Even though most autistic people want to work and hold down a career, only about 16% of people on the autism spectrum have full-time paid employment and any hopes of a sustained and successful career. Most of those who land a job successfully struggle to stay employed while attempting to optimally manage their mental wellbeing.
Today, autistic people largely struggle with securing employment in the first place because the recruitment process is really a social test. The average work setting is established to favor neurotypicals. So from the attraction to separation stages, there’s still no real considerations made for autistic people or any type of neurodivergent people even. What this has led to is many autistic people having to mask or perform neurotypicality so they can get into the workplace and stay there. There’s a real struggle to succeed.
The biggest responsibility lies with employers who need to put in the work to debunk harmful stereotypes and strive for inclusion by creating policies inclusive for all neurodivergent experiences. These policies must be created with the direct input of actual autistic voices.
Autism does not hold people back from holding down meaningful careers. The system does. You can be on the autism spectrum and find and keep a job. If you really want. With some help. Or lots of help. More often than not, autistic people with Level 1 Autism (requiring low support) are more inclined to want to explore a corporate career than people with Level 2 or 3 Autism. This does not in any way mean they would have it easy. At least not with the existing system. Not to worry, while the system gets the much needed rebuild, here is how your parents or guardians can encourage and help you.
If your support needs let you, as an individual on the autism spectrum, having a job is very much empowering. Being able to have and hold down a job or a career is a major contributor towards a more fulfilling life. And I encourage you to try if you really want to.
As an involved parent, nobody knows your child’s strengths better and maybe only one or no other persons are best equipped to support your child in this process. You can support your child while letting feel independent and keep them feeling like they own most of the process the entire time. Your job is not necessarily to help fill out any forms or place calls through, you could encourage them to be their own advocates, play on their strengths and help them prepare and practice during a hiring process. You may also offer emotional support. It is advisable you begin to lay the groundwork for this from when the child is a young teen.
First of all, as much as possible, optimize your child for happiness and enjoyment, make sure they are being guided to pursue a career in an area they already shine brightly in or show clear potential to do so with the right nudges. Think about what they really enjoy and shine at first before you try to optimize for wealth. Start to slowly teach them about office politics and finding important allies and being their own advocates, incorporate these lessons into your daily interactions, during meal times, or when you are at the mall or somewhere else together.
Here’s a few ways you as a parent could support their child through the process as a Nigerian;
- Encourage learning soft skills like teamwork and communicating in your best possible way at home
- Teaching your child to maintain cleanliness and a professional demeanour as much as they can
- Provide opportunities for them to discover and develop their practical and social skills; this could be achieved through simple inexpensive extracurricular activities you could do with them, or have them do on their own mostly with some help
- Practice interviewing with your child to help build their confidence
- Teach your child to advocate for their accommodations and other needs in the workplace. This is really the best strategy when working on their communication skills
- Build a network in your child’s areas of interest.
- As realistically possible, you may also teach your child to access public and private transportation services to get to and from work.
Most of the jobs best suited for autistic people (depending on your child’s support need level) include anything that does not involve ringing phones, anything involving repetitive tasks and routine, jobs around their special interests, a job that blesses them with a patient manager, working from home, a job with a quiet environment, data entry, and non customer facing roles.
Now if you have a low support autistic child, who is a female, and excellent at masking, they could get and keep people facing roles as much as they want and even excel but there’s a lot of emotional management and support you may need to encourage in these cases so their emotional wellness does not take too much of a dip while they progress in their careers.
Some jobs that are historically more receptive towards autistics are
- Night Shifts — more control over your sensory sensitivities because fewer colleagues on duty;
- Tax and Accounts
- Software Development
- Remote/Hybrid jobs
- Veterinary Doctor
- Research Assistant
- Laboratory Technician
- Librarian
- Data Analyst
- Writer
- Proof reader/Editor
Whatever line of work an autistic person eventually chooses, the decision to disclose should be entirely up to autistics and not influenced by friends and family. I advise that you carefully observe the playing field at your organization before you disclose. However, if you can see from the hiring stage that the organization deeply cares to be inclusive and has accommodations already in place for you, and you can see data showing that disclosure has not systemically excluded anyone from opportunities at work in the past, then you may go ahead and disclose on entrance into the organization.
When you do get in, be your biggest advocate, find allies, play on your strengths and try hard to be your own loudspeaker as best as you can, do not over-apologize, always ask for feedback and run things by your ally at work where you are not clear on something or something does not feel right to you, be upfront about your communication preferences to your colleagues as much as possible, be nice to everyone as much as you can and never be an instrument to workplace gossip, familiarize yourself with the primary laws in your country addressing disabilities, know your triggers, practice self-care when you have time away from the office, set boundaries and try not to say yes to everything, and manage your relationship with your manager as best as you humanly can.
Most importantly, know your goals, maintain your values, always stay true to yourself and your ambitions and never remain in a toxic situation.