{"id":14143,"date":"2018-10-29T01:54:53","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T01:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=14143"},"modified":"2018-10-30T01:57:05","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T01:57:05","slug":"expecting-autistic-people-to-fit-in-is-cruel-and-unproductive-value-us-for-our-strengths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/expecting-autistic-people-to-fit-in-is-cruel-and-unproductive-value-us-for-our-strengths\/","title":{"rendered":"Expecting autistic people to ‘fit in’ is cruel and unproductive; value us for our strengths"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Sun San Wong<\/a>, Southern Cross University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Just 16% of adults with autism are in full-time paid employment, and this situation is not improving. The Economist has described this as \u201ca tragic toll<\/a>, as millions of people live idle and isolated outside the world of work\u201d.<\/p>\n

When people with autism do get a job, they face bullying, discrimination and isolation in the workplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I know the harsh reality from personal experience. Who better to research and write about productivity and employment outcomes than someone who has experienced autism and 40 years of competitive employment?<\/p>\n

Autism is a lifelong phenomenon. It\u2019s in the genes. It will never go away<\/a>. <\/p>\n

At school I was called retard, crazy horse and other stupid names. Even worse, I was expelled eight times. Teachers did not understand that I could not identify non-verbal cues to behaviour. That I needed to move and to run to cope. That I spoke loudly and was perfectly clear about my perspective with teachers and peers but could not reciprocate appropriately in school interactions. <\/p>\n

I found school tasks based on rote learning very challenging. I had difficulty processing sound information. I could concentrate for long periods on tasks of interest to me, but was unable to respond to teacher cues about where to direct my attention. I was punished repeatedly without really knowing why. <\/p>\n

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\n Read more:
\n Why you should never assume anything about people with autism<\/a>
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But my mother never gave up on me. Time after time she found another school so I could continue my education. Thank you, Mum. You are the greatest.<\/p>\n

These school expulsions traumatised me so much that I vowed never to let a workplace terminate me. When a job was not working out, I quit and found another \u2013 28 times in 27 years. <\/p>\n

Then, at age 47 I found a job I held for 15 years, until I retired.<\/p>\n

These experiences have informed my research into strategies to improve employment rates and work enjoyment for other people with autism. <\/p>\n

Focus on strengths, not deficits<\/h2>\n

Mainstream psychiatry frames autism as a spectrum of disorders. Really? Do we have to act like somebody else to be judged normal? <\/p>\n

Laurent Mottron, a psychiatry professor at the University of Montreal, argues<\/a> against a \u201cdeficit-based\u201d approach to children with autism. The premise is that \u201ctreatment\u201d should change them, make them conform, suppress their repetitive behaviours and moderate their \u201cobsessive\u201d interests. <\/p>\n

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\n Read more:
\n How our autistic ancestors played an important role in human evolution<\/a>
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\n <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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This approach, Mottron says, has done nothing to improve employment outcomes for people with autism. <\/p>\n

In my own case, attempts by teachers and work managers to make me behave \u201cnormally\u201d often just triggered my autism. My reactions at school led to expulsions. At work I would quit. <\/p>\n

So I agree with Mottron and others autism researchers that want to move beyond studying autism as a deficit and to emphasise the abilities and strengths of people with it. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the key to high productivity<\/h2>\n

Part of the economic rationale for funding Australia\u2019s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is based on the scheme leading to productivity gains<\/a> by increasing people\u2019s independence and participation in the workforce. The whole scheme will be compromised if we fail to promote better productivity and employment outcomes for people with autism, who make up 29% of participants<\/a> in the scheme with approved plans.<\/p>\n

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