According to the Buckland Review of Autism Employment published in 2024, only 29% of autistic adults are employed, compared to 52% of all disabled people and 80% of non-disabled individuals. Autistic people face the largest employment gap amongst disability groups.

Now we have seen a seismic shift in the world of workplace culture as awareness of Neurodiversity grows, which is in so many ways brilliant. But to keep the drum beating – Autism Acceptance Month and Neurodiversity Celebration Week both provide a golden opportunity to consider some of the simple things you can do as an employer to assist employees with autism, or an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), some of which actually may benefit other employees too.

Inclusive Recruitment

In many cases, recruitment processes are still naturally weighted against neurodivergent candidates, and we’re talking manual as well as AI processes. So, it’s critical that your hiring teams are diligently auditing these processes to remove barriers. We’ve got some guidance on recruitment practices that might be helpful here, but here are some ideas you can implement today:

• Make sure to ask all candidates in advance if they have any needs to enable them to participate in the recruitment process, that way you can plan appropriately.  Ask them “what can we do to help you be at your best?”

• Offer candidates with autism the opportunity to visit and look around the workplace prior to the interview and providing as much information as possible beforehand, is likely to be appreciated.

• In some cases, a work trial may be the best way of enabling a candidate to demonstrate what they can do without the pressure of an unnatural interview or assessment situation. Ask if a trial time on location would be helpful before the interview.

Ask the Employee!

It really can be that simple, ask questions like:

• What things they feel they need to do their job well
• What they find helpful
• What they find difficult or what makes their work harder

People with autism are the expert in their day to day working life and can usually provide clarity about the challenges they are facing, what they need or what has helped them previously. This will help to guide you in sourcing further support if necessary.

However, there may be situations or tasks that the individual may not fully appreciate the impact of, and this is where involving someone who is knowledgeable about their condition and who they trust can be helpful.

Consider the Working Environment

Some people with autism (but not all) may find background noise distressing. Simple ways to reduce this can be the use of noise cancelling headphones or locating them in a quiet area. It may be helpful not to place the person in or near a “walk through” area.

Visual overload can also be challenging, so turning the lighting down in an area can be helpful or locating the individual where surroundings, such as walls, are fairly neutral coloured and don’t have busy patterns or too many posters etc.

If you are lucky enough to be planning a workplace refit or redecoration it may be worth considering using neutral colours and simple décor which not only looks smart but creates a calmer environment for everyone.

Provide Structure

Many people on the autistic spectrum have a particular need for routine, structure and certainties. It’s worth looking at the design of their jobs and the systems and processes they use to make them as predictable as they can be.

Try to remove as much ambiguity as possible, including making efforts to ensure that communications are very clear. Some individuals have a need to absorb information in their own time, so ensuring that the format and timing of communication works for them can be a great help.

It’s also worth noting that this doesn’t just apply to autism, many people have strong preferences in these areas and will benefit from some thought being given to their needs.

We can all find change of any sort stressful and therefore employers who explain change clearly and well ahead of time, wherever possible, make the process easier for all employees.

Making a greater effort to explain, plan ahead carefully, and cover lots of detail about even the smallest changes will be enormously helpful for anyone who finds these things particularly challenging.

Working in Teams

Due to some of the challenges faced with social interactions, employees with autism can struggle in perceiving the actions or expressions of speech of others. Their colleagues can also have difficulty in what they may see as non-typical responses in communication and eye contact.

Providing some education and raising awareness sessions to managers and colleagues about autism is crucial to help boost understanding and reduce misunderstanding.

In large organisations you could do this as part of Diversity awareness training. It’s also possible that the individual themselves could convey the key information about their specific needs, either to the team or via a team manager. This can be particularly important for people with high functioning autism, as their characteristics may not appear to be that different from everyone else and so are likely to be more easily misunderstood.

The role of management is critical here. It is really helpful for all of us to receive training on the difference between being confident and assertive, compared with coming across as aggressive. Some people with autism While individuals with such disorders can sometimes come across as, for instance, abrupt or aggressive, managers who have received proper awareness training will be far better equipped to recognise this and handle the situation in a more pragmatic manner.

Not only is this likely to result in a quicker and better resolution, but the recognition and understanding itself is likely to instil a feeling of acceptance and appreciation among neurodiverse employees, which in turn can lead to better engagement and performance.

Don’t Expect there to Always be a Clear Clinical Diagnosis

The wonderful world of Neurodiversity has only really been fully explored over the last few years so a situation where we have no diagnosis can crop up. It’s important to remember to avoid ‘Dr Google’. If you think these traits are strong in your team member, the first thing to do is empathetically, confidentially raise it with them.

What is more common is that an individual has seen a GP who believes that they may be on the spectrum, but diagnosis from a specialist has not been available – waiting lists for assessments can run into years.

Without an official diagnosis, individuals may feel they cannot declare themselves as being on the autistic spectrum or are concerned that if they do declare this without a formal diagnosis, they may not be supported. The National Autistic Society can assist with assessments. They also provide training for employers and other information on their website.

It’s About the Individual

It’s clear that the simple suggestions above can apply equally well to all employees. So, our golden rule is to focus on the person. Be innovative and play to people’s strengths in your team. Use same principle and approach for all your team.

We often forget that employees are individuals, with individual needs for how they work, how they communicate and what helps them to work well.

Good employment practices and good line managers who understand how to manage people effectively will ensure that even without specific knowledge of autism (or other characteristics) every individual can be supported – it just takes good communication and some thought, time and effort!

Further Information

If you want to know more about the particular characteristics of autism, DWP have a great page of easy to understand information with a few videos in their Autism and Neurodiversity Toolkit.

There is also an interesting Neurodiversity At Work Paper available from ACAS.

Access To Work can assist with funding to support workplace adaptations and changes.

Autism Speaks have useful toolkits and information for employers.

For help with building your managers’ confidence to manage neurodivergent team-members inclusively and effectively you can speak to the Vista team here.

And check out 10to3’s Neurodiversity collection of videos to support managers when HR can’t be in the room.