The Neurodivergent Job Candidate

This book provides guidance on recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding practices that will allow employers to successfully hire neurodivergent professionals into inclusive, competitive employment. Today, 35% of 18-year-olds with an autism spectrum diagnosis attend college, yet they have a 75–85% under-employment and unemployment rate after graduation. While organizations are looking to expand their diversity and inclusion hiring efforts to include neurodivergent professionals, current recruiting and interviewing practices in general are not well-suited to this. With over one-third of the US population identifying as neurodivergent, employers need to address how to attract this talent pool to take advantage of a meaningful segment of the workforce. Readers of this book will gain an understanding of how to guide their organizations through the creation of recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding processes tailored to neurodivergent professionals in any field. Written by authors with extensive experience working in the corporate world and consulting with Fortune 1000 companies on autism hiring efforts, this book is targeted at employers, acknowledging their perspective. Structured as a reference guide for busy recruiters, hiring managers, and supervisors, this book can be read in its entirety, in relevant sections as needed, or used as a refresher whenever necessary. This book also provides a background on the thinking styles of autistic individuals, giving the reader a deeper understanding of how to best support neurodivergent jobseekers.

Neurodiversity has reached the mainstream modern working world, and the workplace. Yet for neurodiversity at work, there is neurodiverse hiring, but in neurodiverse hiring, there is the interview for the job role with a neurodivergent candidate. Without neurodiverse accommodations, a neurodivergent candidate can not show their skills or abilities, fail in the job interview; and not get an offer for the job role. An interview with a neurodivergent candidate must include and provide neurodiverse accommodations. This is illustrated by the author examining and discussing interviews he had in the past and the ultimate failure. The author, a neurodivergent, and an autist shares his experiences with neurodiverse accommodations in interviewing in the high-tech industry as a senior software development engineer.

Neurodiversity in the Workplace presents a timely and needed perspective on the role and responsibility of employers and those working to increase the effectiveness of workplace practices to examine the many ways we preclude large segments of the population from employment; minimizing opportunities for building a truly inclusive work environment. This collection provides an opportunity to look at how discrimination can occur across the employment process and what can be done to minimize the exclusionary practices that prevent neurodiverse individuals from getting into the workplace, advancing, thriving, and contributing as each of us desires to do. With expertise from leading professionals, this book provides a holistic look at the application of leadership theories in a neurodiverse context and how the workplace can be adapted to accommodate for neurodiverse employees. This book also explores effective recruitment strategies by looking into applicant screening as well as interviewing and selection, adapting internal organizational resources to a neurodiverse workforce, and legal and regulatory environment considerations for autism hiring programs. Each chapter provides an overview of existing knowledge on effective workplace inclusion practices across the employment process, specific implications of research to date for a more neurodiversity-inclusive workplace, and what future research is needed to further inform these practices. This volume is intended to increase awareness about the challenges and opportunities in making the workplace more neurodiversity-inclusive, making it instrumental for I/O and other psychologists. This book is also crucial for management and business consultants; employers; diversity, equity, and inclusion specialists; human resource professionals; and others interested in neurodiversity inclusion more broadly.

Employees with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may be hugely beneficial to a workforce, but it can be difficult for individuals with no formal training to manage these employees successfully. This definitive guide will help managers and colleagues successfully interact with and support these professionals on the autism spectrum so as to ensure mutual success. Integrate Autism Employment Advisors use their experience advising employers on how to successfully employ professionals on the autism spectrum to identify the everyday challenges faced by employees with ASD in the workplace and sets out reasonable, practical solutions for their managers and colleagues. Barriers to productivity are highlighted, such as the sensory environment, miscommunication, and inadequate training of colleagues. Easy-to-implement strategies to adapt the working environment are provided, such as agreeing on non-verbal cues to signal ending a conversation or establishing parameters for appropriate email length. This book is an essential resource for anyone who works with professionals on the autism spectrum. It will allow them to engage with and support their colleagues on the autism spectrum in a respectful way and help them achieve a greater level of working success.

This trailblazing resource teaches educators how to support the strengths of children and teens on the autism spectrum as they transition into their lives as adults. Offering ideas and solutions to counter the currently steep unemployment rate for those on the autism spectrum in the United States, each chapter takes a strength- and asset-based approach to autism and neurodivergent education, training, and employment. The author draws upon his lived experience as a parent to a neurodivergent child to provide unique and proven strategies with real-life applications. Secondary and post-secondary educators can learn to refresh their current standards of practice and the concept of what is possible and appropriate in working with students on the autism spectrum.

Impactful and integral to our economic recovery after the pandemic, The Autism Full Employment Act will rebuild and improve autism employment programs. Employment remains the issue today for many adults with autism. During the pandemic of 2020, authors Michael Bernick and Dr. Lou Vismara, along with other adults with autism, practitioners, and advocates, set out to develop an Autism Full Employment Act. At the time, the national economy was decimated, and it was clear that it would need to be rebuilt, starting in 2021 and beyond. The Act is an attempt not only to rebuild autism employment programs, but also to address the limitations and short­comings of the current system. The Autism Full Employment Act shows how there can be a place in the job world for the wide range of adults with autism, ADHD, and other learning and mental health differ­ences—many of whom are not employed today. Bernick and Dr. Vismara review the autism employment initiatives in recent years among major employers, state and local governments, autism-focused businesses, and autism transi­tion programs, and present strategies to build on these initiatives. They set out more fully the meanings of “autism talent advantage,” “autism friendly workplace,” and “employment for the more severely impacted.” Six broad strategy areas are explored. Interspersed with these six strategy areas are notes on related issues of “professionalizing the direct support workforce,” “transitions,” and “comorbidities.” Bernick and Dr. Vismara end by considering why no government action or pro­gram can replace the employment journey of each adult with autism, but how instead the Act can hasten these journeys.

Chances are you know at least one person in your workplace, social life, or family who is considered neurodiverse. Statistically speaking, there is a strong likelihood that your organization currently employs individuals with neurodivergent brains. Are you and your company taking the steps to maximize their effectiveness and employee experience? In this issue of TD at Work, Beth McCormack provides thought starters, information, and tools for people leaders and talent development professionals to better understand neurodivergent people and help them and neurotypical individuals together create a strong, productive, and healthy organization. Further, she explains: • Why employers should include neurodiversity in their diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies • Ways to remove barriers for neurodiverse workers • Reasons companies should actively recruit individuals with neurodivergent minds to strengthen the businessTools & Resources in this issue are a neurodiversity inclusion strategy assessment worksheet and an individual inclusion and development plan template.