is your workplace discriminating against autistic employees do you have a company or a business that's unknowingly discriminating against autistic people well let's find out on this video i'm going to be exploring the question is your workplace discriminating against autistic employees and provides you plenty of examples on how it could possibly happen and now here's your neurologically different host orion kelly hey i'm orion kelly and i'm autistic i was diagnosed autistic as an adult and since then i've decided to devote my time to advocating for autistic people thank you so much for watching this video i
appreciate it and if you'd like to check out my other stuff well go for it i do podcasts blogs and these youtube videos all with one goal in mind to increase the understanding and acceptance of autistic people now if that sounds like something you'd be interested in thank you i'm happy to hear that would you take your time to check out my stuff on my website and to subscribe to my youtube channel please do me a favor so we can reach more people and you never miss out on any more videos click that subscribe button
and click on that notifications bell so you never miss another video you can also reach out on my socials like the orion kelly page on facebook find me on twitter instagram tiktok and my website orionkelly.com dot a u that's where you'll find everything i do all right let's do this my friend is your workplace discriminating against autistic people oh in a quick one i'm sharing my own autistic insights and experiences i'm not trying to nor have i ever said i am speaking on behalf of other autistic people you're watching and listening to my autistic experiences
my autistic insights with the goal of increasing understanding and acceptance of autistic people deal shake so the first thing i want to discuss is open plan offices okay now this has become very much the norm in modern day corporations to have what you would class as open office plans or working pits for employees to to work together so open plan offices with you know working pits or communal working places can be really overwhelming for an autistic person we have to step back and just look at it for what it is okay it's a concentrated space
with a large group of people all doing jobs there's phone calls there's conversations there's keyboard typing in other workplaces there may be all sorts of noises going on there may be all sorts of actions going on we have to look at it from that point of view there's no use just going well everyone works in this workplace they all deserve the same treatment and this is it as an autistic person it's not a joke sensory overload can lead to meltdowns and shutdowns both horrific to productivity not a good result for anyone the autistic person all
the business they're working for this is good for business to actually consider the needs of autistic people because it actually helps the bottom line of a business but it also helps the mental health and the productivity of the autistic person you can only hurt the productivity of an autistic person by expecting and forcing them to work in open plan offices communal workplaces communal work spaces working pits concentrated areas of many employees all doing jobs i mean it doesn't really matter how it's described or what workplace it is we just have to understand that for the
most part for most autistic people this type of environment is not conducive to a productive autistic employee okay so a solution to the problem because i'm not about just bringing up problems let's talk solutions in this situation you could consider providing separate or specific working areas away from the open plan work pit type scenario we were talking about for autistic people areas that aren't noisy areas that aren't in the hustle and bustle of the workplace areas where they're still around but they're able to thrive and have an increased level of productivity because they're in an
environment conducive to their own personal needs i also want to point out and i hope this makes sense that as an employer if you're providing these types of environments for autistic people all you're doing is living up to your responsibilities with regards to providing facilities and solutions for a person with a disability it might be invisible but it's still a legitimate and diagnosed disability so it's not like we're asking for something that we're not entitled to and the upside is in doing it you will raise the level of productivity of your autistic employees which is
probably already high or higher than most neurotypical employees so it's a win-win the next thing i want to talk about regarding something in a workplace that can be discriminating against autistic people is a thing called hot desks or hot desking where employees regularly move desks or move areas within the workplace i don't know the premise or the point of it i'm assuming from a neurotypical point of view it might be freshness or creativity or productivity or workflow but it actually has the reverse effect for many autistic people so for an autistic person think about it
if they could be moved at any day any time for any reason it's going to cause at least from my experience it's going to cause heightened levels of stress and anxiety now stress and anxiety lower productivity we want to raise productivity this isn't about making businesses corporations employers do things they don't need to do this is just about providing the things that a person with a disability requires and in the end it only raises productivity and also from an understanding point of view autistic people in my experience i can tell you i have a deep
reliance on rituals and routines it's critical to my day-to-day life now understand the impact of hot desking of constantly switching and moving around the workplace without really any notice or reason to someone's ability to be productive if they rely on routines and rituals normality consistency it's key now the solution this problem is very similar to the solution to our first problem of open plan offices again consider a space removed for autistic employees to work at where their desk is theirs permanently the simple act of assigning an autistic employee a desk permanently can create such great
routine and such great consistency that productivity can only thrive clearly all workplaces are very different they're not all in the same environment they're not all in offices but i think something that's pretty universal to pretty much all workplaces even outdoors workplaces is lighting and noise and both lighting and noise can cause regular and constant sensory overload for an autistic person working in a workplace some examples fluorescent bulbs bright led lights windows without curtains random and mixed noises multiple noises the light and the noise combines to have a detrimental effect on an autistic person from a
