Asperger's on the Job: Must-Have Advice for People With Asperger's or High Functioning Autism, and Their Employers, Educators, and Advocates (14 page)

Here is an example of a question from a personality test:

Choose one of the three words to describe yourself:

• sure
  
• variable
  
• adequate
  

(Carter & Russell 2001)

A person with Asperger’s would likely balk at this sort of question, believing it to be illogical. It would entirely depend upon the situation; at any given time, they are likely to feel any one of these three things. During the test an Aspergian would likely feel unsure, and probably inadequate, so therefore might begin to choose “variable.” Variable could mean flexible, which is a positive trait. Next we might start second-guessing and thinking that the scorer would see that as meaning undependable or inconsistent. We might throw up our hands and walk away from such a ridiculous test, and would expect everyone else to do the same.

If you study books on how to prepare for such tests, they teach you to say what people want to hear. To us, that is simply not genuine and is contradictory to their purpose.

While these tests, understandably, are meant to save time and money by increasing the chance of hiring someone suited to all facets of the position, it does not seem to leave much room for hiring the innovator, the maverick, or the creative genius. Nor does it accommodate those whose skills might outweigh any minor inconvenience of having to put up with a few idiosyncrasies; a person whose unique way of thinking might enrich others if given half a chance:

“Being ‘unique’ hurts more than it helps. People with AS can adapt but will still have quirks. If employers understood this, perhaps they wouldn’t dismiss us as a bad fit for the position.”

- MIKE

Proponents of such tests use arguments such as:

If a candidate is nervous or falls to pieces, despite having seen examples beforehand and despite having trained personnel on hand to explain and reassure, this is a valid and pertinent indicator of that person’s ability to handle a stressful situation. (Rowe 2009)

Yet many of these tests are conducted over the phone or online. This same author states that testing is necessary because people in general aren’t sticking around on their jobs longer than 18-32 months—
perhaps there is a reason for this.
Perhaps instead of trying to find people that will put up with the culture and environment, the work culture and environment could be improved so that people feel fulfilled with their lives?

There is a growing outcry against the use of personality tests from several different sectors of society, including the medical/psychiatric community, civil rights groups, people with ASDs, and Autism/Asperger societies. They remind us of the importance of balance and complementary forces in our world:

“As with male/female tasking and differentiation, Asperger/ neurotypical differentiation and tasking may be an advantage to our species as a whole. In an odd way, the ‘non-social’ part of our species provides advantages to the social part.”

- LEWIS

There is growing evidence that employing people with a wide range of backgrounds and experience can make organizations more creative and improve their profitability. Their staff should be as diverse as their customer base. (NAS 2005)

I sometimes wonder why all of the great applications around today, such as spreadsheets, email, word-processing and relational databases, were invented in the seventies and eighties. Our greatest achievement in the past fifteen years seems to have been to refine the visionary approaches of a previous generation—one that cherished and valued the creative spark, and tolerated eccentricity.

One persistent myth in the IT industry is that, in development work, we need team players, not mavericks. It depends on what the team is doing. Harmony is fine for picnics and team-bonding exercises, but is not necessarily the precursor to productivity.

Nevertheless, “Human Resources” practitioners persist in many enterprises, with their ‘personality’ screening. This is an evil practice. Many will have experienced job interviews for a technical role where one is required to engage in ‘role play,’ or is asked silly questions like ‘if you were an animal, which animal would you like to be,’ and so on. Any trained and qualified psychologist will tell you that the tests are bunkum.

When they suddenly pop up in an interview, without prior consent, and the candidate has to give the “right” answer when a potential job is at stake, they are a gross impertinence, and probably illegal. (Factor 2006)

Well, one could always cheat. Because of the rise in use of psychometric tests by employers, a number of books have recently been published that will introduce you to what they are all about and show you how to prepare yourself against such a test and include tips on how to relax and improve
your performance during the test—the test which is meant to be a spontaneous, accurate assessment of your true personality.

Some states have imposed restrictions on the use of personality tests. It’s a start.

• Many people with AS refuse to entertain the idea of even applying to a company that utilizes psychometric tests to screen applicants. If you feel strongly in this way, at least write a letter to the company explaining why—either because you have Asperger’s if you choose to disclose, or on ethical grounds. They will probably not be able to bend the rules or forego the test for you, but at least you will have had your say.
  
• If there’s a job you want to go for that uses this method, you can purchase a book that helps you prepare.
  
• Accepting diversity goes both ways. Some people with AS begin to think that people with Asperger’s are superior to NTs. They come to distrust the non-ASD population. This is discrimination too. If you want to be successful in this world, you must learn to accept your own flaws and acknowledge the strengths of others. Think of every encounter with a non-autistic person as a cultural exchange—of ideas, rituals, norms, phrases, etc.
  
• If Psychometric testing truly gets your goat, take some action and write to your favorite civil liberties/anti-discrimination organization.
  

