn't maintain eye contact then in my view it's discrimination.

Autistics are in their own little world so nuclear power safety managers consider autistics a danger to themselves and everyone around them. Regardless of whether or not an autistic can pass a written test it would not be worth it to risk millions of lives just to give autistics affirmative action. However one crucial component is not taken into consideration. Autistics have the most powerful imaginations. Autistics have the capability of modeling nuclear accidents in their minds and can recommend safety improvements that can save millions of lives. If neurotypicals take complete control over nuclear power plants imagination will not only be discouraged but it will be socially unacceptable because of the social pressure to be pro-nuclear which means to deny that an accident can happen.

Anyway the next time the Union calls me I will have a chance to get my old job back so I will have to sell the company on the idea that day dreaming autistics are a safety asset.

Be positive. You just have to point out that being autistic you have trouble keeping eye contact, encourage them to google it (it's not like there is any lack of information about the topic!) and say that while you didn't keep eye contact you were paying attention as demonstrated by passing the safety exam. (You did pass it, right?)

If your similar to me "daydreaming" is actually "concentrating", which is highly valued in any industry.

The fact of the matter is that autistics at times to not pay attention and can be easily distracted.

I hadn't noticed a more significant problem there than in any of my co-workers to be honest.

To me, the important thing is the context of their decision:

Were you fired because of some belief that you would become a possible problem at a future date?

Or were you fired because you have actual job and performance issues now?

If it's the first case, not knowing where you live, but I would contact a labor relations board or government labor agency and file a complaint about being unjustly fired. If you have a good work record, then their speculation that you could become a problem may be unjust.

There is really no one that can represent me. My union reps think that I am a mad man.