sensory point of view a sensory overload can occur on a daily basis so sensory overload being lighting sound certain sensors that are being taken at a heightened level and having a heightened impact on an autistic person result in sensory overload but there's more they can manifest as stress anxiety migraines really the list can go on how these things can affect an autistic person in the workplace and although mainstream workplaces like to say how modern they are when you think about all the things they call modern might be bright led lights and open plan offices and
communal areas there's nothing about that that makes me feel comfortable so a solution to the problem i don't think nor do i expect you as an employer a company corporation business to turn off your lights and have complete silence in your workplace that's not manageable i'm not suggesting that or expecting you to do that but a solution could be like the solution we've talked about is finding an area for autistic people where they are able to control some controllables for example they can dim lights or they could turn the lights off in the roof in
their area and use a lamp where if the sun is glaring through the window they're able to adjust the curtain and it's not going to affect the entire workplace these little things can have such a large impact on productivity and the mental health of an autistic person okay now the next thing i want to talk about regarding things in a workplace that could be discriminating against autistic people is one that usually gets me fired up i'll be passionate we're talking about workplace gatherings in my experience and in a lot of workplaces i would assume a
similar presumption can be made that workplace gatherings as a rule are mandatory as in employees must go must attend must participate in workplace gatherings events and activities so i absolutely get that for most neurotypical employees getting out of working and being able to just hang out with your workmates at a gathering or an activity or an event is a pretty attractive proposition i understand where you're coming from but you have to look at it from an autistic point of view for an autistic person it can feel like forced fun forced socializing forced activities as an
autistic person i go to work because i love my job i love what i do for work i don't go to work to do completely non-work related activities certainly not things that i'm not even interested in i don't want to put myself in a social situation that i know i can't handle or process let alone feel like i'm forced into that situation forcing autistic employees into attending workplace gatherings and social interactions is forcing them into situations they are not always able to handle interpret or process a really quick over-generalized example just for the illustration is
let's get a neurotypical employee and let's say all right jim you're boarding a plane to a country you've never been to speaking a language you've never learned with customs and cultures you have no idea about and you're going there to live for six months to do your job putting an autistic person in a situation where they don't even understand the language their interpretation of what is going on in the social interaction and this is a whole other video which i've done before is like another language it's putting someone in a situation that they're not even
built to be in from my point of view as an autistic person looking back at my entire career over many years i would say what produces the most anxiety what overwhelms me the most is the forced social gatherings now that could be all staff are forced to go to a social gathering with clients of the company and a lot of employees think amazing you might get free dinner free drinks all you've got to do is be nice to people clients or whatever that's not the same for me interacting on a social level with the people
i work with every day is hard enough the idea that i have to do that with people i've never met and do not know and are clients or whatever of the company is really really scary and also it's not because it's about them it's not about them it's about me it's about my abilities to thrive in those types of environments sporting activities as a social team of work mates go to the bowling alley and bowl really we do what whatever neurotypical people think that's going to cultivate i can tell you as an autistic person it's
not going to cultivate anything with me in fact it's probably going to alienate me further it's probably going to create more of a gap because i'm not comfortable in those situations also there's only so many sports that i can do or can learn or i'm good at or like to do you've got to put on the stupid clown shoes you know what if i throw seven gutter balls people start socially bullying you hey good throw all that kind of stuff it's just not comfortable you're kind of sitting around doing nothing these situations are really horrible
bars clubs you know the christmas party style thing it's noisy people are yelling and screaming people had a few drinks conversations a bit different it's kind of in your face you don't know where to go you don't know how to interact you don't know how to process it properly you know these things aren't a joke you know you think these things are fun and they're mandatory because hey why would anyone not want to do this i can tell you as an autistic person it's not that i'm lazy or just a little bit shy i'm autistic
and i have challenges that make these things extremely hard really really anxious really stressed really uncomfortable being forced into these things in no way helps me with my team or my productivity pretty simple solution this problem how about allowing employees they could be autistic employees or any employees the option to not attend these types of workplace gatherings because in the end you do all these things so your team works better and you lift productivity and morale correct so why would you force people into these situations when what it's going to do is lower their morale
and lower their productivity another way that workplaces can discriminate against autistic people is the holding of surprise or pop-up meetings or get-togethers or events in some instances last-minute meetings are just part and parcel of business they just happen they need to happen i'm not denying that but let's have a conversation about the effects that last minute meetings or surprise pop-up gatherings activities or meetings can have on an autistic employee so this goes back to the conversation with hot desking as an autistic person i rely on consistency the predictability of a workplace is important for an
