Asperger's On The Job Must Have Advice For People With Asperger's Or High Functioning Autism And Their Employers Educators And Advocates

Asperger’s on the Job: Comprehensive Employment Guide for Neurodivergent Professionals

Overview and Context

Asperger’s Syndrome represents a Neurological condition on the autism spectrum characterized by average to above-average intelligence but significant challenges with social communication, sensory processing, and social navigation. Despite possessing exceptional talents and abilities, over 85% of adults with AS face unemployment or underemployment—a statistic that reflects workplace system failure rather than employee inadequacy.

This comprehensive guide addresses employment challenges for autistic adults with Asperger’s syndrome, providing practical strategies for both employees and employers. People with AS possess distinct cognitive advantages including superior fluid intelligence, exceptional focus, meticulous attention to detail, logical reasoning abilities, and specialized talents that can make them extraordinarily productive when properly accommodated and leveraged.

Understanding Asperger’s Syndrome in Professional Contexts

Diagnostic Reality and Prevalence

The autism spectrum prevalence has increased dramatically from 1 in 10,000 (less than twenty years ago) to 1 in 100 as of 2009. Many adults reach maturity without diagnosis, missing the understanding and Support now available to younger people. The diagnosis challenge remains acute: proper Assessment requires professionals with comprehensive knowledge of the syndrome, such specialists remain relatively rare, and costs ($800-$2,000) are often uninsured.

Many receive their first correct AS diagnosis in adulthood, expressing profound relief: “I’m not difficult, crazy, or alone.” Some are Self-diagnosed after extensive research—dismissing self-diagnosis assumes someone would claim AS for attention when AS so fundamentally defines identity that acknowledgment becomes necessary for self-understanding.

The Challenge of Invisibility

Invisible disabilities like Asperger’s create constant invalidation. Comments like “you don’t seem Autistic” or “it doesn’t seem that bad” negate both diagnosis and lived experience. Many high-achieving AS individuals appear “normal” through tremendous effort and study—as one educator noted, behind that façade is “tremendous legacy of work. If you only knew what I have had to map out, read about, learn, study, analyze, process, slice and dice, and put back together in my own way.”

This invisibility is particularly dangerous because it prevents understanding and Support. Paradoxically, visible disabilities trigger automatic accommodation, while invisible disabilities require constant explanation and justification, creating an impossible bind of being simultaneously told “you don’t seem disabled” while being blamed for “not trying hard enough.”

Cognitive Strengths and Professional Advantages

Exceptional Talents of As Professionals

People with AS possess distinct cognitive advantages that, when properly leveraged, create exceptional employees:

Focus and diligence: Legendary ability to concentrate for extended periods without supervision, often entering flow states where hours pass feeling like minutes. This intrinsic motivation—driven by feeling a job well done rather than external rewards—means some work below skill level simply because the work feels meaningful.

Superior fluid intelligence: Ability to find meaning in confusion, solve novel problems, and draw inferences independent of acquired knowledge. Recent neuropsychiatry research confirms people with AS possess higher fluid intelligence than neurotypical individuals. This may explain perceived arrogance—they genuinely do think differently and often more effectively on complex problems.

Perfectionism and attention to detail: Painstaking perfectionism combined with genuine pride in work quality ensures thorough, meticulous output. People with AS notice imperfections others miss and will always seek better methods—this should be leveraged as competitive advantage rather than suppressed.

Visual-spatial thinking: Some possess three-dimensional visualization allowing mental testing of complex projects without physical prototyping. This enables success in graphic design, computer animation, architecture, animal work, and industrial design.

Three Basic Strength Types

Temple Grandin identifies three basic strength categories:

1. Visual thinkers (suited for graphic design, animation, architecture, animal work, industrial design)
2. Pattern thinkers with music/math minds (excelling in programming, mathematics, statistics)
3. Word-detail thinkers (strong in technical writing, journalism, record-keeping, specialized sales)

Temple Grandin’s Career Example

Temple Grandin’s career exemplifies this leverage—designing livestock equipment for twenty major clients and two hundred smaller ones by using visual thinking abilities while avoiding social problems through freelance work and later part-time professorship. She later succeeded at retail book sales at Costco by repeating a short script with customers, selling 65 hardcover books in six hours—a job she’d never done before—demonstrating that “business interactions are often scripted, like a play,” and scripted social situations can be manageable despite general social challenges.

