Challenges Faced by Employers When Hiring People With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurological and developmental conditions characterized by deficits and disinclinations in communication and social interactions alongside repetitive behaviors and restricted interests and activities (Hodges et al., 2020; Parmeggiani et al., 2019; Alpert, 2021). Although the condition was previously considered a mental illness and a disability, studies have demonstrated that people with ASD are neurodiverse and not impaired (Koldewyn et al., 2013; Grinker, 2020). ASD’s etiopathogenesis is multifactorial and originates from a complex interplay between environmental and genetic factors (Gyawali & Patra, 2019; Jure, 2019; Taylor et al., 2020; Campisi et al., 2018). Multiple time- and population-based studies indicate that the prevalence of ASD has been rising over the years, a phenomenon attributable to various factors, including increased reporting and community awareness (Zeidan et al., 2022; Salari et al., 2022; Russell et al., 2021). Notably, ASD severity varies across three levels, with each level depicting the extent to which the condition interferes with a person’s functioning and the degree of support required due to the resultant challenges in social interactions, communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors (Mehling & Tasse, 2016; Robinson et al., 2014; Waizbard-Bartov et al., 2021). For instance, individuals with Level 1 ASD are often high-functioning and require mild support, while those with Level 2 and Level 3 depict marked deficits and require substantial and major support, respectively (Weitlauf et al., 2014).

Background Literature Review

With appropriate support, autistic people can lead a typical life and achieve the milestones that are expected from neurotypical individuals regardless of the condition’s level of severity. However, despite their ability to meaningfully participate and contribute to workplaces, autistic people are vastly underrepresented in employment, and broader employment research reveals that adults with autism face challenges in securing and maintaining employment. For instance, in the United Kingdom, only 16% of individuals with autism are in full-time employment, while in the United States, the rate drops to 11% (Buckley et al., 2021; Scott et al., 2017; Waisman-Nitzan et al., 2019; Romualdez et al., 2021). Despite these statistics, people with ASD neurodiversity express their desire to work, but lack opportunities since a significant proportion of employers are reluctant to hire autistic persons despite having the necessary qualifications or skills (Lorenz et al., 2016; Hedley et al., 2018; Mai, 2019; Solomon, 2020). When they secure employment, a significant proportion of autistic people are assigned duties and responsibilities to which they are overqualified and often receive lower remuneration than their neurotypical counterparts (Chen et al., 2015). The under- and unemployment rates among autist people engender extreme poverty and severely diminished quality of life. Consequently, meaningful employment can provide autistic people with social connections, independence, and a sense of purpose. However, the realization of these aspirations among autistic people is undermined by multiple barriers which impede the employment of individuals with ASD.

Among the leading factors contributing to the under- and unemployment of people with autism are negative beliefs, and attitudinal and perceptual barriers of neurotypical employers towards people with ASD, which are reflective of social disability (Abusukkar, 2019; Bury et al., 2021; Mai, 2019). For instance, Nicholas et al. (2019) note that many employers perceive autistic people to have heightened safety risks, reduced productivity, and such behaviour-related issues as punctuality, appearance, and work attendance as among the fundamental concerns that diminish the employability of people with ASD. These negative beliefs and attitudes are often grounded on stereotypes instead of experiences and are significant barriers to employment for neurodiverse people despite possessing the necessary skills, competence, and knowledge required in the workplace.

Further, employers’ reluctance and unwillingness to employ autistic people are influenced by ASD stigma and negative framing in the media. In most media presentations, ASD is presented as a monolithic condition that only manifests in the most severe form despite the varying degree of severity as reflected by the disorder’s identification as a spectrum of disinclinations (Bokombo et al., 2023; Yu & Farrell, 2020; Sulaimani & Daghustani, 2022; Soffer & Argaman-Danos, 2021, Rafiei et al., 2023). Notably, a significant proportion of these misrepresentations are based on the notion that ASD is a form of disability. For instance, depictions of autism in films such as I am Khan often perpetuate misunderstandings, prejudices, and fears that are held by mainstream society, including representing autistic people as disabled, deserving of sympathy and pity from neurotypical people, and the portrayal of the condition as a setback that requires coping and acceptance. However, employers who have worked with autistic people have reported multiple benefits and positive experiences, including improved workplace productivity, superior creativity, above-standard performance, better work ethic, and enhanced quality of work (Nicholas et al., 2019; Cope & Remington, 2022; Scott et al., 2017). Nicholas et al. (2019) and Griffiths et al. (2020) posit that the positive outcomes realized by employers working with autistic people influenced the pro-inclusion attitudinal shifts and an increased desire to hire people with ASD.

