How Do We Accommodate Autism in the Workplace

How Do We Accommodate Autism in the WorkplaceAutism in the WorkplaceHow Do We Accommodate Autism in the WorkplaceAs the mother of a teenager on the autistic spectrum, I welches excited to watch the HBO movie about Temple Grandin last week. The movie was outstanding, and Clare Danes was phenomenal in the title role. Temple Grandin is probably the most famous autistic person today. She has a PhD and has written several books that have helped us understand so much more about how she and, by extension, other people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) experience the world.In Temple Grandins case, her autism makes her uniquely suited to her line of work. She has innate understanding of animals, along with uncanny visual thinking skills, and has used them to make cattle ranches more humane. The movie was pretty realistic about how autism can make a person binnenseem very unpleasant in the workplace. Temple shouted at others when they couldnt see the logic of her arguments. With no sense o f diplomacy or persuasion, she (accurately) pointed out that they were too stupid to understand. Obviously, that behavior wont cut it in 99% of workplaces. When Brazen Careerist blogger Penelope Trunk began talking about her own Aspergers Syndrome (a high-functioning form of autism), a lot of her outlandish, unfiltered, seemingly inappropriate posts suddenly made a lot more senseand after all, she did warn us shed be brazen. What many people dont realize, unless theyre close to someone on the spectrum, is that people with ASDs play by different rules. Its not by choice they just arent wired to easily understand all the emotional, social, intangible things that most of us are able to pick up on automatically. And therefore a lot of people with ASDs arent as successful in the working world as Temple Grandin or Penelope Trunk. Imagine yourself attempting to do your job if you couldnt recognize facial expressions, body language, subtle hints, or sarcasm. And maybe you cant process spoke n language quickly, so by the time you decode the last string of sounds into words, youve missed some other important point. Then add to that a heightened sensitivity to hintergrund noise, sudden sounds, strange smells, flickering lights, physical irritants such as clothing labels the list goes on and on. With current statistics telling us as many as one in 100children may have some form of ASD, wed better come up with some innovative ideas for more autism-friendly work options, pronto. ASDs can be valuable assets in the right work setting, both in spite of and because of the persons unique traits. Many of the worlds great thinkerscomposers, engineers, scientists, inventors, mathematicians, and creative artistshave had autistic traits. As Temple Grandins mother put it, people with autism are different, not less. When we find better ways to accommodate differences and tap unique strengths, we bring greater diversity and some amazing, out-of-the-box thinking into the mix.