Social Communication Challenges in the Workplace

Small Talk Barriers and Processing Differences

People with AS struggle with small talk because:

1. They perceive social interaction as dangerous (triggering fight-or-flight amygdala response), whereas neurotypical people experience it as safe
2. They are practical with narrow interests, making superficial conversation seem pointless
3. They take longer to process social cues, facial expressions, and body language—essentially learning social interaction as a foreign language with an accent that never disappears
4. Meetings and group settings are particularly challenging, especially when informal chatting is expected

However, research shows social skills can improve dramatically with practice—one interviewee reported that small talk “got so much better after the first year of work” through consistent client interaction practice, becoming “a confident person” after two years.

Bluntness and Unsolicited Corrections

People with AS are naturally blunt, offering corrections without anticipating emotional reactions. This stems from genuine desire to improve situations and speak truth, not intentional rudeness. When AS employees criticize processes, they view themselves as proactive problem-solvers, not complainers. However, this directness damages workplace relationships: being told your idea is “stupid” or receiving unsolicited criticism alienates coworkers.

The counterintuitive reality is that this bluntness stems from genuine desire to improve situations combined with superior fluid intelligence that identifies legitimate problems. Rather than dismissing “complaints,” organizations should listen to content, not delivery, because insights are often correct and valuable.

Emotional Expression and Alexithymia

People with AS can appear emotionally cold or detached at moments requiring empathy, leading to “Mr. Spock” reputation. This occurs due to:

1. Empathy bypass during stress—when feeling attacked or accused, people with AS become defensive or shut down
2. Alexithymia (difficulty identifying and expressing emotions)—they feel empathy but struggle to demonstrate it appropriately
3. Theory of mind limitations—inability to imagine experiences they haven’t personally had, so they cannot offer appropriate comfort

Despite this, people with AS can be incredibly compassionate, but their expressions of care are often clumsy or misunderstood.

Nonverbal Communication Challenges

Facial Expression and Recognition

People with AS display limited or unpredictable facial expressions not matching their internal emotional state—this is Diagnostic criteria for AS. Their face may be blank while they’re deeply engaged mentally, or animated unexpectedly. This causes others to misinterpret them as uninterested, sad, or suspicious.

Face recognition challenges mean people with AS have difficulty recognizing faces—even close friends or family members may be unrecognized for several moments, appearing as a “delay in assembling details of the face.”

Eye Contact Difficulties

Many with AS find direct eye contact physically painful, overwhelming, or containing too much information. This avoidance is traditionally interpreted as guilt or dishonesty, damaging professional relationships. Eye contact remains one of the most misunderstood aspects of AS communication—it’s Neurological difference, not behavioral choice.

Body Language and Stimming

Body language may include unusual gait, poor posture, hunched shoulders from Anxiety, or stimming behaviors (self-stimulatory behaviors like rocking, humming, eye twitching, stuttering, or hand flapping), particularly during stress. These behaviors serve as anti-anxiety mechanisms.

Sensory Processing Issues in Professional Environments

Auditory Sensitivity

Environmental sensory sensitivities affect all people on the Autism spectrum to varying degrees, with auditory sensitivity being particularly prevalent. Loud noise feels like physical assault, while even quiet sounds (fluorescent hum, refrigerators, ceiling fans, printers) cause pain and annoyance. Over-stimulation from workplace noise creates confusion, crankiness, withdrawal, headaches, or urgent need to flee.

The AS brain cannot “juggle” multiple sound meanings simultaneously like neurotypical brains do; it processes only one sound at a time, making noisy environments extraordinarily exhausting. Research confirms noise is the number-one workplace complaint for all workers, but effects are dramatically worse for AS employees. Open-plan offices significantly harm productivity—one interviewee described needing “complete isolation, completely quiet, where nothing can be heard from outside.”