• If you already have these tests in place, you may see no good reason to remove them. Yet, if you search for evidence, you will see that there is inherent discrimination in these practices and little proof that they work.
  
• If you choose to end this practice, you would be on high ethical ground, and ahead of the game, for it is quite possible these will become illegal at some point in the future.
  
• I would also urge you to consider whether Albert Einstein (a probable Aspergian), Dan Aykroyd (diagnosed with Asperger’s), or other famously successful Aspergians like Dr. Temple Grandin are worthwhile contributors to society. Do you think they would approve of, much less pass, a personality test?
  

Would you take a PT?

Would you prepare?

If you are an employer, what do you think are the dis/advantages of hiring diverse personality types?

D
espite a high level of intelligence and a love of information, many adults with AS had a difficult time getting through high school, much less college, due to the lack of available, correct diagnoses and understanding of Asperger’s. Social struggles, anxiety, lack of interest in the subject matter, bullying, and even feeling smarter than the teacher can all play a role in preventing matriculation or completion of a course or degree. Of those interviewed, some had GEDs but went on to at least attempt college. Some had several vocational (short-term) or distance qualifications, meaning less time spent with others in close proximity. Others took longer than usual to finish their degree, needing time off because of stress. Those who were highly educated (PhDs) preferred the doctoral phase of learning because of the autonomy it afforded. Still to this day, there are very few universities that are savvy enough and educated enough
on the topic of Asperger’s. Lack of resources at the universities is a big hindrance.

Your AS employee may have abilities and intelligence greater than their education would indicate. For this reason:

• They might not be at the level of pay, prestige, value, responsibility, or importance that they feel they should or could be at
  
• You might not be taking them as seriously as you might if they did have a higher degree
  
• They might be in the wrong position or field altogether.
  

People without degrees tend to end up in jobs that don’t require them. Factory, warehouse, retail, general office and general labor positions usually don’t require a degree but they often do require
people skills
—either because one is dealing with the public or with co-workers. At this level (blue-collar or lower-level white collar), a person’s ability to take orders rates higher than their ingenuity. A young AS man may become a stockboy; a female may become a customer service operator... simply because they never got a degree.

Most with AS will find themselves playing roles that will inevitably involve too much exposure to people, not enough prestige, and not enough utilization of their intelligence. These bright and sensitive people become demoralized by all of the social difficulties they encounter, and all of the aforementioned challenges. They wonder what on earth is wrong with them that they cannot keep a job. They will switch jobs or even careers many times. They may also become self-employed. (While the latter has its advantages for the person with AS, it is often a financial struggle and may keep them in isolation, never really addressing the inherent need to connect.)

What can be done about this? Most people with AS love to learn. Most have average or above average intelligence, are even gifted, yet they drop out of school or university. How can this be prevented? One should hope that a high-performing student would be recognized and that their disappearance would be followed up or prevented. In high schools, perhaps now they
would, but for those who are over 35 at the time of this writing, their condition existed before the diagnosis and before proper support structures were even defined:

“I have an Associates Degree and a diploma from a watch-making school. I originally was going to get a B.A., but dropped out after trying to function while living in the highly social dormitory.”

- WALTER

Even now, most universities’ Office of Disability Services (ODS) have no particular understanding of AS and its impact on a student’s ability to finish a degree (Farrell 2004). As a general rule, they do not have the time or resources to pay attention to whether or not one young adult has mysteriously dropped his/her classes. As a result, many students with AS just disappear, undetected. Perhaps in a smaller institution, a teacher might briefly wonder why such a bright student dropped out, but most likely would not follow through to an answer. If a student has social difficulties, it might be put down to psychological or personal issues rather than neurological; and while counseling can and does help, it is probably safe to say that unless the counselor makes Asperger’s Syndrome their specialty, they can do more harm than good. They must have an in-depth understanding to be effective.

The responsibility to stay in school is entirely the individual’s, rather than shared by the colleges and universities. These institutions largely don’t have the budget to create a program to support the approximately one percent of the population who are on the autism spectrum. It is thought that of all those with AS, only 25 to 30 percent of them finish high school and only a quarter of those go on to college (Schwarz 2002). This statistic doesn’t state how many of those actually graduate from college and at what level.

While there are programs designed specifically to enable people with Asperger’s to attend university and to support them through to graduation and even on to employment, these are the exception, not the rule. They tend to be costly, and space is limited. (See “Educational Programs” in the Resource section.)

“My husband flunked out of college or dropped out repeatedly over twenty years before he got his diagnosis. When he decided to try for a degree once more, he got an official report through the combined efforts of his doctor and a lawyer, to protect him from failing. The report stated that he needed certain concessions to help him finish. He’s doing fine.”

- KIM, WIFE OF AS HUSBAND AND MOTHER OF AS SON

For most people, who have neither the diagnosis nor any such report, flunking or dropping out becomes habitual, and it is not uncommon for people with Asperger’s to have two or more partial degrees. It is important to state that even those with several or higher degrees will still have problems staying in work, if their needs are not constructively addressed in the workplace.