Most employers believe that autistic people are unfit for customer-facing jobs, which are characterized by in-person contact, interactions, and communications. According to Cheriyan et al. (2021), many autistic people work at entry-level jobs, are primarily limited to specific employment sectors, including finance and information technology, and are assigned jobs where they work alone, such as computer managers illustrators, data entry clerks, and web designers. Although hiring people who fulfil a particular job criterion is critical, limiting individuals to few jobs, mainly due to some atypical characteristics, engenders bias and discrimination, especially in the absence of evidence illustrating their inability to perform in other sectors.

Governments seek to minimize the autism employment gap through social and legal interventions, policies, and reforms designed to promote awareness, eliminate stigma on autistic people, and improve the employability of individuals with ASD. For instance, governments, one of the largest employers, influence the employment practices of other organizations by increasing the number of autistic people in the civil service (Hassan, 2013; Houdek, 2022). Also, governments have been developing and launching autism employment pathways that encourage employers to provide apprenticeships, volunteering, internships, and work experience opportunities to autistic people to improve their overall employability and minimize the autism employment gap. Organisations such as the Disability Employment Services have helped autistic people to secure employment (Hayward et al., 2022; Scott et l., 2017).

In 2010, the United Kingdom enacted the Equality Act, which replaced and consolidated the previous anti-discrimination laws within a single statute. The Act sought to strengthen protection from discrimination and expand the safeguards by conferring new rights against discrimination and imposing new duties on employers, public authorities, and service providers (Mason & Minerva, 2022; Davies et al., 2016; Robinson et al., 2021). According to Krzeminska et al. (2019), these laws have significantly contributed to reducing discriminatory tendencies in hiring practices and a substantial opening of new work opportunities for neurodiverse people. For instance, new, alternative, and inclusive recruitment and interview approaches that integrate and accommodate neurodiversity have led to the successful employment of neurodiverse people in such prominent companies as SAP, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, Ford, DXC Technology, and EY through the elimination of job interviews that are biased against individuals with atypical interaction manners (Krzeminska et al., 2019). However, despite these positive developments, the autism employment gap remains high, a phenomenon that is partly attributable to the challenges experienced by employers when hiring autistic employees (Griffiths et al., 2020). Notably, existing studies explore single challenges or behavioural traits of employers regarding the employment of autistic people, implying an absence of research that comprehensively addresses all potential challenges and opinions that impede the engagement of people with ASD by employers.

Peer-reviewed evidence and official government websites were used to collect information about employers’ laws and pre-existing attitudes when hiring autistic people. Factors such as lack of support, unawareness, anxiety, insufficient confidence about working with autistic employees, misconceptions about people with autism, and discrimination influence the employer’s decision and reluctance to engage autistic workers.

Importance of the Proposed Study

Current literature on the challenges experienced by employers in offering employment opportunities to people with ASD explores single elements or behavioural aspects. Consequently, there is a lack of research that comprehensively explores all the potential difficulties, opinions, and beliefs that limit the ability of employers to employ autistic people in their organization. Indeed, understanding all the potential challenges, barriers, and difficulties that employers experience regarding recruiting and hiring autistic people is critical and will provide valuable insights that can help to change employers’ attitudes and perceptions towards people with ASD. In this regard, this study seeks to fill a gap in the existing literature by adopting a comprehensive interrogation of employers’ perceptions and attitudes.

Additionally, this study will generate valuable insights that can be used in the construction of strategies for addressing the challenges experienced by employers when hiring people with ASD and to eliminate any existing practices and biases that discriminate against autistic employees. The study will also seek to increase awareness and change the negative perceptions and attitudinal biases among employers and employees regarding autistic workers, and eventually help in the reduction of the current autism employment gap. To autistic people, this study will help to comprehensively identify the specific challenges faced by managers when recruiting and retaining autistic employees and subsequently find solutions to those difficulties, mainly through the destigmatisation of autism and discrimination of people with autism.

Can the Absence of Support for Employers be the Biggest Apprehension?