Visual Over-Stimulation and Lighting

Visual over-stimulation from fussy clothing movement, crowds, machines with moving parts, flickering lights, multiple computer screens, and general visual chaos exhausts AS employees. Fluorescent lighting is particularly problematic.

Fluorescent lighting effects: Cool-white energy-efficient fluorescent lights lack blue spectrum (essential for humans), produce toxins, and are linked to Depression, depersonalization, aggression, vertigo, Anxiety, stress, and cancer. Flickering fluorescent lights trigger headaches, confusion, inability to concentrate, and can trigger epileptic seizures. Even imperceptible flickering affects some spectrum individuals. Natural light, by contrast, is a natural antidepressant improving mood, energy, and biological function.

Fresh air and temperature control: Fresh air availability is critical—1970s energy conservation reduced outdoor air ventilation from 15 to 5 cfm per occupant, later raised back to 15-20, but many buildings don’t meet standards. Temperature control is another issue—AS individuals often have strong temperature preferences and are more susceptible to discomfort.

Chemical Sensitivity

Chemical sensitivity compounds Sensory issues; many with AS gravitate toward natural products, reacting strongly to toxic chemicals in furnishings (bromated flame retardants), cleaners, and air fresheners—identified as possible environmental causes of ASD.

Critical Workplace Needs for As Employees

Explicit Instructions and Communication

People with AS are internally motivated by feeling a job well done rather than external rewards. They possess perfectionist attention to detail ensuring quality output when they understand expectations. Critical workplace needs include:

Explicit instructions: Verbal instructions should be documented in writing; diagrams help; AS employees need exactly what’s expected, including hidden expectations or special conditions, and deadline information. The disconnect between stated and unstated expectations creates Anxiety and failure.

Big Picture context: AS employees need to understand overall context before executing tasks. Forcing immediate action without understanding overall context causes failure.

Autonomy and Trust-Based Management

Autonomy and personal methodology: People with AS flourish accomplishing tasks their own way at their own speed without scrutiny. Micromanagement undermines confidence and performance; one person described a “death spiral” where lack of employer trust led to decreased performance, further reducing trust.

Flexible time frames: Sometimes people with AS need time to “digest the Big Picture” before tackling tasks. Some can handle only one task at a time and need time adjusting to routine changes.

Down-time necessity: AS individuals need periodic breaks to stop/limit Sensory input, tune out the world, and do nothing. This isn’t laziness but essential recovery from constant vigilance required in neurotypical workplaces.

Trust Versus Scrutiny Impact

Being watched undermines confidence and performance, while trust enables better work. One interviewee noted “I fall apart under the stares of judges.” The “death spiral” of mistrust leading to worse performance leading to greater mistrust can be reversed through intentional trust-building.

Flexible Working Arrangements As Comprehensive Solutions

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs)—telecommuting and flexible hours—could solve virtually every employment challenge by “changing the job to accommodate the human rather than vice-versa.” Many jobs can be conducted from home with modern technology, saving companies money on office space, energy bills, and potentially salary (employees save on fuel, parking, tolls, office clothing, lunches).

People with AS often work long hours fueled by internal motivation when environment is controlled. One person working from home reported: “I don’t have to deal with co-workers and I control the environment. I turn on some music, go to work and sometimes five hours will go by and I think it was only one hour.”

Over 70% of workplace issues could be managed by providing quiet, private workspace with Sensory control or enabling remote work. This addresses multiple issues simultaneously: noise reduction, Sensory control, autonomy, routine, and focus.

Routine, Control, and Anxiety Management

For people with AS, controlling situations through routine and planning is primary stress management—fewer variables mean knowing what to expect. Changing routines, moving meetings, or altering office layouts causes irritation and requires re-learning/re-preparation. Even pleasant surprises annoy because they disrupt predictability.

