Supporting your neurodivergent colleagues from the perspective of an autistic person

By Sarah Pattison

Background

I recently gave a short talk at the AHEAD conference entitled “Supporting your neurodivergent colleagues from the perspective of an autistic person”. The talk was just 6 minutes in duration so I have decided to write a blog post sharing what I covered and expand a bit more on some of the points I was making.

I was diagnosed as autistic last year at the age of 31 and prefer identity first language (e.g “I’m autistic” not “I have autism”). The title of this year’s AHEAD conference was “Bridging the Gap How tertiary education can help to bridge the disability employment gap” and one of its themes was “Education institutions and their role as employers of disabled people”. I work in an education institution and am technically “disabled” (more on that later) so it seemed like a good idea to submit something. 

Here is my proposal for reference: 

“I am autistic and work as an instructional designer in Munster Technological University. This presentation will be informed by my own experiences as a neurodiverse person who works in higher education. Neurodiversity is often a hidden disability, especially for women. As I was recently diagnosed, I understand this very well. I will show different ways that you can support your colleagues that may be neurodiverse, even if they have chosen not to share their diagnosis or do not have a diagnosis yet. Neurodiverse people are not a monolith, and my experience may be different to other neurodivergent people, but I will aim to give a broad idea of what supports help us.”

Neurodiversity and autism

The word “neurodivergent” is an umbrella term for people who have a different way of thinking that is not considered “normal”, i.e. is not “neurotypical”.

As you can see, there are lots of different neurotypes that are considered “neurodivergent”, and this is not an exhaustive list. I’ve specifically focused on autism, but a lot of the points I make could apply similarly for other neurotypes. I’d also like to emphasise that a lot of what I’ve covered is from my own perspective, and as I mentioned in my proposal, no two autistic or neurodivergent people are the same. Other autistic people will have different experiences and struggles to me and have different opinions (which I encourage you to share in the comments if you’re reading this). 

Autism is a disability but not all autistic people consider themselves disabled. This is something I’ve grappled with as a recently diagnosed autistic person. For 31 years I did not consider myself disabled and all that has changed is a label. From researching autism and disability I found out about the “social model of disability” which basically says that people aren’t inherently “disabled” but instead environments, attitudes, and barriers can be “disabling” (Scope, n.d.). I can identify with this. I don’t feel disabled sitting at home watching TV, but I do feel disabled when I have to get a haircut (having to make small talk, all of the noises, staring at your own face for an hour, repeatedly being touched. It’s a sensory nightmare). I also, like many other autistic people, have comorbidities to my autism which can also cause difficulties in my daily life. I guess it really depends on the context and conversation that I am having whether I consider myself disabled or not. 

Many people when they think of autism and being on “the spectrum” may think of it as being a linear thing, with “less autistic/high functioning” on one side and “very autistic/low functioning” on the other. In reality, the autism spectrum is more like a wheel.

An autistic person will exhibit multiple traits associated with autism, but they do not need to exhibit all traits. Typically this is referred to as having low support needs in some areas and high support needs in others. 

As I’ve previously mentioned, every autistic person is different, but some common characteristics they might have are:

• Social/general anxiety
• Being blunt without meaning to
• Difficulty understanding what others think or feel
• Difficulty articulating how you feel
• Taking things literally
• Needing to stick to routines
• Avoiding eye contact
• Sensory issues

Autistic employees

Despite all of the struggles that autistic people have, many autistic people want to work and enjoy work. Unfortunately many autistic people struggle with securing long-term employment, even if they would be great at a role. According to a report by autism charity As I Am and IrishJobs.ie (2021), 85% of autistic people in Ireland are unemployed or underemployed. 

It is unlawful to ask prospective employees if they are autistic or neurodivergent, and many autistic people may choose not to disclose (or they might not even know they are autistic). However, embracing neurodiversity at work, whether you know if employees and prospective employees are neurodiverse or not, has many benefits.