Many businesses and companies are unwilling to employ neurodivergents despite the associated positive outcomes, benefits, and opportunities for the workers and the organizations. Notably, this phenomenon is partly attributable to such apprehensions and concerns as increased supervisory costs and inadequate support and knowledge on engaging with neurodiverse workers (Solomon, 2020). For instance, although programs exist that support autistic people to adjust and function effectively at their workplaces, employers do not have such kind of support. Consequently, employers need more knowledge and essential support to integrate neurodiverse employees. Burke et al. (2013) posit that employers who opt to hire autistic employees have to contend with the reality of retraining their managers and supervisors, and make necessary adjustments to their workplaces independently with minimal or no support or guidance from relevant parties. Among the major concerns expressed by employers before integrating neurodiverse workers include doubts regarding their ability to provide the required support, the anxiety of managing communication and interactions successfully, and uncertainty about equitable treatment.

Further, employers and organizations are unsure of the level of acceptance needed for autistic people since neurotypical people criticize neurodiversity and label it as selfishness and egocentrism due to low levels of awareness (Jones et al., 2021). For instance, delayed responses, a silence that lasts too long, or lack of eye contact are often misinterpreted and could engender negative repercussions for rapport and future social relations within the workplace. Indeed, as workplaces become more social interactionally driven and operations are anchored on effective communication, autistic people may experience challenges in these critical elements of organizations due to the deficits that characterize autism. Consequently, employers are apprehensive that these deficits could be misunderstood, leading to strained working relationships between employees and creating a poor workplace environment. Cheriyan et al. (2021) corroborate this view and assert that the perceived likelihood and possibility of problematic relationships with autistic workers.

Additionally, a disproportionate majority of the current workplaces were designed for neurotypical people. Autistic workers experience challenges adapting to these workplaces since they were not developed for neurodiverse workers. While attempting to modify these workplaces to accommodate neurodiversity, most employers adopt medical models of orientation to ameliorate the deficits of autistic individuals instead of embracing a neurodiversity-aligned strategy, which recognizes the strengths of neurodiverse workers and systematically addresses the environmental barrier within the organizations. In this regard, employers express anxiety over their inability to fully understand the necessary changes and the scope of adjustments required to ensure workplaces are accommodative for neurodiverse workers. Although organizations may genuinely desire to employ neurodiverse employees, the implications of these transformations on corporate profits are a major consideration when deciding whether to hire autistic workers (Waisman-Nitzan et al., 2019). For instance, in a study conducted by Waisman-Nitzan et al. (2019) exploring the perspectives of 11 employers regarding individuals with ASD, the motivation to employ a neurodivergent was pegged on three thematic concerns, including finding the necessary support for the employee(s), reasonable adjustments required, and such employers’ perception of the workers as the incurrence of additional costs to maintain these workers.

How Differences in Expectations Engender Discrimination

Besides actively combating neurodiversity stigma within the workplace, autistic employees face the challenge of navigating systems that are developed for neurotypical workers. This implies that managers, neurodiverse employees, and supervisors have fundamentally different expectations, ultimately leading to discrimination. According to Martin et al. (2022), the quality of the relationship between autistic employees and managers is critical in guaranteeing constructive and productive engagement and socialization. However, the attainment of this aspiration is impeded by failures in shared expectations and the absence of support to bridge the expectation gap. For instance, Heasman and Gillespie (2017) note that where misunderstanding or miscommunication between a neurotypical and an autistic person occurs, the blame is always attributed to the deficits of the neurodiverse person. Indeed, neurotypical employees, managers, and supervisors may then perceive the neurodiverse worker as difficult to work with, idiosyncratic, and disconnected from social norms. The inability to initiate and sustain conversations, hold eye contact, delay responses, or misunderstand a particular aspect of communication or social cues is perceived negatively and eventually generates discriminatory reactions from neurotypical individuals.

Research-Questions

The proposed study seeks to comprehensively explore the challenges and difficulties that employers face when hiring autistic people. The study intends to generate valuable insights and information that can help to eliminate the autism employment gap. Semi-structured interviews will be used to collect data. The rationale for selecting this method is that it will enable the collection of open-ended data within a predetermined thematic framework, allow the exploration of the respondents’ thoughts, beliefs, and feelings regarding the employment of autistic people, and facilitate an in-depth delving into personal and sometimes, even sensitive issues (Ruslin et al., 2022; Adeoye-Olatunde & Olenik, 2021).

