Is it harder to find work when you are on the spectrum?
The Answer It Must Be! A shocking 15% of all autistic people in the UK are in full time work and only 9% in Part Time Work. Now compare that combined total of 24% to the 31% of all disabled people in the world. 7% to some that may not be a lot but when you are trying to find work in a world where people aren’t so accepting of difference that 7% may as well be 70%.
53% of that 24% are not getting the support they need. In Northern Ireland. I know of only one scheme that helps people specifically on the spectrum find work. Its called Specialist Sterne. But heres my question to you. Why is this the only facility that i can find to help people on the spectrum. My theory is that those money grabbing monkeys that we call politicians who we elected into these positions of power. So we can change that. Ok im getting off topic I’ll explain more about that in my next post. But back to what I was saying. They don’t care about us because they cut off all our vital resources which can help people in the spectrum. Only for them to raise prices and taxes and the age at which we will retire so they can continue to line their pockets making us believe it is for the greater good. What Good is it raising the retirement age if we cannot get people into jobs in the first place.
From my previous posts you’ll have guessed my font of resources includes many newspaper articles. But this article in the guardian about Autistic Workers who are loyal yet being ignored. Autism is not a barrier to employment its the flippant ignorance of some people that is the barrier to employment. Im not usually easily annoyed but thats one thing that makes my blood boil.
Now ignorance is not the only difficulty people face. If you are on the spectrum and in work you will most likely have issues with.
- Social Interaction
- Emotional Reciprocation
- Flexibility
- Forward thinking
- Abstract Thought
- Establishing Relationships
All these barriers they allow employers to look past every little good quality autism brings to a person, each new perspective the focused eye for detail. Every little unique quality which makes an autistic person so Amazing.
Jane Asher you wonderful woman I wholeheartedly agree with you when you say that Autistic people make the better employees than those known to the autism world as Neuro-Typicals.
Yes we are different but that does not mean to say we are charity cases, We are far from it. Employ someone on the spectrum and you will have the most loyal talented employee with an unique set of gifts.
They say what is good for the goose, is good for the gander. The same rule applies to autism. What is good for Autism is good for Neuro-typicals. i.e. Communication is a common barrier for those on the spectrum but couldn’t we all learn to improve our communication skills.
Autism is a valuable asset to any business or organisation. Lets Break Down Ignorance & Get Autists working.