This isn’t inflexibility for its own sake but Anxiety management in an otherwise Anxiety-provoking world. When employers provide predictable environments and flexible schedules, AS employees leverage these for extraordinary focus and quality work.

Some AS individuals excel in crises (coolheaded, brave) but struggle with minor routine disruptions. This reflects that crisis demands quick action with clear objectives—exactly matching how some AS brains function optimally.

Clothing, Comfort, and Professional Presentation

People with AS prioritize comfort and practicality over style and conformity in clothing choices. Skin sensitivity—potentially from compromised digestion/food allergies, stress reactions, or Sensory processing difficulties—makes certain fabrics unbearable. Many dislike ties (described as “neck-tie nooses”), collared shirts, stiff shoes, pantyhose (called “deathtraps”), and high heels.

These preferences aren’t vanity but practical concerns: uncomfortable clothing distracts from work, reduces focus, and undermines job performance. Alternative solutions include natural fabrics like silk, open-toed heels, nearly pajama-like comfortable dresses/suits, wearing compression garments under work clothes for security, or requesting dress code elimination if jobs include impractical requirements.

Stephen Shore biked to work at an accounting firm—logical for exercise, nature connection, time/money savings—but employer demanded he stop and arrive in “uniform,” leading to his termination after three months despite excellent work performance.

Workplace Gossip and Social Dynamics

People with AS often become subjects of workplace gossip because their social differences—lack of chitchat, unusual communication patterns, atypical gestures—make them stand out. In the “vacuum” created by others’ lack of understanding, speculation fills the gap, especially when AS isn’t disclosed.

The Anxiety inherent in AS, combined with the effort required to maintain a neurotypical façade, eventually breaks down with prolonged exposure to coworkers. As people sense the “holes” in the façade, they begin scrutinizing the person with AS, leading to a vicious cycle: the more the individual retreats, the more suspect they become.

Females With As: Particular Vulnerability

Females with AS are particularly vulnerable: emotional naiveté is often misread as flirting or promiscuity, making them targets for sexual predators and office gossip while remaining oblivious to what they’ve done wrong. Workplace tension from gossip often triggers the “Asperger’s pre-emptive strike”—employees quit jobs they actually enjoy rather than face continued social scrutiny.

Practical response strategies: Don’t spread rumors; when gossip targets you, publicly denounce false accusations in front of coworkers rather than confronting the source privately. Consider disclosure if your behavior stands out enough to generate speculation—providing a frame of reference may stop people from “filling the vacuum” with negative assumptions.

Workplace Bullying: Impact and Protection

Definition and Prevalence

Bullying is defined as “repeated, malicious, health-endangering mistreatment of one employee by one or more employees” and takes forms including false accusations, hostile words/actions, yelling, exclusion, excessive criticism, and unreasonable work demands. People with AS are easy targets because they often don’t recognize when they’re being bullied.

The WBI-Zogby U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey (2007) found that 37% of Americans have been bullied at work. Bullying causes fear, isolation, mistrust, embarrassment, humiliation, resentment, and hostility—reducing work quality as employees play it safe and aim for mediocrity.

Health Consequences

Physical health consequences include clinical depression, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, impaired immune systems, and PTSD. Nine of ten interviewees reported gastrointestinal complaints (IBS, ulcers, intestinal lesions) worsened by stress—indicating profound mind-body connection between AS Anxiety and physical health.

Legal Protections and Response Strategies

Legal protections exist through the EEOC for those with disabilities, but many with AS aren’t officially diagnosed or recognized as disabled, and bullying is difficult to prove. Fear of retaliation prevents many from taking action.

Employee response: Report physical assault immediately to HR, bosses, doctors, police, or lawyers. Don’t apologize for “creating a problem”—you didn’t. While fear of retaliation is real, inaction leaves bullies unchecked. You have a right to work without fear of physical or mental harassment.

Employer response: Adopt zero-tolerance policies in practice, not just policy. Provide autism sensitivity training (soon to be as standard as sexual harassment training). Speak directly to bullies about behavior changes or consequences; some may need counseling or training on AS to understand Neurodivergent differences.