A focus on the integral role that employers play in creating inclusive workplaces that accommodate neurodiverse workers, and the provision of necessary accommodations and adjustments generates the following research questions:

• Why are employers within the labor market reluctant to hire neurodiverse employees?
• Why do employers even decline to provide opportunities or chances to autistic workers?
• How do differences in expectations contribute to the emergence of discriminatory practices in the workplace?
• What support exists for employers to accommodate and sustain autistic employees?
• Do employers have specific organizational codes requiring neurodiverse employees to adhere to regulations developed for neurotypical workers?
• Does the absence of support for employers trigger apprehension regarding the employment of autistic workers?

Methodology for the Proposed Study

The proposed study will be conducted using a qualitative phenomenological approach to facilitate the discovery of the challenges that employers experience when hiring autistic employees. Data will be collected through semi-structured interviews where the participants will be presented with and expected to respond to predetermined open-ended questions. Notably, the semi-structured interviews are the most appropriate and suitable data collection approach for this study since they will facilitate focus on the topic of interest while providing the researcher some autonomy and leeway to explore additional relevant ideas that may transpire in the course of the interviews (Jamshed, 2014). In this regard, the rationale for selecting semi-structured interviews is to enable the collection of qualitative, open-ended data, facilitate an in-depth exploration of the issues, and allow the researcher to investigate the participants’ thoughts, experiences, and beliefs in more detail.

The study will include 20 employers drawn from the United Kingdom and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The participating employers will be recruited through web-based platforms, and the inclusion criteria will entail employers who have sustained employment for an autistic person for at least six months within the current year and with a minimum of 20 work hours weekly. These employers will be selected from multiple labor domains, including information communication technology, education, tourism, and sales. Notably, employers in these job markets have the highest possibility of employing a person with autism, either currently or in the past. Managers involved in formulating employment policies and recruitment decisions, and supervisors obligated to oversee employees’ productivity, performance, and adherence to organizational policies and regulations are the ones to respond to the interview questions and questionnaires. Notably, the interview will be web-based video technology since this approach will overcome time and cost implications associated with in-person and physically conducted interviews, especially considering that the participants are spread across two countries. Additionally, online interviews are flexible, and the respondents can choose the time that is convenient for them to increase participation and boost engagement since the participants can discuss sensitive matters more confidently in an online setting than in physical interviews (de Villiers et al., 2022; Oates et al., 2022; Irani, 2019; Oliffe et al., 2021). Further, web-based video technology will allow the researcher to record the session, which can be replayed or referenced later through various multimedia options.

The United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are the target countries where the participating employers will be domiciled. The selection of these countries is mainly attributable to the changing employment environment, particularly regarding their emphasis on anti-discrimination employment practices and the creation of inclusive workplaces. Additionally, a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is slowly emerging from the structural stigmatization of disability and neurodiversity and the accelerated development of policies and labour laws prohibiting all forms of discrimination (Sulaimani & Daghustani, 2022; Ali et al., 2021; Ashraf, 2019). For instance, in recent years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has enacted definite statutes and policies to safeguard the rights of individuals with any form of disability and maximize their potential for meaningfully participating and contributing to the development of their country (Ali et al., 2021). Further, the administration has issued executive regulations and provided the funding required to ensure inclusivity in health, education, and other sectors, and developed programs designed to enhance the rehabilitation and support of individuals living with any form of disability, deficit, or impairment, to increase their likelihood of securing and maintaining employment. With these provisions, legislation, and regulations in place, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provides an interesting platform against which to explore the challenges employers face when hiring and recruiting neurodiverse employees.

Similarly, in recent years, the United Kingdom has sought to eliminate any form of workplace discrimination through various approaches, including the Equality Act of 2010, which outlaws any form of discrimination or unfair treatment due to personal characteristics, including disability or medical condition. Additionally, the Equality Act obligates employers to make reasonable adjustments to their workplace and employment arrangements in case the existing arrangements substantially disadvantage any employee with a disability or medical condition. Combined with research findings demonstrating the productivity, better work ethics, superior creativity, above-standard performance, and enhanced quality of work of autistic employees, the United Kingdom provides a suitable platform for assessing and evaluating why employers are still reluctant to employ neurodiverse employees as depicted by the considerable autism employment gap in the country.

