why are there so few people with asperger's employed?

Post Reply New Topic

I was reading an article saying only 15% percent of people with Asperger's are employed and I was just curious why is that?

Because we don't fit in with the rest of the crowd.

Because the significant majority of jobs in Western countries are now service jobs, a type of job that our deficiencies make especially difficult.

As a person with AS/ASD who is employed, and who participates in the hiring process, I can provide a few basic answers.

People are not employed because:

1. They do not apply for positions that they are qualified for by virtue of their skills.
- Too far away.
- Unpleasant (but not unsafe) working conditions.
- Unwilling to take an entry-level position.

2. They apply for positions that they are not qualified for by virtue of their skills.
- Lack of college or university degree.
- Lack of experience.

3. They fail the screening process.
- False claims of education or experience.
- Illegal drug use.
- Legal issues (i.e. criminal record, driving record, police record, et cetera).
- On-line postings of an anti-social nature.
- On-line postings of questionable moral content (e.g. "selfies" of nudity and disorderly conduct).
- Poor eye contact.
- Poor maths skills.
- Poor social skills.
- Poor verbal and writing skills.
- Poor work history (e.g., multiple firings, sackings, or other dismissals).

4. They get the job, but fail to perform, and are dismissed.

A lot of jobs in Western Culture as pointed out are service oriented jobs. Western Culture and the job market have making money and being profitable as the bottom line. You have to be motivated to be a team player and very social and interpersonal to work such jobs. While people with Aspergers can be capable of it, many people with Aspergers may not be able to cope with the stress and the social aspect of the job. It is possible that many people with Aspergers are more introverted than extroverted. These jobs are geared towards extroverts.

Likewise, your intelligence can be better utilized working independently.
This is for big money making though: You can use your intelligence on focusing on a big idea that you can sell to companies. But you will need to make connections and find a group of people or a partner that can work with you and guide you towards the right market.

People with AS may struggle with the interviews due to anxiety and eye contact issues.

People with AS may come off as arrogant, unintentionally.

People with AS often believe that being right is the most important thing, and don't' know when to shut up. "Consider the cost of being right."

People with AS may have anxiety or sensory issues that make working difficult.

People with AS may be unwilling (or sometimes unable) to adapt to working.

People with AS may have executive function issues.

One of the challenges is figuring out how to employ people with AS, while not hurting the bottom line.

Where did you get that 15% number? Have a website?

Sorry, but I work in a company that needs quite a few Engineers (including me), and although I won't call them out on it, I see Aspie traits like talking too much about themselves. Obviously they all work. You mean to say for every 15 of us, there are 85 others?

Also all of my brothers and sister are employed. I don't want to go too far into details other than to say I think I am the highest on the spectrum and let it go at that. I am the leftie.

In my opinion there would need to be some correlation of where you are on the spectrum, and your likelihood of being unemployed.

If it is of any help, as I recall, I took that test that I believe was authored by Baron-Cohen and came up with the 31.

This makes me ask these questions.

1. What do we mean by employed? Do we mean part time, full time, self-employed? What counts as being employed?
2. What are the demographics of the 15% and of the 85%?
3. What are the IQ levels of the 15% and of the 85%
4. What is the social skill level of both groups?
5. What are the personality types of both groups?
6. What do the 15% have in common that the rest of the 85% do not have?
7. Do the 15% have techniques that they developed and used? If yes, what are they? What are in common and what are different?
8. What other comorbid conditions do both groups have? What did the 15% do to overcome them especially if they had to do it on their own?
9. What is their age?
10. Do they have support including monetary?
11. What is their life history?

You answer these questions and you have your answer(s) as to how the 15% are employed and the 85% are not.

How exactly was this figure of 15% determined? Does it represent the entire autistic spectrum or is it restricted to medium to high functioning AS? Are employment rates of people with AS who have a reasonable to excellent level of qualifications significantly lower than that for NT people with similar qualifications?

Also this:

"Think what characterizes the really intelligent person:
- they can think for themselves.
- They love abstract ideas.
- They can look dispassionately at the facts.
- Humbug is their enemy.
- Dissent comes easily to them, as does complexity.
These are traits that are not only unnecessary for most business (office) jobs, they are actually a handicap when it comes to rising through the ranks of large companies."

Lucy Kellaway.
"Companies Don't Need Brainy People," Financial Times, 11/22/2004

One day I'm going to analyze why I've had 25 or so jobs in my life. I know that I moved around a lot, was fired from a few, quit most of them, didn't like most of them, kept some for only a few days or weeks, etc. It'd be interesting to pin point if any of those failures were related to autism.

Don't expect anything remotely serious from the NAS!

There is some anecdotal evidence that a sizeable proportion of people with AS who are employed obtained their job through personal connections.