The Workplace Bullying Institute (founded by Drs. Gary and Ruth Namie) offers resources and assistance. Temple Grandin’s coping strategy included involving jealous people in projects, asking for advice, complimenting their work, and intentionally delaying finished products to avoid appearing superhuman and threatening.

The Power of Praise and Positive Reinforcement

Because people with AS struggle to read subtle social cues, explicit positive reinforcement is essential to know when they’re doing well or on the right track. Praising small accomplishments—“you’re our most punctual employee,” “I liked how you handled that assignment”—builds confidence, increases motivation, and creates happier, more productive workers.

Real-time positive reinforcement during work (not just end-of-project rewards) is most effective. People with AS often feel everyone else has a “script” while they must ad-lib; praise clarifies when they’re performing well. An employee told “you’re the reason this store looks so good” experienced transformed confidence and performance.

For AS employees, explicit praise is essential infrastructure—not optional nice-to-have. This isn’t coddling; it’s providing the communication mechanism AS brains require to understand feedback.

Job-Fit and Strength-Based Employment

Rather than forcing people with AS into roles requiring extensive social interaction, employers should leverage natural strengths: information research, organizing, problem-solving, writing, composing, repairing, designing, engineering, mathematics, and solitary work where all elements are controllable.

Even mundane work like lawn mowing or house painting appeals because it offers control, definable outcomes, minimal people interaction, and freedom to listen to audio content.

Medication Versus Environment Redesign

Some employers push medication to help people with AS “fit in,” but AS is Neurological, not psychological. While some find low-dose anti-Anxiety or antidepressant medication helpful, many interviewed for this book experienced more side effects than benefits. The majority explored holistic alternatives like St. Johns Wort, 5-HTP, and ginkgo biloba.

Instead of medicating people to fit round holes, employers should create square holes—jobs and environments suited to how people with AS naturally think and work. Otherwise, employees constantly fight uphill battles and never reach their potential.

Psychometric Testing As Workplace Discrimination

Psychometric tests (personality assessments with no objectively “correct” answers) are increasingly used by employers to measure aptitude and personality compatibility. These tests are confusing for people with AS because there’s no concrete right or wrong answer—yet mysteriously, scores are calculated and applicants never learn which answers were “correct.”

Companies create and grade the tests (profiting from them), don’t disclose scoring criteria, and no governing body monitors standards. They make contradictory claims (“there’s no right or wrong answer” yet “here’s how to prepare”).

For people with AS, these tests feel discriminatory because they demand selling yourself rather than demonstrating your work—antithetical to Temple Grandin’s advice: “you have to sell your work, not yourself.” Some see these tests as blatantly discriminatory—reminiscent of “whites only” drinking fountains.

Education Challenges and Career Implications

Many intelligent adults with AS struggled through high school and college due to lack of diagnosis, understanding, social difficulties, Anxiety, bullying, and sometimes feeling smarter than teachers. Stark statistics: Only 25-30% of people with AS finish high school; only about 25% of those attend college (and graduation rates are unclear).

Most universities’ Office of Disability Services lacks AS-specific understanding and resources; students simply disappear, undetected. The responsibility falls entirely on the individual rather than being shared by institutions.

Solutions for Educational Barriers

Solutions: Attend university part-time while working; pursue distance learning; use programs awarding college credit for professional/life experience (e.g., Empire State College); explore specific AS university programs or shorter vocational courses for professional qualifications.

Employer recommendations: If an employee has untapped potential or is in the wrong field, encourage classes—even unrelated to the current role—to build confidence. Time off for education and assistance finding new positions is worthwhile investment. A janitor might become a lawyer; confidence improvements from education can transform workplace performance.

The Disclosure Dilemma: Strategic Decision-Making

Disclosure of AS has pros and cons with no universally “right” answer. The decision is highly personal and situational.

