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Employment for people with autism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The employment of people with autism is a social issue that is being addressed more and more frequently. These people suffer one of the lowest employment rates among workers with disabilities, with between 76% and 90% of them unemployed in Europe in 2014. The majority of people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) want and are able to work, and there are well-publicized examples of successful careers. Autistic people have long been kept in specialized institutions, with the majority remaining dependent on their families. Adults with autism are compulsorily underemployed, and generally have access to low-skilled, part-time, discontinuous jobs in so-called "protected" environments, without their wishes and aspirations being taken into account. The most restricted prospects are for non-verbal people with behavioral disorders.
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A wide variety of careers and positions are potentially accessible, although positions requiring little human interaction are notoriously favored, and associated with greater success. Sectors such as intelligence and information processing in the army, the hospitality and restaurant industry, translation and copywriting, IT, art, handicraft, mechanics and nature, agriculture and animal husbandry are particularly sought-after and adapted.
The problems encountered in accessing and remaining in employment have several explanations. Generally linked to poor communication between employers and autistic workers, they stem above all from the difficulties encountered by autistic people in understanding social relationships and managing their sensory hypersensitivities, and from employers' intolerance of these particularities, much more so than from intellectual disability. Frequent discrimination on the job market closes the door to people with autism, who are also often victims of unsuitable work organization. A number of measures can be put in place to resolve these difficulties, including job coaching, and adapting working conditions in terms of sensoriality and working hours. Some companies practice affirmative action, particularly in the IT sector, where "high-functioning" people with autism are seen as a competitive asset.