Interview Guide and Rationale for the Areas of Questioning

1. What do you know about autism spectrum disorder (ASD)? Describe your relationship with autistic employees.

Rationale: This interview question will demonstrate the respondent’s awareness of ASD and provide valuable insights on how such awareness influences the respondent’s relationship and interaction with an autistic employee. According to Johnson et al. (2020) and Scott et al. (2017), employers’ awareness of ASD minimizes perceptual and attitudinal biases, stigma, negative stereotypes, and discrimination of neurodiverse employees. Notably, employers with limited knowledge of ASD often disregard the positive aspects of a workplace that is inclusive due to the stereotypes and negative perceptions associated with neurodiversity. Additionally, enquiring about the employer’s relationship with an autistic employee will provide valuable insights into the presence or absence of relational or interactional difficulties.

2. What influences an individual’s decision to hire an autistic individual? Also, Do you think ASD people pose a threat to the work environment?

Rationale: Competitive employers often dismiss the opportunity to hire ASD people due to stigma and negative stereotypes regarding ASD people, especially as perpetuated by modern culture and even media. Such filmographies as Forest Gump and My Name is Khan often portray neurodiverse people as incompetent, emotionally volatile, and sometimes even dangerous (Brookman-Frazee, 2009). In news items, neurodiverse people are portrayed as dangerous and are often associated with murders, robberies, and even gun violence, despite statistics depicting the opposite (Brookman-Frazee et al., 2009). Therefore, this societal misconception could explain why employers hesitate to hire autistic employees (Solomon, 2020).

3. While working with and hiring autistic people, how would you identify their challenges and treat them differently than your regular employees? What is your opinion on autistic people being treated with a different approach in the work environment?

Rationale: Double empathy problem is a prevalent problem and illustrates an understanding gap between the expectations of neurodiverse and neurotypical people (Heasman & Gillespie, 2018). Employers rigidly perceive issues from their perspective and fail to recognize that autistic people could have a divergent approach to the same issue, including social cues, interactions, communication, and responses. The inability to hold and sustain eye contact, delayed responses, or misunderstanding of specific responsibilities is often regarded negatively by the employer.

4. Hiring ASD people through services like disability employment service (DES) vs. hiring them independently, which choice resonates with you more and why?

Rationale: A study conducted in Australia found that the number one reason many agencies hired ASD people was that the employers were contacted through an agency like DES (Scott et al., 2017). Other reasons included company policy, someone who knew an autistic person, or the employee approaching the employer directly (Scott et al., 2017).

5. What kind of jobs should be available for ASD people? Would you be willing to offer them a position in every department?

Rationale: Autistic people do not have any disabilities or impairments that limit their ability to execute some jobs or tasks. However, employers believe that autistic people would not be suitable for jobs involving social interactions, communication, and engagements with people (Scott et al., 2017). Employers often assign autistic employees more isolated roles like computer managers, storage workers, bookkeeping, and illustrators. Although hiring individuals who fulfil the criteria of a particular job is critical, limiting neurodiverse workers to specific jobs creates bias.

6. What is your opinion on offering ASD people the same wages and working hours as regular employees?

Rationale: When employers hire neurodiverse people, they are often assigned roles for which they are overqualified. In most instances, neurodiverse workers are underpaid (Doyle, 2020; Burton et al., 2022).

7. What do you think about changing the environment to make ASD employees comfortable enough to work in their best form?

Rationale: Although making workplace adjustments to ensure comfort for neurodiverse employees has some cost implications, the benefits realized outweigh the costs (Waisman-Nitzan et al., 2019). In other instances, minor adjustments with minimal cost implications are all that is required to ensure that autistic employees are comfortable in their workstations. However, these adjustments are major determinants when employers decide whether to engage a neurodiverse employee.

8. Did you take any course on understanding how to work with autistic people? Do you think such courses should be common? If so, why?

Rationale: Lack of knowledge on how to collaboratively work with autistic people, inability to recognize their social cues, and understanding their condition creates friction and misunderstanding between the employer and the autistic employee (Bury, et al., 2021). Courses that help to understand neurodiversity and how it affects an autistic person should be among the essential support services that are highly likely to increase the adoption of neurodiverse employees in the workplace.

9. What is your stance on offering autistic people workplace adjustment courses and guidelines to adjust to a working environment? And about fellow peers also being given courses on how to work with disabled people (Specifically ASD)?

Rationale: Workplace adjustment programs that promote inclusion and neurodiversity should be offered to neurodiverse and neurotypical workers. This will enhance the ability of autistic workers to settle down and adjust swiftly to workplace requirements and minimize the misunderstanding between them and their neurotypical counterparts (Lopez et al., 2021).

