Labor Day + Autistic Workers
Labor day represents “the many contributions workers have made to American strength, prosperity, and well being”. While this is a noble idea and worker’s contributions should be recognized, there is a lot of ableism baked into this sentiment.
The idea of honoring worker contributions is related to the idea that we should all be striving to be as productive as possible. But the flip side of the push for productivity is that anyone who can’t be as-productive-as-possible all the time is seen as less worthy, less valid, and judged harshly as lazy or apathetic. When in reality there are many reasons why the standard of an 8 hour workday is a struggle for some people to meet.
Almost everyone goes through a period of time in their lives when they can’t work. The socially acceptable reasons are ones that cause a temporary pause in the ability to work such as illness, parental leave, death of a loved one, moving, or some other major life transition or event.
We all recognize that working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week every week of our lives is an unachievable goal. And yet there are only certain “excusable” reasons for being unable to meet this standard. Disabled people, chronically ill people, and anyone else who struggles with the standard 40 hour work week because of neurodivergence, or anyone who relies on government assistance, is viewed as weak, a burden, and a drain on society.
These attitudes are reflected in how we treat part time laborers. Full time workers are the only ones eligible for employee status and full benefits. It’s also reflected in how we treat gig workers and the gig economy.
People who need flexible schedules, or who can’t contribute a full 30-40 hours a week are not treated as “real” workers. They don’t get the same tax benefits, medical benefits, or retirement benefits. We have a standard of an ideal worker that is difficult for many potential members of the workforce to meet.
If we truly value productivity and the contributions of laborers, then any contribution should be valued.
Autistic people often struggle to meet the standards of an ideal worker because we have fluctuating capacity, struggle with executive functioning, and struggle with the sensory and social environment of the traditional office. Autistic people don’t have the same level of consistency that is expected of a “full time” worker, who needs to show up and appear productive for their entire 6-8 hour work day.
Autistic people often have delayed sleep phase cycles and therefore aren’t optimally productive between the hours of 8-5. Many are more productive in the early or late evening time, but working at those times isn’t regarded as as productive as working during “normal” working hours.
Autistic people will often have shorter bursts of higher productivity time where they finish all their tasks for the day in 3-4 hours but are still expected to remain at work because of the rigid concept of the “ideal” worker who sits at their computer for a set amount of time.
Autistic people struggle with periods of burnout and low capacity and must rest for longer between productive periods.
It’s these reasons and more that autistic people aren’t able to fully participate in the workforce. Indeed some research shows that up to 85% of autistic people are unemployed or underemployed. How can we more fully realize the potential of autistic workers?
Treat all work as work. Meet autistic people where they are and accept that the way they work, the hours they work, and their fluctuating capacity are things that if accommodated, means that their labor can be seen as the valuable contribution that it is, and not just a substandard effort.
Openly accommodate autistic workers. Make the workplace an easier and safer place for them to exist and share the value that they can offer. Accommodating autistic workers will benefit other disabled workers or other allistic workers who have similar struggles such as sensory sensitivities, executive dysfunction, or fluctuating capacity.
Companies are capable of accommodating autistic workers. Some simple policies and accommodations would allow autistic people to work more efficiently and effectively.
Some examples of such policies or accommodations are:
Flexible working hours and/or flex time to work from home when needed
More emphasis on completing tasks and meeting goals versus appearing busy for a certain amount of time.
Proactively managing sensory overwhelm at work by offering a sensory safe workspace or a regulation or wellness space for coping with overwhelm
Providing clear and direct instructions and expectations about work roles and performance. Anytime there is something inferred or communicated via subtext, autistic people may miss it. Allow opportunities for clarifying questions.
Try to combat work cultures where social skills and likeability are more important than meeting clear goals.
Listen to autistic people when they say what they need to be effective at their job. Don’t make policies about autistic workers without their direct input.
There are so many more ways to accommodate autistic workers, whose contributions include skills like:
Being detail oriented
Having a systems oriented thinking style
Thinking “outside the box” by questioning established norms and policies. This can often come off as impertinent or rude, but autistic people are driven to understand the why behind things.
Having a strong memory for facts and details
Having a monotropic thinking style that allows their brains to go deep on a topic, often becoming a subject matter expert
Additionally, many of these policies would allow more people with disabilities outside of autism or neurodivergence to succeed in the workplace, and many of these things benefit non-autistic, non-disabled workers as well.
With these changes, future Labor day celebrations can be a reminder not just of the contributions of able-bodied, neurotypical workers, but also of autistic and disabled workers.