autistic person the predictability of meetings is important having plenty of advance notice of meetings and team catch-ups is crucial because you can plan for them you can you know be anxious for a week before it starts thank you so conversely holding spontaneous meetings holding spontaneous team catch-ups has a detrimental impact on an autistic person again because when you rely on something that's predictable routine based and you know when things are happening and that all changes it's not just oh i've got to stop working out of this meeting you haven't had a chance to prepare for
it it's very hard for me as an autistic person to stop a task until it's done to go to the next task you know multitasking isn't something that i do i don't believe multitasking is even a thing is even achievable i think people are kidding themselves i think they're good at multitasking you know what you're good at is being really bad at doing multiple things at once because no one can do more than one thing at once well so from my point of view oh i've got to stop doing what i was doing but i
was planning on doing that till this time so i'd finish it by then then start this but now i've got to stop to go to this meeting i might not be back for an hour what will i do and then you don't know what you've got to talk about and what it's about and it just the detriment is is just not worth it simple solution if you're ever going to have a surprise meeting or a impromptu team catch-up try to give an autistic employee the most notice let them know first and give them a solid
time and try and make sure that that time frame gives them enough time to prepare that might mean prepare to not finish the task they're doing that might mean to finish the task they're doing or at least prepare their minds that they will have to stop and then work out the rest of their day because in the end i may go in with a clear plan for my day and that doesn't incorporate things that are unannounced so it's a very simple fix now the final thing i want to touch on regarding ways that workplaces can
discriminate against autistic people is with the dress code strict dress codes in workplaces can have a detrimental impact on an autistic person in many ways as an autistic person i tend to wear things that i'm comfortable in which obviously limits my choices you know i also really like to wear colorful clothing or bright clothing and that limits my choices as well but it isn't just about comfort and brightness and colors it's about sensory issues as well clothing and sensory overload really go hand in hand i tell you what as an autistic dad with an autistic
child and me being autistic myself it would be a daily occurrence daily occurrence that i'm cutting off a tag or something uncomfortable connected to a piece of clothing between the two of us it happens all the time there are very little tags on either of our clothing anymore it doesn't help when you're trying to work out sizes and names and if things get lost but clothing has a feel about it i mean you know that i'm not telling you anything new but for an autistic person don't forget with the hypersensitivity that autistic person can have
where things are just heightened in the sensation in the feeling a lot of materials are just a no-go they just don't feel right they can really impact you and you think well seriously like toughen up no but it's not like a heightened sensitivity can actually have a feeling inside you that is of something i could never truly explain to a neurotypical person aside from saying it can actually stop you in your tracks you can't function so wearing the right clothing is critical suits and certain office where clothing can be really claustrophobic to me and can
also feel really rough or can feel some suits can feel almost too smooth on your skin it's like it's like you know being lightly touched or something it's like oh man leather shoes work shoes they can be really tight around your toes and your feet i know that sounds ridiculous but we're talking about height and sensitivity here you know like someone's kind of squeezing your feet so from my point of view i tend to wear sneakers or casual shoes with the laces undone you know kind of loosened doesn't look great but it keeps me comfortable
and certainly averts any sensory overloads or meltdowns which is good for everyone clearly i have my own unique style like really all autistic people but i hope that you understand we're not just trying to be different or look different or say we don't accept your silly fashions no number one it is about our personality but number two and most importantly it's actually what our needs are from a sensory point of view certain types of clothing certain types of materials certain feelings certain textures the way it makes your body feel these are really important things to
consider when an autistic person gets dressed so it's not anything superficial and the solution to this problem which i'm sure you've already come up with yourself is allowing autistic people more flexibility in what they wear to work on the premise that if they're going to feel comfortable from a sensory point of view they're not only going to be better employees but also it can lift productivity if an autistic person is feeling at ease and comfortable in their own skin which is a rarity but you know what i'm saying in the clone they wear to work
they're going to feel more productive and therefore their productivity is going to increase it's a win-win there you have it thanks again for watching this video my hope is that it's provided some insights and some understanding in things that can seem harmless in workplaces that can actually have genuine serious and detrimental impacts on autistic employees and how adopting slight changes and being slightly more flexible can not only help autistic people but it actually helps productivity and your bottom line now i'd really appreciate it if you'd help me reach more people so we can raise understanding
and acceptance of autistic people and you can do that by subscribing to my youtube channel so please click that subscribe button and don't forget to hit the notifications bell so you never miss another video plus you can reach out to me on my socials like the orion kelly page on facebook find me on twitter instagram tick tock and go to my website orionkelly.com dot a u there you'll find my podcasts blogs these youtube videos and a whole heap more so check out my website until my next video thank you so much for watching and sharing
my videos and we'll talk soon
