How can I support my ASD employees?

[DavidH]

For sensitivity purposes I cannot disclose where I work but we are a large corporation that you have definitely heard of. I am one of the Software Development Directors and responsible for about 150 people on my teams not to mention I work closely with other peers and managers for a software development and professional services group that is 2000 people.

I have identified at least 3 people who have ASD or Asperger's. Two of them have told me directly and the third was told to me by someone else but his behavior makes a lot more sense now that someone pointed it out to me. None of them revealed this in their interviews and frankly I think this is probably good because I don't trust all of our managers to not discriminate.

Two of them have complained about a lack of structure, which is challenging in software development because the requirements we get from the business are going to have a certain level of ambiguity. I have worked with them to ask more questions, be direct with our business partners, and to get specific on areas that they want more detail. Honestly, this is something I did myself when I was coding and I don't think it is something only ASD people should be doing but it appears.

We have a very open work area that can be noisy. I've done the best I can to encourage them to use headphones to reduce distraction.

Working in development there have been struggles. A lot of our people fit the developer stereotype. Poor social skills, lack of empathy, strong introversion. This may sound like ASD heaven but there is a strong use of sarcasm throughout and it causes a lot of confusion and there has been at least one meltdown from a combination of sarcasm from teammates and an strong confrontation between an ASD associate and their team lead over performance issues.

It's not all struggles. Our third person is actually a manager candidate but now that I am aware he likely has Asperger's it explains why he needed more coaching on how his communication affects his teammates. If we expand his area or build a new team I am strongly supporting his promotion even though he now reports to one of the professional services directors instead of me.

I'm fine with one-on-one coaching despite how busy I am. What things can I do to help? What accommodations can you suggest to help them be successful?

 

[GadAbout]

I like all the things you are doing now.

You might have a supervisors' training on helping autistic-like employees - identifying such people (without labeling them), improvement of internal communication, building success-oriented people skills, etc.

Thanks for acknowledging that disclosing ASD status can lead to discrimination, even in your own company.

 

[Perry]

I too like all that you are doing now. I feel that one on one is ALWAYS the safest bet. In the beginning at least. Then M A Y B E you could build a few in the room, so to speak, and find out from them what they would need for help or guidance or suggestions...

 

[DavidH]

Thanks for acknowledging that disclosing ASD status can lead to discrimination, even in your own company.

What is interesting and frustrating is our HR department is very supportive of various special groups. We're top notch when it comes to supporting LGBTQ, racial diversity, gender diversity, and even making sure different political views are not discriminated against. When it comes to religion or autism they have basically taken a "don't ask, don't tell" policy even while we have press releases talking about support for neurodiversity.

I don't get it.

 

[Crossbreed]

What things can I do to help? What accommodations can you suggest to help them be successful?

There is no pat answer (unless, of course, @Pats answers... ). Each person is different and it depends on what the objective is. Supervisor training (as @GadAbout suggested) would be a good start. Getting a sense of your co-worker's strengths & motivation will carry you a long way.

 

[Autistamatic]

I've linked a video below which is on the exact topic you're asking about @DavidH
It's unlisted at this time since I won't be listing it publicly until the new year, but since it's so relevant to your question I thought I'd link it here now. There's another below which you might find interesting too.
Are you on Twitter btw David? If so you might want to look up @magnus919
He's autistic himself and is in a similar position to you in a tech business. He's making some interesting inroads into broadening his company's remit in regard to neurodivergent employees. I think you and he might have a lot to talk about.

 

[Misery]

What is interesting and frustrating is our HR department is very supportive of various special groups. We're top notch when it comes to supporting LGBTQ, racial diversity, gender diversity, and even making sure different political views are not discriminated against. When it comes to religion or autism they have basically taken a "don't ask, don't tell" policy even while we have press releases talking about support for neurodiversity.

I don't get it.

When it comes to the autism bit, maybe it's the sort of thing where they dont officially quite know what to do about it?

That seems to be the response that comes from ALOT of people out there. Like, people hear about autism all the time, but if you ask them WHAT it is, all they'll do is either give you a blank stare, or point to some Youtube video of some child freaking out. There's a definite lack of people having the foggiest bloody clue about what it's really all about.

I mean, even alot of professionals in the medical field dont seem to quite grasp what it is. If you're on this site often enough, you'll hear LOTS of stories about encounters with so-called "professionals" who dont understand it in the slightest. When a medical professional says something like "No, you cant possibly be autistic, because you dont do this thing I saw on Youtube once", you know there's not a whole lot of real knowledge floating around there. For whatever reason, autism is just a subject that gives unending amounts of confusion and misinformation.

And no company wants to dive into something (officially) that they have literally no understanding of... that's a lawsuit or PR incident waiting to happen.

That's my take on it, anyway.