• Effective teams: Autistic people, like any other neurotypical people, can have different skills and strengths that can add to a team. 
• Creativity and innovation:Neurodivergent people think differently to neurotypical people. This means they are more likely to have different perspectives and bring creativity and innovation. 
• Improved wellbeing:If you embrace neurodiversity in your workplace it will likely have a positive impact on everyone. Helping people feel comfortable at work in general will lead to a happier team with lower turnover. 
• Customer/student engagement and trust: Working in higher education, our customers are MTU students. Students are also a neurodiverse group. Autistic and neurodiverse students may be more likely to choose to study somewhere that embraces neurodiversity in both staff and students. As an autistic person, I can empathise with autistic students. I can also use my experience of being autistic to inform how to help autistic students, as can other neurodivergent staff members. 

As I’ve mentioned, every autistic person is different. I personally have a number of traits that are related to my autism that make me well suited for my job as an Instructional Designer in higher education. 

• Strong sense of justice: Many autistic people have a strong sense of justice. This is likely related to having a rigid interpretation of rules and right and wrong. It’s important to me that my work helps people and has meaning. 
• Unique skill sets: Many autistic people have unique skill sets and interests. It’s common for autistic people to have special interests. Their special interests may relate to an element of their job. 
• Focus: Many autistic people can have periods of hyperfocus, especially if working on something that interests them. 
• Attention to detail: Many autistic people have an increased attention to detail and may notice things that others overlook. 
• Different way of approaching problems: Because autistic people think differently, they can think of different ways to solve problems. 

The hiring process can be quite daunting for autistic people and they can experience a number of difficulties throughout. 

• Feeling discouraged to apply: Job descriptions may be different to understand for some autistic people. They also might feel that they shouldn’t apply for a job if they don’t tick every single box listed in the job requirements. They may not understand that some requirements are “nice to haves” and not essential. They also might have less typical employment and education history.
• Body language: Many autistic people have difficulties making and maintaining eye contact, which may affect how they come across in an interview setting. Their other body language can also come across differently to neurotypical people as they may have different posture or fidget. 

Being too honest: Autistic people are often very honest and blunt, sometimes to their detriment. Obviously it’s good to be honest in general, but there are certain white lies or exaggerations that neurotypical people might use in an interview that an autistic person wouldn’t. This could put them at a disadvantage.

Reasonable accommodations

In order to embrace neurodiversity in the workplace, employers need to be accommodating in the hiring stages. A clear job description that outlines what a person in the role will be doing on a day-to-day basis is very helpful. Flag which requirements are essential and which are nice to have but not 100% necessary. It’s helpful to mention what the work environment is like, so people know what to expect when applying. It’s also helpful if the application form is straightforward and well signposted. These types of accommodations benefit everyone, not just neurodivergent people, when applying for jobs. 

Once a disabled person has secured employment they are entitled to reasonable accommodations.

The relevant section of the Irish Employment Equality Act (1998, s16) states:

“(3) (a) For the purposes of this Act, a person who has a disability shall not be regarded as other than fully competent to undertake, and fully capable of undertaking, any duties if, with the assistance of special treatment or facilities, such person would be fully competent to undertake, and be fully capable of undertaking, those duties.

(b) An employer shall do all that is reasonable to accommodate the needs of a person who has a disability by providing special treatment or facilities to which paragraph (a) relates.”

Some employers will have guides or policies that explain in detail the process of applying for reasonable accommodations at work. Without having something like that in place, autistic people may not know that they are entitled to reasonable accommodations (even though they legally are). A higher education institute is likely to have a reasonable accommodations policy for students, but may not have one for staff that work there. In the interest of inclusivity I think it’s important for all employers to have reasonable accommodations policies.

So what constitutes a “reasonable” accommodation? Reasonable accommodations are realistic changes and adaptations that disabled staff can get. They also must not impose an excessive burden on the employer. This still can be somewhat subjective, and what seems “reasonable” to one person might not to another. If your requested reasonable accommodation is rejected, there is a mechanism where you can appeal the decision. Again, it would really help people applying for reasonable accommodations to be able to read a policy that explains all of this. 

