Campaigns have been launched to increase the numbers of neurodiverse people in employment.
Only three autistic adults in ten in the UK are in any form of work according to the Buckland Review, compared to around half of all disabled people.
National Autistic Society Employer Engagement Lead Richmal Maybank stated that unclear job descriptions with core-tick boxes have been a major barrier for autistic people within the workplace.
She said: “If a role said you would need to be a good communicator, it can cause panic as to whether or not it means standing up at the front of the room or with a colleague?
“And then interviews can be extremely stressful, not knowing what to expect.
“Sometimes employees do not get the opportunity to disclose or fear that they might be discriminated against if they disclose so removing that stigma is important.
“Providing individuals with questions beforehand is imperative in order to get more autistic people into employment.”
When asked about support for autistic people moving to London, Maybank said working hours adjustment and hybrid models might be more effective in order to assist autistic people working within London.
She added: “It can be really stressful for someone with autism travelling in London during rush hour, so allowing employers to start work at different hours to avoid the rush hour could help with the commute.”
The National Autistic Society launched the Autism at Work Programme, with one of the big successes being Holborn-based CubeLynx which has recruited eight autistic employees since it started working with the programme in 2020.
CubeLynx Director Mayur Gondhea said: “It is mainly attitude from organisations that will allow them to hire more autistic employees.
“Making autism-friendly adjustments should be possible for any company.”
CubeLynx have now included in their training, a section relating to neurodiversity with its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Training Module.
Even when they get into employment, autistic people often end up in roles that are often underpaid and under-skilled.
Occasionally referred to as the hidden disability, there have been more concerted attempts such as Autistica’s “Hidden-CV” campaign promoting the launching of the Neurodiversity Employer Index.
Autistica CEO James Cusack stated that their goal is to get 40% of autistic people into employment by 2030.
The Neurodiversity Employer Index aims to help organisations recruit and retain more neurodivergent employees, with a specialised report and a roadmap in order to increase neurodivergence within their organisations.
Cusack said: “Emphasising the potential benefits that autistic people can bring to the workplace is really important whilst also being realistic about the different profiles of autism and what support that they might need.
“We need to show a range of roles that autistic people are in with a variety of skills to show what people of autism can do.”
One of the large sector areas that has been of particular difficulty for autistic people has been the corporate world.
Dan Harris, founder of Neurodiversity in Business (NIB) said: “A lot of people who are autistic believe that the corporate world simply isn’t for them.”
NIB met with Sadiq Khan in 2022 with the aim and ambition to make London the most Neuro-Inclusive capital city in the world.
Yet the ‘Neurodiversity at Work, Demand, Supply and a Gap Analysis’ report commissioned by NIB in November discovered that, whilst 92% of employers surveyed have a Diversity, Equality and Inclusion policy, only 22% stated that they include neurodiversity within these policies.
The report states: “Employers need to focus on developing their confidence in creating neuro-inclusive processes throughout the employee lifecycle.”
NIB has been campaigning for greater neurodiversity inclusion within the corporate world and some of the organisations that they have worked with include Google, Apple and Bing.