 

[paloftoon]

Every ASD individual is different. There are some generalities, but considering the technical aspects of your job, it sounds like each employee has a respectable career. So, the individuals in question are probably quite highly functioning. ND people will have different tolerance levels for various things. You might not always get it right, but people can usually tell if you're trying or not, and that makes a big difference. Try to talk to these people in 1-1 spaces in-person and start off by letting them know beforehand that they are not in trouble. Avoid sarcasm generally speaking and just be as direct, clear, and concise as you can be.

These individuals you work with may think things very differently than most people. Try your best to tell them how to think about certain things or their options. Generally, a safe bet is that there is no bad intention.

If you are near the Philly area and feel comfortable with it, feel free to PM me. One of the organizations I work with is looking for organizations to support a staff of ND people.

 

[Crossbreed]

@DavidH , if you want general information about autism,

see Autlanders, Thriving Outside of the Box: Finding Support Resources in the USA...

Your local chapter of the Autism Society of America may have a speaker who can come to your place of business. We who were previously known as Aspergers (now, ASD1) have been poorly represented by disability job placement agencies.

They are accustomed to dealing with cognitive or physical deficits. We typically have neither. They talk down to us as if we were the former when some of us are even gifted. Our only shared deficit is in reading people and social situations in real-time. Most of us do not use or grasp office politics, and find them to be very disruptive.

As a programmer & electronic tech, I would report failure causes as I discovered them. It never occurred to me that such straight-forward reporting would offend anyone. Not all trouble reports do that, but it is still a shock when it happens.

 

[Crossbreed]

Also, most ASD1 autistics do not trust Autism Speaks or believe that they represent our best interests. We believe that autism (without complications) is an alternative, healthy state (like being left-handed), but they insist on trying to "cure" us.

Autism with complications (ASD2/3) does need to be prevented or cured, if possible, but that is due to its complications, not their base autistic neurology. Autism Speaks is operating under an erroneous paradigm.

 

[DavidH]

see Autlanders, Thriving Outside of the Box: Finding Support Resources in the USA...

Your local chapter of the Autism Society of America may have a speaker who can come to your place of business. We who were previously known as Aspergers (now, ASD1) have been poorly represented by disability job placement agencies.

I will check those out. Unfortunately, HR would have to approve a speaker coming in but I may be able to persuade them since our execs have made such a big deal out of neurodiversity later.

As a programmer & electronic tech, I would report failure causes as I discovered them. It never occurred to me that such straight-forward reporting would offend anyone. Not all trouble reports do that, but it is still a shock when it happens.

This is a common problem with a lot of developers who are not on the spectrum. Part of it is caused by difficulty searching our bug tracker to understand it is already a known problem and for some reason everyone goes berserk if a bug is reported right before a production launch which bothers me because it's always better to find it beforehand even if it means an awkward customer conversation.

Sometimes its an issue because the person who created the issue/failure/defect feels they are being criticized when someone else finds a problem. I used to thank people for finding issues in my code and then hurried to fix it. One of the many reasons I run teams instead of code.

 

[SDRSpark]

In addition to what others have suggested about training, etc.

Needs are highly individual. The best thing, is to let each person tell you what they need and do your best to accommodate. The challenge here is that they have to tell you - What you can't do, at least not bluntly, is bring up autism with someone who hasn't directly told you, which makes it a little more challenging. I think you can just ask 'what can I do to make your work experience better' question to anyone/everyone, regardless of suspected or confirmed difference, you just have to be conscientious about it - obviously "hey I heard you're autistic, do you need accommodations?" won't work, even though your intentions are good.

Not everyone is going to tell you, and there are likely more than just the three you know/suspect about. So I'd work on fostering an environment where people feel comfortable asking for what they need, where you have a track record of working with people to make their jobs easier - whether they have a difference that you know about, or not. (After all, it's not just ASD people who have issues with a lot of things common to an employment situation!)

 

[Rich Gray]

"No, you cant possibly be autistic, because you dont do this thing I saw on Youtube once" . . ..

During my daughters IEP (I think that she has Asperger's like I do) each of the five teachers would read this copy and pasted "she does not flap her hands or rock" bit . . . every time I looked at them and said "I do not flap my hands or rock." There were other parts that I put in my two cents, but essentially it would seem that only one of them knew what she was talking about. Really I should be grateful for the one teacher knowing her stuff, and that being impressed at for 1/5 teachers knowing there stuff is telling. 2/5 if you counted her classroom teacher who did not present specialist IEP reports for the record.

I also told them what they needed to do, and why they needed to do it. It was an interesting experience telling professionals how to do their jobs using facts, and reasoning that no one could argue with. The classroom teacher seemed pleased with me opening up on them with facts, and thanked me after.

To the OP: Make use of the written word. Give time to organize thoughts and give the subject(s) of the meeting in advance. I know when the client shows up and announces a meeting to get feedback at the last moment . . . this is a poor way to get feedback. I would have had pages of feedback ready to go if given time and topics(s).