Typical reasonable accommodations that autistic people might ask for for work include: 

• Noise cancelling headphones or earplugs: Many autistic people have noise sensitivity and noise cancelling headphones or earplugs can help block out background noise in the workplace.
• Freedom to pace/fidget in the workplace: Some autistic people like to pace or fidget to help regulate.
• Ability to work from home: Many autistic people may be able to be more productive when working from home as they are in their own environment that they can control. Some people may be happy with hybrid/blended working and some may prefer fully remote. 
• Reduced requirement to travel: Travel can be stressful for autistic people. If possible it may be helpful not to require autistic staff to have to travel a lot for work or to  allow autistic staff to attend events remotely where possible.
• Captions: Some autistic people may have some difficulty with processing information and would appreciate captions being used for online meetings and events.
• Routine: Keeping a routine is important for many autistic people. Last minute requests and surprises can be quite stressful.
• Working hours: Flexible working hours can allow autistic people to complete their work in a more comfortable and sustainable way. 
• Private space: Having somewhere in the workplace where you can go to be alone either to focus on work, emotionally regulate, or to have breaks can be very helpful for an autistic person. 

Autistic led training for staff: Autistic led training is training where autistic people have been involved in the design of the training. Autistic led training can help staff be able to support autistic employees and colleagues.

Conclusion

The Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland unfortunately does not provide public autism assessments for adults in most cases (Health Service Executive, n.d.-a). I understand that I was privileged to be able to afford my private assessment to get my autism diagnosis last year and many people may not be able to do the same as it’s very expensive. Employers may already have autistic or other neurodivergent employees who cannot afford a diagnosis, have not disclosed a diagnosis, or simply just don’t know that they are neurodivergent. It’s said that 3.3% of the Irish population is autistic (What Is Autism?, n.d.) but I think that it’s likely higher. 

I was diagnosed last year, but obviously I was autistic my entire life before that (the COVID vaccine didn’t do it, I’ve always been this weird). I absolutely would have benefitted from reasonable accommodations in school and college and also previous jobs.

It’s also worth noting that autistic women in particular are more likely to mask their signs of autism (Health Service Executive, n.d.-b), but still have the same struggles as autistic men. In the past, it was believed that autistic people were mostly men, but actually autism can just look different in women. Women are much less often identified to be autistic as children, which was the case for me. 

I say all this because what I'd really like to see is organisations create an accommodating environment for all employees. I don’t think that they should require that you submit a formal diagnosis in order to receive reasonable accommodations like the ones I’ve mentioned, especially when there are barriers to getting that diagnosis. I completely understand that organisations need a productive workforce, but I don’t believe these kinds of accommodations hamper that (as long as they don’t prevent someone from carrying out their work). To me, this would be truly embracing neurodiversity. 

To finish, I’d like to recommend a book I have read that informed a lot of my presentation for the AHEAD conference. The book is entitled “The Neurodiverse Workplace : An Employer's Guide to Managing and Working with Neurodivergent Employees, Clients and Customers” (Honeybourne, 2019). It has so much helpful information for anyone who employs, works with, or is neurodiverse. While it’s written from a UK perspective, most of the information also applies here in Ireland and I recommend anyone who has any interest in learning more about neurodiversity in the workplace (and you likely do if you’ve read this far on this blog post) to read it. I managed to find a copy on MTU’s library Ebook portal so I recommend people check their institution’s library or buy the book if you’re really interested. 

I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on what I’ve covered here so feel free to leave a comment.

References

As I Am & Irish Jobs. (2021). Autism in the workplace: Creating opportunity for autistic people. In Irish Jobs. https://www.irishjobs.ie/recruiters/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AsIAm-IrishJobs.ie-Autism-in-the-Workplace-Report_April-2021-FINAL.pdf

Employment Equality Act, Irish Statute Book, s.16. (1998), Office of the Attorney General

Health Service Executive. (n.d.). Autism in adults. HSE.ie. https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/autism/about-autism/autism-in-adults/

Health Service Executive. (n.d.-b). How to get assessed for autism. HSE.ie. https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/autism/assessment-and-support/assessment-autism/ 

Honeybourne, V. (2019). The neurodiverse workplace : An employer's guide to managing and working with neurodivergent employees, clients and customers. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Scope. (n.d.). Social model of disability. https://www.scope.org.uk/social-model-of-disability 

What is autism? (n.d.). As I Am. https://asiam.ie/advice-guidance/what-is-autism

About the author

Sarah Pattison is an Instructional Designer in the Technology Enhanced Learning department of Munster Technological University since 2021. Sarah has a BA in Multimedia and an MA in E-Learning Design and Development, both from MTU.Sarah previously worked as a Technical Writer so is passionate about using her technical writing skills, instructional design knowledge, and multimedia experience to create engaging educational material.