Autism Month: Empowering Autistic Individuals in the Workplace
What is Autism Month?
In the last few years, Autism Awareness Month (1st – 30th April), has been renamed by many as Autism Acceptance Month. While the Autism Society of America popularised this rebranding in 2021, the name for this important event has undergone further change from some organisations and individuals to simply “Autism Month”. This shift recognises a change in narrative about autism, moving away from placing focus or value on being 'aware' of or ‘accepting’ autism, and placing a wider focus on understanding autism, working towards fostering neuro-inclusion in workplaces and everyday life, and highlighting the unique skills often possessed by autistic individuals. Some of these strengths often include logical thinking, pattern recognition, clear and direct communication, honesty and attention to detail.
We recognise that individuals may choose to celebrate Autism Awareness, Autism Acceptance or both, therefore we refer to ‘Autism Month’ to respect the growing changes in narrative and such individual preferences. Human variation is natural. We understand and acknowledge this in height, race, sexual orientation and gender (among other criteria), so why not in the way we communicate and interpret the world?
Changing Perceptions Around Neurodiversity
While understanding and knowledge around neurodiversity and the importance of creating inclusive cultures is growing, neurodiversity in general has traditionally been discussed in a deficit framework. Most of the terminology many individuals may have heard or learned as children had negative connotations: ‘learning difficulty’ and ‘learning disability’ for example. Even the term disorder is defined as ‘a lack of order or an abnormal state’. As a result, the default narrative has largely been that ‘Autism presents as challenges with social interaction, social communication and social imagination’ and rarely ‘Autism presents as strengths in logical thinking, direct communication and attention to detail.'
In reality, Autism is not one or the other. Much like other forms of human variation, while some characteristics or traits may be shared, each autistic individual is unique in terms of their strengths, talents and challenges they may experience. These variations are often talked about as a 'spectrum', but people often misinterpret this as a line that increases in intensity from one end to the other. In reality, a single linear measure is not sufficient to describe the nuance in people’s skills, experiences, and strategies for managing any challenges they may face.
Rather than focusing on 'boxing up' autism into outdated or unhelpful categories, it is better to take a person-centred approach to minimise barriers and support autistic individuals to be who they are.
Embracing the Unique Perspectives and Skills of Autistic Individuals
So how can we achieve this?
Firstly, educating yourself on the experiences of autistic individuals can be beneficial to give insight into ways that individuals may be prevented from being their authentic selves, such as learned behaviour in women based on gender ‘expectations’ and masking.
To help improve your understanding around neurodiversity and foster neuro-inclusion, it can be useful to have conversations with autistic colleagues, friends or family to hear their experiences and strengths, as these are different for everyone.
Asking how you can help minimise barriers individuals may encounter can be helpful, but be mindful that self-awareness and identifying barriers can be a challenge for some individuals, so it may be more beneficial to trial strategies and new ways of doing things and see what has a positive impact.
Refraining from judgement or comparison when an individual's traits are different to what you may expect is key. Some examples are that autistic individuals may find eye contact challenging or may stim (using repetitive actions such as movements or speech that can be soothing and help with over/under stimulation). You can help by accepting people as they are.
How to Foster Neuro-inclusion in the Workplace
A great place to start is in having a variety of working environments where possible to suit different working preferences. This can involve the ability to work from home, as well as having a variety of workspaces including pods, private offices or quiet spaces, as well as using natural features and lighting.
Offering clear information on available support options can minimise uncertainty and reduce barriers to support and career progression. This could be in the form of an adjustments policy and neurodiversity passport.
It can also be beneficial to offer training on neurodiversity or specific neurodifferences such as autism for line managers, those in leadership positions and others within the business. This training can include webinars, workshops and e-Learning, which can help to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions around neurodiversity, develop understanding on the benefits of neurodifferences in the workplace, and foster inclusion and empathy in the wider workforce.
To discover how Lexxic can support your organisation in understanding neurodiversity and empowering autistic individuals this month and beyond, book a chat with one of our team today.
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