Arguments for disclosure: Staying hidden doesn’t advance the AS cause; providing a frame of reference helps coworkers understand anomalous behavior; ADA protection requires disclosure; filling the “vacuum” with truth prevents speculation and negative narratives; some find relief in being understood rather than judged as “rude” or “difficult.”

Arguments against disclosure: If someone functions well, why create problems; disclosure doesn’t guarantee understanding unless people genuinely educate themselves; discrimination is difficult to prove; fear of retaliation is valid; people often misunderstand AS as intellectual disability; being “put in a box” or receiving unwanted sympathy; reduced promotion opportunities or becoming scapegoat for workplace problems.

Strategic Disclosure Approaches

Neither full disclosure nor non-disclosure is universally “right”—the choice depends on individual circumstances and risk tolerance. Strategic disclosure (post-hire if possible, focusing on Accommodations rather than full diagnosis) or self-advocacy without disclosure are both valid approaches.

One person changed coworkers’ perception from “rude person” to “person with disability affecting social skills”—fundamentally different interpretation of identical behaviors—by providing a frame of reference.

Career Success Factors and Threat Management

Successful AS employment requires aligning personal strengths with job demands. Career threats include:

1. Promotion—people with AS in successful positions often lose jobs after promotion to management positions they cannot handle
2. Management changes—sympathetic supervisors replaced by unsupportive ones quickly ruin careers as Accommodations are withdrawn
3. Portfolio loss—people lose jobs when companies reorganize without saving work examples

Professional Portfolio Building

Solutions: Build professional portfolios with 4-5 best work examples (paper copies, not electronic media which become obsolete), update continuously, show only portions to avoid confidentiality issues, exclude extreme political/sexual/religious content, demonstrate through tangible work rather than “selling yourself.”

Coworker Jealousy As Career Threat

Coworker jealousy poses serious career threat: Temple Grandin’s experiences reveal deliberate sabotage—resident engineer “bad-mouthed” her work after feeling invaded; other employees deliberately damaged her equipment; one sad case involved jealous coworker planting pornographic material on AS colleague’s computer to get him fired because his drawings were “too good.”

Grandin’s coping strategy: involve jealous people in projects, ask for advice, compliment their work, intentionally delay sending finished products to avoid appearing superhuman and threatening.

Job Dissatisfaction and the Pre-Emptive Strike

Some people with AS quit jobs they love or perform well in if they sense trouble approaching—just as some quit school rather than fail. Signs include taking sick days, declining interest/performance, or emotional retreat. This isn’t laziness; it’s a coping mechanism reflecting stress.

Sources of job dissatisfaction include: social anxiety, bullying fear, environmental overload, conformity pressures, lack of freedom in time/task allocation, feeling scrutinized/mistrusted, uncertainty about work quality, underutilized strengths, being asked to do things they can’t do well, and lack of job satisfaction/challenge.

Employee Response Strategies

Before quitting, address accommodation requests, optimize environment, manage stress through yoga/meditation/exercise, find mentors/advocates, assess if the job itself is the problem or its aspects, improve health through diet (fermented foods, GFCF diet, SCD), build confidence through self-defense/martial arts, celebrate AS differences, increase earning potential, schedule pleasurable activities, and consider self-employment only as last resort with realistic understanding of lean times.

Practical Strategies and Implementation Frameworks

The Reach Framework for Professional Success

The “REACH” acronym applies to professional relationships and career sustainability:

• Receive diagnosis (self-diagnosis counts; professional diagnosis is ideal but access is limited)
• Educate yourself about ASDs (read extensively, connect with communities)
• Acknowledge AS’s impact on your life (honest self-Assessment of strengths and weaknesses)
• Commit to the relationship (professional responsibility; expecting the world to change entirely is unrealistic)
• Help from mentors, advocates, employers, family (Support networks matter profoundly)

Strategy 1: Environmental Optimization and Sensory Accommodation

Sensory accommodation is foundational—without it, even brilliant employees cannot function. Systematic approach:

