Autism discrimination and inequality- underpublicised?

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Do you think autism discrimination is under publicised or not being taken seriously enough?

Here in Northern Ireland only 15% of autistics have jobs. Way fewer than the proportion of NT's, far too few even if you only account for high functioning people.

Why isn't this inequality taken more seriously?

Every job I see posted at my office has quotes like:

"excellent communication a must"
"excellent multi-tasking required"
"must be a good people person"
Etc...

it might as well say "autistics need not apply"

Ironically there's a blurb about our employee assistance program for disabled workers...

I think one of the fundamental issues that has to be addressed is that unlike race or sex or anything, there are real differences.

A white man and a black man can do the same job equally, same with a man and a woman.

But there are real differences between AS and NT. A lot of jobs involve dealing with people and dealing with the public, and if the AS person can't handle that, it is a real problem, and a potential money loss for the employer, so he has to consider those aspects.

That is not discrimination though. People with AS def got the short end of the straw. Inability to perform job duties is a legit ground to not hire someone, whereas not hiring because of race or gender would get you in trouble.

So how do we fix it?

Provide tax or other incentives to the employer to offset the risk and potential loss of hiring an AS person.

Work to create jobs that people with AS can excel in and create an interview process that the AS person can shine in.

I agree that for many jobs what you are saying is true. But not all jobs. I'm in a software developer and its way less important for what I do than for example a salesperson...

The issue needs to be advocated, as with any other issue. Autistics themselves are poor advocates, so mostly its up to their relatives to push the issue.

I agree, that's why I said one of the solutions is to create or engage Aspies to get into jobs that can suite them. A software developer meet have to meet once a week with his team for an hour or two.

In the USA they do have tax breaks for employers who hire disabled workers, including autistics. However, the employment rate amongst autistic people is still really low. I know a person who applied to literally 100 jobs. 100.

She told every one of them that she was autistic, and every one of them dropped the interview right then and there.

It doesn't matter if the government cuts everyone who hires an autistic person a big fat check. They just don't want to hire us.

yes i do agree.i see it in local disability groups.people with autism and mental retardation are viewed as frustrating to work with.

they say its are fault we cant find jobs because we are not socialy engaging employers at job interviews.

why even bother having autistics in your job finder programs if that the case

My feeling is that governments ought to be doing more to help the mentally handicapped including autistics start their own business. Whether that means loans or investment.

If the private sector wont employ us then at least give us the tools to employ ourselves. We would probably make better business leaders anyway.

i was given a grant for my transportation company.they only give a few hundred dollars at a time and the total maximum is 2500 american dollars.$2500 over a long period of time doesnt do much

The problem is that it's not actually about capability in many cases.

Again this is an issue that is complicated by Autistic being grouped with people having no real issue.

But many of the supposed problems relate to the way business culture works, and the way in which charisma, is seen an asset when in many cases its not.

Narcisstic types tend to dominate in the interview process yet some studies show that clearly they are less capable, and simply cover up their deifencies. This kind of behavior is well documented in the 2008 financial crisis.

Than there is the snow ball effect, where initial promise gives huge disparities in income.

Add in most promotions are merely a ponzi scheme where ability is ignored, as the two goal is to provide insentitive to those on the floor, not to actually give opportunity.

I can remember at a job, of not being trusted to do delivieries, something I clearly had no issue with, despite being poor at talking. It was quite infuriating, as the person that drove could hardly drive, nor could he even life the cargo.

Not all Autistics are poor advocates. Besides, having our relatives "advocate" for us hasn't exactly done us any favours in the past, has it?

Promotions/hirings can't really ignore ability. If they lack the necessary ability, then they can't get the work done. If the work isn't done, the company can't make the money with which to profit off of the job position. They have to employ/promote based on competence. That's the way business works. If narcissistics cover up their deficiencies in the interview process, why aren't they fired after being hired after their deficiencies are exposed eventually? How often do you think it is that some autistics really do lack capability at jobs they may have or attempt to get?

basicly yes.
if a business cant be run for a profit there will be jobs for no one

discrimination is defined as being able to do the job but not hired anyway however many autistics can do certain jobs but are bullied at the workplace and that is discrimination.

but charitable hirings or narcisists faking compitence will reveal its true self eventualy and your doing no one a favor by hiring someone on charity alone

Neurotypicals are better at keeping their mouths shut in a work scenario. The majority of narcissists are neurotypical, as it is a personality disorder rather than a neurological disorder. Most narcissists do not have a diagnosis, nor awareness of their disorder. Many of them would deny having any sort of impairment.

I've been holding down a job as a cashier behind a window and, essentially, in a box. I don't know I could handle it in a store. [At least it ends next week.] I have the ability to do the necessary math, make change, and such. I am marginally slower than the other cashiers due to motor difficulty, but no one has complained. I sometimes mishear customers, but this is partly due to a faulty speaker and a lot of background noise.

Most likely, the autistics who apply for jobs and take the application and interviewer literally, as with my one coworker, are disadvantaged because they are too honest on the personality test required for most retail jobs, and too honest on the application.

For example, my coworker would not write that she had a disability on the application, because it asked if she had "Impairments that would significantly hinder work." She would answer that she had not. During the interviews, when asked, "Do you have any disabilities?" she answered, "I have autism."

The "lack of consistencies" would thus disqualify her from getting a job on the basis that she is "dishonest."

For those who get jobs in a less traditional method, IE through disabled-hiring programs, the scenario is different. The employers know that they are hiring someone with obvious impairments and difficulties.

To my knowledge, some of these programs take advantage by hiring people for several months and firing them, then rehiring them a few years later for a similar amount of time. I would assume they do this for a tax break.

Some of these programs hire people for long periods of time, however, meaning that low-functioning autistics are capable of holding down boring, repetitive jobs. Yipee.

I can not say about skilled work, as I've never experienced it. From what I've read, it's not much different from minimum-wage work.

Impairments can't be concealed in the long term. If there is some kind of impairment getting in the way of work getting done, they would lose their job eventually.


Disclosing autism diagnoses isn't a great idea. Employers don't know what it will mean. If one is competent at the job being applied to, there's no reason to mention autism to them.

That's messed up. I wonder what way such tax breaks are structured.


I've been thinking I may need some kind of repetitive, straightforward job that doesn't require many complex motor/spatial skills. There's not much I can handle out there. I hear that some sheltered workshops pay wages that are too low. I wonder what pay would be like if it was directly determined by quantity of work done and based on the market wage rate for the kind of work done.