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How Physical Distancing Brought Us Even Closer Together
Five years have passed since I last wrote about our social recreation group CASY Sparks, previously known as Project CASY (Community Autism Socials at Yale) in the Spring 2016 Issue of Autism Spectrum News. CASY began to flourish in 2016 with the establishment of the Daniel Jordan Fiddle...
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Autism @ Work: Insights From a World-First Global Study on Employing Autistic Adults
Since the emergence of Specialisterne, a growing number of multi-national organizations have implemented neurodiversity hiring programs including SAP, JP Morgan, Microsoft, IBM, and several others. Alongside them are the innovative pioneers within the social enterprise and...
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Disclosing Autism During an Interview
A question that is widely debated in the Autism community is whether a prospective employee should disclose during the interview process they are autistic (I use identity first language). Opinions vary on this topic. It is my opinion that the comfort level the interviewee has is a determining...
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Engagement in Special Interests Influences Well-Being and Provides Employment Opportunities in Neurodiverse Individuals
A brief note on the terminology used in this article: While people should practice sensitivity towards various opinions, many adults on the autism spectrum have disclosed the preference of identity-first language over person-first language (Botha et al., 2020). Thus, identity-first language, such...
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Supporting the Transition to Employment for Adolescents with Autism
Graduating from high school and transitioning to the world of work is an extremely important and exciting milestone. However, for many young adults with autism obtaining and maintaining employment can present some unique challenges. Unfortunately, despite the vastly increasing numbers of...
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Six Steps for Greater Autism Inclusion In The Workplace
Imagine you have an employee who excels at pattern recognition, thinks “outside of the box” and has extreme attention to detail. Yet, they might not enjoy making eye contact or be the best at reading social cues. This was the case for one company’s new hire that I learned about during...
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What Benefits Should an Employer Have When Hiring Neurodiverse Employees?
With an ever-shifting trend toward hiring more neurodiverse employees, we are seeing major profit potential for financial and technology companies. These types of employers have begun to realize and capitalize on the unique value that a team of neurodiverse employees can bring to the table. Around...
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Identity Language: In Service of a More Inclusive Workplace
As diversity and inclusion initiatives grow in popularity, it is important to consider how they contribute to shaping workplace attitudes. Programs that do not take current developments happening in the communities being serviced into account will come across as outdated at best, and harmful at...
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Fostering a Healthy Workplace Requires a Holistic Approach
Our home lives have invaded our workspaces, and vice-versa. The whole person, not just the employee, shows up at work, and likewise, it’s not just mom or dad who shows up at home. Because of the pandemic’s significant impact on employee work-life balance, employers can no longer assume...
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Neurodiversity Hiring Programs – A Path to Employment?
Standard recruiting and interviewing processes are designed for the ways neurotypical candidates think. Unfortunately, these practices often obscure the talents neurodivergent candidates can bring to an organization. While some autistic individuals do obtain employment through an employer’s...