1. Audit Sensory environment: Identify primary irritants (noise, light, visual clutter, chemical smells, temperature)
2. Prioritize solutions by impact: Noise typically matters most, followed by lighting
3. Implement concrete changes: Private workspace with door, full-spectrum lighting with blinds, flat-screen monitors, noise-canceling headphones, quiet break areas
4. Enable control: Let employees adjust their own lighting, temperature, sound levels within reason
5. Normalize accommodation: Reframe as productivity enhancement, not special treatment—benefits all workers

Strategy 2: Clear Communication and Documentation Protocol

Given that unclear expectations create Anxiety and failure, establish clear communication:

1. Document verbally communicated instructions in writing with diagrams if relevant
2. Include hidden expectations explicitly: deadline information, quality standards, deliverables format, approval processes
3. Provide “Big Picture” context: AS employees need to understand overall context before executing tasks
4. Use checklists: Break complex projects into discrete, verifiable steps
5. Establish check-in intervals: Regular brief meetings to confirm understanding and direction, not monitoring/surveillance
6. Accept written communication: Emails, instant messages, and written summaries may work better than verbal instruction

Strategy 3: Trust-Based Management and Autonomy

Establish trust protocols:

1. Minimize surveillance: Being watched undermines performance; trust enables better work
2. Allow methodology freedom: Don’t prescribe how tasks are done, only what needs accomplishing
3. Provide autonomy within structure: Clear goals and deadlines with freedom in execution method
4. Use real-time positive feedback: Praise accomplishments explicitly, especially in real-time during work
5. Deliver criticism privately: Never in front of customers or coworkers
6. Avoid scrutiny-based interventions: If performance drops, investigate collaboratively rather than increasing oversight

Strategy 4: Strategic Disclosure and Self-Advocacy

Develop a personal disclosure strategy:

1. Assess your situation: Is your behavior different enough to generate speculation?
2. Evaluate risks: Discrimination risk vs. Benefit of frame of reference and legal protection
3. Consider timing: Post-hire disclosure offers ADA protection with reduced hiring discrimination risk
4. Prepare materials: Written descriptions of AS (not overstating), resources for education, specific Accommodations needed
5. Focus on Accommodations: Request specific changes (quiet workspace, meeting agendas) without requiring full Diagnostic disclosure
6. Educate others: Provide resources; don’t rely on verbal explanation alone

Strategy 5: Professional Portfolio Building and Career Protection

Protect intellectual property and demonstrate capabilities:

1. Maintain portfolio of 4-5 best examples of your work (paper copies resist obsolescence)
2. Update continuously as you complete new projects
3. Share selectively to avoid confidentiality violations; show portions rather than full projects
4. Exclude extreme content (political, sexual, religious) to prevent distraction from technical merit
5. Demonstrate capability through tangible work rather than “selling yourself” or personality tests
6. Backup independently of company systems in case of reorganization, termination, or company failure

Key Takeaways and Essential Insights

Strength-Based Approach Vs Deficit Model

People with Asperger’s possess exceptional, systematically underutilized strengths that create highly productive employees when properly accommodated. Superior fluid intelligence, intense focus, perfectionism, attention to detail, logical problem-solving, visual-spatial thinking, and independence are objectively measurable cognitive advantages.

Over 85% unemployment despite these strengths reflects systematic workplace failure to accommodate and leverage abilities, not employee inadequacy. The problem isn’t AS individuals’ capability—it’s organizational culture that prioritizes conformity, visual sociability, and open offices over merit and accommodation.

Social Skills Are Learnable, Not Fixed

Small talk, social navigation, and workplace politics are learned skills, not indicators of intelligence or capability—and they demonstrably improve with practice. Research shows measurable improvement after one year of consistent practice.

The AS brain takes longer to process facial expressions, body language, and social cues—essentially learning social interaction as a foreign language with an accent that never disappears—but learning demonstrably happens.

