I hate to post a message as bleak as this. I like to be hopeful and, for every criticism I make, offer a constructive path forwards leading people to better days.
But again, for the umpteenthtime, I was told by experts working in the field that there are no special schemes or measures with respect to employment for autistic people. There is simply nothing, beyond minimal legal requirements. There is no ‘adapted’ employment. I’ve spent a couple of years looking for precisely this, receiving the same message back time and again – there are no ‘adapted’ jobs. I’ve asked, I’ve enquired, I have searched – adapted jobs do not exist. With diagnosis you are no better off, externally, than you were without diagnosis. You still have to compete the same way as everyone else – the same CVs, the same interview techniques, the same attempt to fit the job specifications better than anyone else. I was told bluntly that, up against others who fit the specifications better, employers will always but always hire the better fit. Because employers are not social workers. They want people who can do the job best of all.
So what chance does that give autistic people?
It is no wonder that lessthan 15% of autistic people are in full employment, with a tiny percentage of those doing jobs that fit their talents and which they enjoy doing. This is an outrage that should shame society. Because this attitude effectively consigns people to the scrapheap – a free and open competition between people with very different needs and abilities is neither free nor open.
This will take societal change. Instead, the current emphasis is on personal change, absorbing all the time and energy of autistic people in having to make themselves fit for the unequal competition. Some will make it. Most won’t.
I don’t need people totell me that ‘that’s the way society is.’ I know. What I challenge is the hopeless, craven, assumption that this is the only way that society can be: society is this way and always will be. You surrender if you like, and claim to have the weight of reality on your side to rationalize your cowardice and complicity. We all like to feel comfortable with our life choices. Or non-choices. But be clear as to what the assertion of that reality-principle means – the acceptance of so many differently talented being thrown onto the scrapheap, taking their hopes and dreams with them. It is utterly disgusting, society as a cemetery of human hopes and dreams.
Yes, there are no 'adapted' jobs. But there damn well should be!
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently published data that showed just 22% of autistic adults are in any kind of employment. This is a shocking figure that should shame society. This is solid evidence that should cause Government to act to help autistic people into work.
What have I found? The same help that is offered other people seeking employment. The same personalisation of social, structural, and institutional factors.
The title of this piece is a song title from a favourite Liverpool band, the Teardrop Explodes - Ha Ha, I'm Drowning
