Making A Dent In The Belief That Autism Equals Incapability - 11 Reasons Why Autistic People make Perfect Employees Robust and reliable dry-stone walls, an original feature and valuable part of our landscape, have weathered many storms for hundreds of years. They are not built out of equal-sized, block-shaped stones, but gain their impenetrable strength from the diversity of the rocks that form then. Why should we not apply this concept to people and introduce more diversity into our workforce to make it stronger, more reliable and more original? Why do so many employers insist on recruiting only people, who conform to one-size-fits-all criteria? I have been asked many times “Aren’t we potentially creating constant disruption in our workplace if we employ autistic people who cannot conform?” On probing why employers should think this way, I have always found that this …show more content…
This is far too stereotypical. There are in fact as many autistic as non-autistic people who are not good at IT. In reality, a person with autistic traits can excel in any area in which they take an interest. They are often steered away from occupations involving inter-personal interaction. But this too is wrong. Many people with autism cope well with structured conversations (which are the kind generally required in a working environment) and are very open to learning social skills, which can be easily acquired through appropriate training. It is also wrong to think that autistic people are all introverted and don’t like being with people. While many are like this, there are also large numbers who are naturally extroverts and love being with people. They are the ones who suffer most from rejection by society and prolonged periods of