1. Autism Equality in the Workplace: removing barriers and challenging discrimination Janine Booth

2. Autistic people in and out of work

3. Only 15% per cent of autistic adults are in full-time employment.
26% of autistic graduates are unemployed.
National Autistic Society

4. 61% of those out of work say they want to work.
51% of autistic adults have spent time with neither a job nor access to benefits.
61% of those out of work say they want to work.
53% of autistic adults say they want help to find work; only 10% get the support.
National Autistic Society

5. Only 11% of carers who have autistic children work full-time, …
… 70% say the lack of appropriate care facilities stops them working.
Ambitious About Autism

6. Or can work change so that we can take part?
Do we have to change to fit in at work?
Or can work change so that we can take part?

7. The medical/individual model and the social model

8. The social model distinguishes between impairment and disability
looks at the barriers that society puts in the way of disabled people’s participation

9. The medical/individual model
sees the impairment as the cause of disabled people’s disadvantage
dominates political and legal decision-making

10. Ten ways in which workplaces disable autistic workers

11. 1. Getting A Job ‘starting behind the starting line’
lack of help in finding the right job
jobs not advertised
job adverts
interviews

12. 2. Getting On With A Job induction training
overlooking autistic strengths
promotion

13. 3. Communication
People on the autistic spectrum may communicate differently from typically-developing people.
VERBAL NON-VERBAL
Non-autistic people tend to rely on contextual clues such as facial expressions.
Autism is a spectrum. Individuals may have these traits in different ways, to different degrees, or not at all.

14. may be uncomfortable or difficult
4. Social interaction
Typically-developing people learn through social interaction.
Autistic people may not do so, and may only learn social ‘rules’ by being taught.
like a first language
like a second language
may be uncomfortable or difficult
Autism is a spectrum. Individuals may have these traits in different ways, to different degrees, or not at all.

15. HEAT COLOUR COLD 5. Sensory issues TEXTURES
People on the autistic spectrum may be intensely sensitive (hypersensitive) or under-sensitive (hyposensitive) to:
bright light
HEAT
or darkness
sounds
COLOUR
TEXTURES
COLD
Autism is a spectrum. Individuals may have these traits in different ways, to different degrees, or not at all.

16. HEAT COLOUR COLD Feelings PATTERNS TEXTURES Sensory overload light
My brain lets all this in …
… It doesn’t seem to have a filter …
TEXTURES
HEAT
light
… so I can take in and process loads of information …
COLOUR
COLD
Feelings
… and think about it constantly
… but it can overwhelm me.
Autism is a spectrum. Individuals may have these traits in different ways, to different degrees, or not at all.

17. Rules should be clear and people should stick to them.
6. Organising work
Rules should be clear and people should stick to them.
RULES
I like to do certain things in certain ways and do not like this to be obstructed.
ROUTINES
I like to know what I will be doing, when, and for that to happen as planned.
SCHEDULES
Autism is a spectrum. Individuals may have these traits in different ways, to different degrees, or not at all.

18. Executive function Motor function
= the set of abilities that enable people to translate motivation into action
START doing something
CHANGE what they are doing
STOP doing something once started
manage time
Motor function
balance
movement
co-ordination
Autism is a spectrum. Individuals may have these traits in different ways, to different degrees, or not at all.

19. 7. The trouble with managers
lack of knowledge
favouritism
disruptive supervision
bossiness!
managing performance
managing attendance
the autistic manager?

20. 8. Bullying, harassment, discrimination

21. 9. All change!

22. 10. Job insecurity in a time of austerity

23. meltdown
distress
communication barriers misunderstandings sensory sensitivity sensory overload unexpected changes rules being broken discrimination prejudice
anxiety

24. Making the workplace more autism-friendly

25. Remove those barriers

26. Fighting back through trade unions

27. I strongly believe that without the union, I wouldn’t be where I am, or in any job at all. Once I had the support of a union rep, things became much better. Autistic people can be vulnerable because there are managers who will pull fast ones on them. I became a union rep myself.
Because of this, I now feel like a person or worth and value. Austin, civil servant

28. I had a union adviser with me at all the sessions and panel hearings
I had a union adviser with me at all the sessions and panel hearings. They stuck up for me and seemed confident that I could be moved to another position with the organisation, but HR said that there were no vacancies.
I applied to Employment Tribunal and the employer settled out of court. Louisa, formerly employed in the scientific civil service

29. A Voice in Politics Campaigning against austerity cuts
John McDonnell MP
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism

30. TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee

31. Download from www.tuc.org.uk
TUC handbook
Download from

32. Training trade unionists
Trade union representatives came away from the seminars with a significantly greater knowledge and understanding of autism. More importantly, they went back to their places of employment with the information and the skills they needed to represent and offer advice and support to their members who either were on the autistic spectrum or had family members who were ... a cohort of trade union shop stewards and officials are now challenging the discrimination that people experience at work as a result of ignorance and prejudice relating to autism.

33. Contact me for more information or further training.
Thanks for listening!
Contact me for more information or further training.
Janine Booth