Autism, disability or difference?

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2020, it is important to reflect on the fantastic work many organisations are doing in hiring people on the autism spectrum, but also consider the fact that many people see autism as a disability while others see it as a difference.

The word disability means a negative ability, and in society we have associated somebody who has disability as a negative, something we don't want to happen to ourselves. We also have seen difference as something to be feared and not trust. As a species we have learnt to be careful about changes in our environment or different peoples. When we look at autism through these different lenses we can gain new insights.

In the medical model of disability, autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of the brain, but in the social model of disability, it is a neurodiversity of the individual in how they process and perceive the world compared to neurotypical people. In the medical view of disability, the person is broken and needs to be fixed. In these types of workplaces, if we see a person behaving in a way that is different that is often seen as a problem, and they need to change that behaviour to fit into the organisational culture. In the social view of disability, the person needs their environment modified to let them have an equal chance at participating the same as other people. We see this every day, with ramps into buildings, amenities for people in wheelchairs, sound loops, brail on the button of pedestrian crossing lights.

For progressive organisations looking for diversity of thought to drive competitive advantage the medical model of thinking just does not work. Innovation comes from someone looking at a problem differently and coming up with an alternative solution nobody else considered. Prof Baron-Cohen in his book, The Pattern Seekers: A New Theory of Human Invention, theorises that all invention is driven by the inventor’s ability to identify and manipulate causal patterns, what he calls the systemising mechanism. This mechanism he argues is strong in people on the autism spectrum.

Many staff who are on the autism spectrum may display alternative behaviours to other staff, these could be seen as being obsessive or pedantic on details, which is really important in a finance or an engineering role, but not as important in another role. They may be seen as rude or direct but being honest and getting straight to the point or demonstrating a problem quickly can save time and money. Autistic traits can change from day to day depending on circumstance, so it is important to understand the workers profile, environmental triggers and provide a safe supportive workplace and a manager who understands how to get the best from all their team.

So how we perceive autism comes down to our appreciation of how we see the person working in our workplace and having considered what processes we have that may disadvantage the worker. If autism is just another disability that management have decided we need to hire, then we are not likely to review our processes and modify them to remove barriers to entry. While if we see autism as an innovative competitive advantage then we will remove any barrier that stops us gaining that advantage. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we rapidly evolved our businesses and removed barriers that stopped us working. We allowed all staff to work from home and became Zoom or MS Teams gurus in days. We went from face to face meetings to online video meetings overnight. So, what are the barriers for a worker on the autism spectrum?

Interviews are a massive barrier for a worker on the autism spectrum. Interviews measure social and communication skills. Which for some roles is important, but for many roles it is more important that the worker can do the job we are hiring them for. At an interview, a worker can tell you how they will do the role, or how they did it before. But you really don't know if they can do it unless you can test them, role play or simulate the role. The best way to assess a worker on the autism spectrum is to conduct a work trial for a few hours or a few days. Other barriers are job advertising, if you have a long list of requirements and the worker has only some of the requirements, they will not apply. Only put the essential non negotiable requirements on your job ad. Another barrier will be awareness. If staff are not aware of the advantage of hiring someone who thinks differently, then they are less likely to hire someone on the autism spectrum. Many people on the autism spectrum may not inform you they have that diagnosis. This is due to their prior experience of discrimination. So having publicly available policies about being an autism aware or autism confident work place can only help attract this unique talent.

Depending on environment, management approach and level of awareness, autism can be seen as a disability where the person needs to modify their behaviour to fit into the workplace, or we have to make a lot of changes to enable them to participate. In progressive organisations, autism is an essential competitive advantage, where barriers are removed and the staff can be themselves in a supportive, kind environment. These workplaces are seeing their autistic talent with a 98% retention rate after 12 months, outperforming their neurotypical peers and staff satisfaction rates higher than the rest of their industry. Differences in society when not understood are usually feared, but when we learn about differences, we remove prejudice and become a kinder, more open and better engaged community. Seeing and understanding autism as just another difference in society will make you a better manager, co-worker and member of society, you will be able to see the value that innovation can bring to our teams.This why many people now see autism as neurodiversity.

David Smith.