10. What support system and policies do you think the company should adapt for employers to help construct a welcoming and safer environment for ASD people?

Rationale: Policy adjustments deliberately designed to eliminate discriminatory practices against neurodiverse people ought to be the first step in promoting workplace inclusivity (Scott et al., 2017). Once an organization recognizes that it will be attracting and recuring neurodiverse workers due to the eliminated bias, appropriate adjustments can be made to support their comfort.

11. What do you think is the biggest challenge when communicating with ASD people?

Rationale: According to a study conducted in the United Kingdom, autistic people encounter barriers in interviews that compel them to mask their deficits (Waisman-Nitzan et al. (2019). Employers also experience difficulties communicating with autistic people and often misunderstand their responses.

12. What’s your opinion on hiring high school ASD students for part-time jobs? How would this influence your decision to hire autistic people with previous work experience?

Rationale: A study focusing on an intervention called ‘Project SEARCH’, where high school autistic students were offered a supported environment for nine months, depicted beneficial effects, as 90% of the participants in the group acquired competitive part-time job employment within three months after graduation, and 87% of them retained their jobs even after 12 months (Wehman et al., 2017). This shows that autistic youth with work experience were more likely to get employment for competitive employers than those without experience.

13. What is your stance on the existence of a lack of acceptance when dealing with ASD people? Do you believe this can have an impact on hiring autistic people? Can they be less accepted by customers and fellow employees?

Rationale: Autistic people often face unwanted criticism and generalisations, which results in social isolation (Jones et al., 2021). Since a significant proportion of neurodiverse people acquire employment through references, contacts, and recommendation programs because of prejudice against autistic people, they struggle to make connections and build workplace friendships (Jones et al., 2021). Research shows that there is limited acceptance for autistic people, and they are often labelled selfish and egocentric (Jones et al., 2021).

14. Autistic people have skill sets that non-autistic people don’t. What are these skills? What potential benefits do you see in hiring autistic people?

Rationale: Autistic people are often well organised and have better work ethics (Scott et al., 2017). They can organise tasks with perfection and are high-functioning individuals. Research findings demonstrate that employers realized various benefits in hiring autistic people, including punctuality, removal of social stigma, equal opportunities for all, and increased awareness about ASD (Lim & Noriega, 2018). The workforce also received support from autism activism organizations and was seen as welcoming and bias-free by customers (Lim & Noriega, 2018).

15. How do you think a lack of support from the company regarding hiring and dealing with autistic people will affect your decision to hire them as an employee?

Rationale: Almost 60% of employers are reluctant to hire autistic employees due to a lack of support. Although organizations devote and invest significant resources to create policies that attract neurodiverse workers, no long-term plans, funding, and support are available (Lorenz et al., 2016).

16. If an employee can mask their autistic symptoms and later reveals they are autistic, how should this affect their employment status? Will you continue their employment long-term or reconsider your decision?

Rationale: Some autistic people, particularly autistic women, can mask their autistic traits and behave like their neurotypical counterparts (Gemma, 2021). According to Gemma (2021), autistic women often experience sexism and are required to camouflage their traits and act non-autistic (Gemma, 2021). This creates unrealistic expectations from autistic women and sets a standard, which ultimately leads to the violation and suppression of their needs (Gemma, 2021).

17. How do you expect autistic employees to act? Do you think they should receive leverage or not?

Rationale: Autistic individuals often mask their condition to get acceptance (Hull, 2017). They used masking and compensation techniques to hide themselves to make social connections and get employment (Hull, 2017). This resulted in exhaustion, and a loss of identity (Hull, 2017). A study studied the first impressions of autistic girls and boys and found that autistic girls were successful in hiding their autism, but when in conversation with a psychiatrist, their sense of self-esteem was compromised.

18. How would you feel if anything goes wrong when hiring autistic people? What’s your opinion on the statement that hiring autistic employees can increase your workload and put you in a vulnerable position?

Rationale: Autistic people are often ridiculed by their neurotypical counterparts (Botha et al., 2022). Autism is a neurological condition rather than a disability, as mentioned in the stigma theory (Both et al., 2022). Autistic people often face harassment, injustice, unfair treatment, and workplace bullying (Whelpley et al., 2021). This can create difficulties for human resource and recruiting agencies as they can be sued for violation of rights (Whelpley et al., 2021).

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