How to Manage Autistic Employees: 5 Practical Tips

From the Editor:
At URevolution, we believe inclusive workplaces are built through education, empathy, and action. This guide, "Managing autistic employees: five practical tips for getting it right," offers invaluable insights from an autistic writer with lived experience navigating the workforce. Originally published on EveryDay Feminism, this article continues to resonate today as companies seek authentic ways to foster neurodiversity in their teams. We are proud to republish it to amplify a conversation that goes beyond checkboxes and diversity statements—offering real, practical ways to support autistic employees with dignity and respect.

I’ll never forget how I felt when the head of my department at work made a comment about an autistic performer. Talking about this person’s social awkwardness and signing talent, she said something along the lines of, “But she’s autistic, right? That’s why she’s like that.”

I remember thinking, “Is that how she sees me? Do I even belong in this job?”

Unlike many autistic employees in the workplace, I generally have no issue with eye contact—but for the rest of the meeting, I stared at my notes and avoided everyone’s gaze, rushing to get out of the room as soon as it was over.

No one on my team knew that I was autistic unless any of them had bothered to dig up my reporting on the subject. And now, I felt I’d better keep it that way.

Between ableist micro-aggressions, inaccessibility, and harmful myths about autistic people, it’s not surprising that only 14% of autistic adults held paid jobs in their communities, according to 2017 research from Drexel University’s Autism Institute.

About 85% of autistic college graduates are unemployed, compared to the national unemployment rate for college graduates of 2.5 percent.

As hard as it was to remember at that moment, I knew that I wasn’t the problem. Fortunately, this job wasn’t my first introduction to working. I’d had supportive supervisors and inclusive workplaces before, and that what I needed was an environment that wanted me to succeed as I am. An environment that was accessible for autistic employees.

As autistic disability justice organizer, Lydia X. Z. Brown says, “Radical access means taking into account my baseline and fluctuating needs and capacities, and adjusting accordingly—it’s more important that I get done what needs to get done than how I do it.”

It’s important to remember when managing an autistic employee that autistic people are not identical; we don’t share the same experiences with autism or with workplaces and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. As the saying that’s common among the autistic community goes: “If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person.”

The easiest way to make sure your workplace is accessible to autistic employees is by being flexible, particularly to individual needs.

I always prefer to have time to plan for a conversation, for example; if my supervisor calls me unexpectedly and asks me whether our organization’s social media engagement is up this week, I might not know off the top of my head and then I’ll feel unprepared.

If she asks me to talk to her at 2 p.m. about social media engagement instead, I’ll have detailed notes ready and all the analytics and pages pulled up in case she has questions.

Not every autistic person prefers this, but when managing an autistic employee, it’s just a matter of communicating with your autistic employee and asking them how they work best, and then talking about how that fits with the entire team, the overall company, and individual responsibilities. I should that this tip works for nearly all employees.

“I benefit greatly from flexible hours—mornings tend to be hard for me, and while I can do them if I need to (such as an important meeting or a court date scheduled for a morning time), it’s hard to do them consistently and reliably,” explains Brown.

That's just one way that employers can be flexible when managing autistic employees: By listening to what our needs are and finding ways to adjust accordingly.

The challenge with accessibility is that it often falls to autistic employees (and other disabled employees) to point out a problem or ask for accommodation. This can be tricky to fix since you don’t want to make assumptions about what access means for everyone or what your individual employees’ needs are.

How comfortable do your autistic employees feel going to you with individual access needs? Have you specifically mentioned in the workplace that autistic employees should talk to you about things like their preferred communication style, their work schedule, or their workspace or work equipment?

Do you use phrases that suggest you’re open to discussion, like: “In the past, we’ve been asking that employees only work remotely once a week, but if you work better when you can work remotely more often than that, let’s talk about it”?

Jennifer Malia, an autistic writer and English professor at Norfolk State University, says, “Given how difficult it is for me to get work done in noisy environments (almost all sounds are distracting for me), I’m much more productive when working remotely.” Again, that isn’t true for every autistic employee, which is why it’s important to make options available.

Brown suggests that a workspace should offer inclusive spaces whenever possible: “Offices should ideally have a mixture of open space and private, enclosed space, allowing employees who need access to bigger and open spaces to have it while enabling employees who need privacy and a door that actually closes to have that.”

