Autism and the Working Environment
To celebrate Autism Awareness Month in April, we wanted to shine a light on some of the practical ways organisations can make their workplace environments more neuroinclusive, to empower autistic individuals to succeed.
Autism is a lifelong neurological difference that exists on a spectrum and can affect the way a person communicates, interacts, and processes the world around them.
With more than 1 in 100 people in the UK being autistic (National Autistic Society), there are some characteristics, strengths, and challenges that are commonly associated with autism, and which can impact individuals in different ways.
Although everyone is different, some of the strengths which often make autistic individuals a real asset to their employers include:
Some other common characteristics of autism include:
Communication and social interaction differences, for example, being less comfortable with small talk, perceiving ambiguous and vague language and expressing how they are feeling.
Challenges with changes to routine or structure, particularly at the last minute, without warning or reason
Challenges with maintaining eye contact and using/interpreting non-verbal expressions, gestures, and tone of voice
Sensory sensitivities within the environment, such as to sound, touch, smell, taste, and visual stimulation
Masking and camouflaging, which is where an individual may force themselves to behave in a certain way that may not feel comfortable or natural to them. Masking and camouflaging can be challenging and draining over time, which can lead to secondary mental health challenges.
The sensory environment can be challenging for some autistic individuals due to sensory sensitivities, such as being hypersensitive to certain elements of the sensory environment. This can include background noises, certain smells, bright and artificial lights, physical touch, and also certain visual stimuli. In some scenarios this can cause some autistic individuals to experience sensory overload, which is where the brain becomes overwhelmed with sensory input, and can lead to feelings of anxiety and stress.
Ensuring that your work environment is designed or adapted to minimise sensory overload is an important step in creating a neuoinclusive workplace, where individuals with a neurodifference are empowered and able to work at their best. This has the potential to improve performance, wellbeing, engagement and retention.
Some practical examples of steps you can take include:
Sound:
Offering noise-cancelling headphones to reduce audio overload in open plan spaces, and to block out distractions
Access to quiet rooms to reduce feelings of overwhelm
Offering flexible working hours to allow individuals to come into the office when it is quieter at work and on public transport.
Visual:
Providing a fixed desk near a window to reduce the need for artificial lighting
Window covering to reduce glare and distractions
Avoiding florescent lighting
Olfactory:
Ensuring working filtration and ventilation systems
Opening doors and windows when eating
Offering alternative seating areas for food consumption
A useful resource that organisations can use to support them to create a more neuro-inclusive environment is the PAS 6463 standard developed by BSI and entitled ‘Design for the mind – Neurodiversity and the built environment’:
“The PAS is believed to be the first standard that has been developed by a national standards body that provides built environment guidance for multiple sensory processing differences and conditions. It is aimed to help with the design, creation or management of the intuitive environments which readily accommodates the neurological variations in the way people perceive, process, and organise sensory information received through hearing, sight, touch, smell, taste or movement” (BSI Group, PAS 6463, Page viii).
Lexxic’s expert psychologists can provide a range of services that can help your organisation on its journey to generate greater neuro-inclusivity within the workplace environment. These include but are not limited to:
Environment Audit – to conduct an in-depth review of your current workplace environment and provide a comprehensive report with recommendations to build a more neuro-inclusive environment
Neurodiversity Smart: Environment Workshop – to promote awareness of how the workplace environment can be made more neuroinclusive, tailored to the particular needs of your organisation.
Workplace Needs Assessment (WPA) – offered to individuals who identify as neurodivergent, or may be experiencing challenges related to neurodiversity within the workplace. The WPA focuses on the individual’s workplace challenges, strengths, and current job role, and entails a report of recommendations for the organisation to implement to help support the individual, which can include bespoke environment adjustments.
Please get in touch via hello@lexxic.com if you would like to discuss how we can help you.
References
BSI Group, PAS Standard 6463:2022, Page viii, https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/standards/pas-6463/