News and Knowledge

Having a stable job can greatly contribute to a person’s sense of well-being, purpose, and independence. Historically, that stable job has eluded many young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with approximately one in five adults with ASD unemployed and nearly half in residence with a family member, according to a recent study detailed in Spectrum News. However, this trend is beginning to shift. As noted by an Ernst & Young employee writing in the “Dallas News”, nationally recognized companies like Ernst & Young are adapting hiring processes to focus more on skill-based traits due to increased recognition of what those with autism can offer to the workplace.

In 27-year-old Christopher Pauley’s case, more inclusive hiring processes landed him a job as a software engineer with Microsoft. He had applied to at least 600 jobs, notes a recent CBS News article, before getting the Microsoft position. Microsoft changed their hiring processes in 2015, beginning to actively recruit employees on the autism spectrum. Pauley’s manager says that he was impressed by Pauley’s “out of the box” thinking. Today, Pauley lives in his own high-rise apartment, a dream of his that has now become reality. He loves going to work because he knows everyone there accepts him just as he is.

Promising new therapies, such as cognitive enhancement therapy (CET), also offer hope to prospective job seekers with autism. CET, which is known to have helped adults with schizophrenia find jobs, combines interactive games and group therapy sessions to heighten social learning. A new study shows a promising correlation between CET and more competitive employment outcomes, notes Shaun Eack, Ph.D., the study’s leader and professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, in a Spectrum News article.

Stories like Pauley’s and studies of therapies like CET offer hope to young people with autism that they too can contribute their talent and expertise in the workplace.