Jennifer Malia, an autistic writer and English professor at Norfolk State University, says, “Given how difficult it is for me to get work done in noisy environments (almost all sounds are distracting for me), I’m much more productive when working remotely.” Again, that isn’t true for every autistic employee, which is why it’s important to make options available.

Brown suggests that a workspace should offer inclusive spaces whenever possible: “Offices should ideally have a mixture of open space and private, enclosed space, allowing employees who need access to bigger and open spaces to have it while enabling employees who need privacy and a door that actually closes to have that.”

Read more: Why do workplaces need to embrace Neurodiversity?

Communication is important, but that doesn’t mean your autistic employees naturally communicate the exact same way that you do.

In my work environments, I love to have collaborative meetings, one-on-one or in a group, where we can brainstorm and bounce ideas off each other. But when it comes to deadlines and assignments, I need a physical document.

At the very least, the basic sketches of what we’re thinking (due date and the scope of the project), and ideally more detailed guidelines or an example. I do my best work when my teammates ask me how I communicate best and what my style and preferences are, and then we talk about what our processes should be as a group to be efficient and accessible to everyone.

“I’ve had phone interviews where I had trouble with auditory processing, which many other autistic people share. I only hear and understand about 75 percent of what is said in most phone conversations, my least favorite method of communication,” says Malia.

During the hiring process and beyond, it’s important to be open to different forms of communication in your workplace (even if you’re not set in a 9-to-5 office or employees are working independently or remotely).

“If I’m going somewhere new, I often need support getting there, so for some people, Skype interviews or auditions might be good,” says Imogen Roberts, a London-based writer, and performer.

Ask your autistic employees: 

1. What works for you? 
2. How can I better support you as an autistic employee? 
3. What feels most effective? 
4. Does it work for you when I label my emails (for example, putting “Timely” in the subject line) or does it make you feel rushed? 
5. Would you rather I drop by and just talk to you in person when I need something, or is it better if I send an email first?

Emily, the author of the blog 21andsensory, suggests that employers and workplaces “provide mentors for weekly or bi-weekly catch-ups, as just having someone to chat to about work and what you need more help with can be very helpful.”

There are a lot of harmful myths and stereotypes about autistic people that are perpetuated by media that’s largely created by and for non-autistic audiences, so it’s worth reiterating: If you know one autistic person, you know one autistic person.

Just because you saw an autistic character on television who loved counting doesn’t mean your autistic employee will also love counting. (Many of us are bad at math, contrary to popular belief—I am!)

“Employers shouldn’t assume that autistic candidates are only “good” for some types of work or careers because we are all different people,” explains Brown. “Plenty of us actually like and enjoy dynamic work, where every day is different, where we can be challenged and grow, where we are doing anything but repetitive and monotonous work.”

I’m autistic, and this is how you can support me at work:

• Give me the ability to adapt my schedule and work flexible hours. Offer me the opportunity to get deeply involved in strategy, dynamic work, and creative tasks.
• Let me take on projects and responsibilities outside the scope of my job so I can challenge myself and advance my career.
• Give me the chance to manage other people, because I’m compassionate but extremely organized and constantly aware of upcoming deadlines.
• Allow me to work remotely, but honor my extroverted nature and offer opportunities for collaboration and community, because I work best when I’m part of a passionate team.
• Let me wear my odd, offbeat clothes to work because I need them to think creatively.

But that’s not how all autistic people work. We’re different. Just because you have a sense of how I tick and what motivates me doesn’t mean you understand every autistic employee.

If you’re genuinely committed to Ensuring Workplace Equity, if you're managing autistic employees and want a workplace that’s radically accessible to everyone, then you need to be flexible and adaptable. That means being willing to listen to what works for an employee and finding ways to make that fit with the structure of your team or organization.

Autistic employees are an asset—especially when employers focus on supporting neurodiversity in the workplace through individualized accommodations and inclusive practices.

If you're unsure where to begin, check out our guide on How to Be Inclusive for everyday actions that can make a meaningful difference. And if you’re struggling with stress or resistance to returning to work, you might find insight in our article, Why Do I Have Anxiety About Going to Work EveryDay?.

Let’s move beyond awareness. Autism Acceptance, Not Awareness.

How to Manage Autistic Employees: 5 Practical Tips was originally published on Everyday Feminism.