Environmental Accommodations Solve Multiple Problems

Sensory Accommodations (quiet workspace, natural lighting, fresh air, flexible hours, telecommuting) solve 70% of employment problems simultaneously by addressing the neurobiological foundations of workplace struggle. One workplace change—private workspace or remote work—addresses multiple issues: noise reduction, visual over-stimulation, temperature control, autonomy, routine predictability, and enabling flow states.

Trust and Clarity Enable Peak Performance

Clear, explicit instructions, trust, and autonomy produce objectively superior work from AS employees, while micromanagement creates “death spirals” of declining performance and reduced confidence. AS employees aren’t lazy or unmotivated—they’re motivated by genuinely doing well—they just need clarity and trust to direct that motivation productively.

Systemic Discrimination Requires Systemic Solutions

Workplace discrimination and bullying against people with visible AS traits (or disclosed diagnosis) is common, difficult to prove legally, and often tolerated by management despite documented costs. Disclosure offers legal protection through the EEOC but career risk through discrimination; non-disclosure causes misunderstanding and judgment.

Neither path is safe—reflecting systemic discrimination rather than individual failure. Employers must adopt zero-tolerance policies enforced in practice and provide Autism sensitivity training to interrupt bullying cycles.

Job Fit Matters More Than Credentials

Job fit matters more than credentials; strength-based placement prevents demoralization and maximizes talent utilization. People with AS excel at focused, controllable work (research, design, programming, solitary pursuits, writing) but struggle in unpredictable, people-heavy roles.

Creating “square holes” for square pegs—through job-sharing, accommodating meeting Anxiety with written input, or matching natural interests to roles—produces engaged, productive employees.

Critical Warnings and Important Considerations

Mental Health and Trauma Support

If you are experiencing bullying, discrimination, or psychological distress at work, seek Support from mental health professionals, legal advocates through the EEOC, or organizations like the Workplace Bullying Institute. Inaction leaves bullies unchecked; you have a right to work without fear or harassment.

Legal Documentation Requirements

Keep detailed documentation of incidents, dates, communications, and impacts if experiencing workplace discrimination or bullying. Save copies outside work systems. Report incidents to HR in writing with dates and witnesses. Consult employment lawyers if retaliation occurs or protections are violated.

Educational Access Barriers

If considering higher education, research institutions with specific AS Support programs (limited and costly) or distance/part-time options. Specialized programs like UCLA’s Pathway or Chapel Haven’s ASAT have success records; most mainstream universities offer insufficient Support.

Workplace Culture Limitations

Not all organizations will change—some remain rigidly conformist, discriminatory, or unwilling to accommodate neurodivergence despite legal requirements. Sometimes the solution isn’t fixing the organization but finding a different one. Don’t sacrifice your health and career for organizations actively choosing not to accommodate Neurodiversity.

Self-Employment Considerations

Self-employment should be considered carefully, not as escape route. While some AS individuals thrive in self-employment, it carries real risks: unpredictable income, lack of health insurance, no benefits, difficulty during lean periods, and simultaneous demands of business operation and business development.

Resources and Support Organizations

Key References and Resources

• Temple Grandin — Autistic animal behavior expert, designer of livestock equipment, author, speaker
• The Workplace Bullying Institute — Founded by Drs. Gary and Ruth Namie; offers resources, research, and assistance
• WBI-Zogby U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey (2007) — Research finding that 37% of American workers have experienced workplace bullying
• EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) — U.S. Federal agency providing legal protections for disabilities and employment discrimination
• ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) — U.S. Federal law protecting individuals with disabilities from discrimination
• Full-spectrum lighting — Lighting that includes blue spectrum; recommended accommodation
• Irlen lenses — Colored lenses that reduce visual distortion from flickering lights and glare

Support Organizations

• Autism Self Advocacy Network - Autistic-led organization for self-advocacy and civil rights
• AANE (Autism & Asperger’s Network) - Autism resources and Support
• [ADDA (Attention Deficit Disorder Association)](https://ADD.org) - Adult ADHD Support and resources
• Understood - Learning differences and Neurodiversity Support
• Workplace Bullying Institute - Resources and Support for bullied employees