The Wonderful World of Work – sort of…

In 2013 I wrote what would become my second Yennski book. It is a book for autistic teens to support their entry into the workforce. The book is called The Wonderful World of Work. The funniest thing about this book was the feedback I received. The day it came out someone posted a review basically saying the world of work for autistic people is anything but wonderful. This was the first feedback I received, and it got me a little concerned! I wondered if maybe I should have called it something different? Perhaps ‘The OK, challenging and sometimes fraught world of work’? Not sure. The good thing was that everyone else seemed to love my positive and encouraging take on employment and autism.

Work is a pretty important part of life for lots of people. Autistic people face discrimination and exclusion at work. The statistics are worrying to say the least. The unemployment rate for autistics is significantly higher than that for neurotypical people and also higher that for people with disability more generally (using the term ‘disability’  reflecting the human rights and social models of disability rather than the medical and deficits-based view). Autistic people face discrimination in recruitment with things like interviews and CVs required for most roles.   These processes do not favour autistic applicants. There are alternatives available such as work trial activities instead of interviews, but these are rarely used despite being effective for neurotypical applicants as well as their neurodivergent colleagues.

Anxiety is a big issue at work. I spent many years unable to work due to high anxiety and perfectionism. I would have dearly loved a job, but at that time it was impossible. I had to put in place a range of strategies and incrementally more challenging steps to get to the point that I could work full time. I ended up in the public service and stayed there for just over 17 years. I mostly enjoyed being a public servant, but it was full of unwritten rules and my colleagues and managers tended to be very different to me! I was one of a very small number of people in my office with vibrantly coloured hair! And I always figured if I was wearing something to the office it was office attire! Mostly my managers and colleagues were OK with my quirkiness but there was always a clear difference between me and my colleagues – how I presented, identified, thought and approached the work.

I left the public service earlier this year to become Yennski the business! Absolutely amazing, liberating and completely terrifying! I do really love being my own boss. I work at home and get to spend time with my kitty which is amazing, plus my work is now exclusively related to neurodiversity and Queer advocacy – which are my passionate interest. So basically, I get paid for doing something I absolutely love. Just wonderful – and I wish I had done it ages ago. Being a business results in some things I hadn’t anticipated. The first is my attitude to money and income. I am now very careful with my money and don’t generally buy things I don’t need. When I was a public servant I didn’t think twice about spending money but now I am hyper careful. The other thing is uncertainty and patience. I spend a lot of time waiting to be paid and waiting for responses to pitches for work. I am NOT a patient person, so this is an ongoing challenge. I have to tell myself not to bother the people I am working for! Mostly I am loving being self-employed – and Sunflower kitty loves having me home. Thankfully thus far I am earning enough money to pay the mortgage and other essentials (like cat food and books!) I have a big spreadsheet tracking my income and expenditure – gotta love Excel. I juts had a very long conversation with someone signing people up for Save the Children. I am way too frugal to take on new charity donations and he was very persistent! Thankfully I could do assertive at an Olympic level these days so I managed to escape without committing myself to lots of expenditure I can’t afford!

One thing which really bothers me is when autistic advocates and spokespeople who come from privileged backgrounds and assume anyone who is unemployed – including their autistic peers –  is not trying hard enough. One commentator famously said that autistic people who are unemployed should ‘get off their butts and get a job.’ I was on a panel a while back and one of the panellists – a straight, white, cis gender, heterosexual, middle class man (who had pretty much all the elements of privilege in exception to his being autistic)  – said that autistic people who are unemployed were being ‘lazy.’ As an autistic person who spent twelve years desperate to work but being unable to due to anxiety and mental health issues (among other things) I find these sorts of statements highly offensive and unhelpful. More often than not, unemployed people – autistic or otherwise – want to be employed and if they are not then there is a genuine reason for this – not them being ‘lazy.’ I feel privileged that I got to work in government administration for 17 years and I feel privileged that I can be a business and get paid for doing things I love.

It is important to also note that not working is not a failing. Some people can work, some can work sometimes but not always and some cannot work at all due to a range of reasons. There should be no judgement around whether or not a person can work. Employment is not a measure of a person’s worth or character.

My world of work at the moment is pretty wonderful. I wish a wonderful world pf work to everyone who wants one. I think the workplace generally could benefit from some more understanding and respect of neurodivergent people. Things have been changing in this space recently, but I think they need to change more to ensure those who are able to work find a suitable job. And within those jobs that they are supported through inclusive recruitment processes and are accepted and respected in the workplace. There is a wealth of evidence around the benefits of companies hiring neurodivergent staff so employers can definitely benefit from having us in the workplace too – and we can hopefully benefit from being there too. I really do want everyone to have a wonderful world of work – whatever that may mean for them.