Are AS unemployment stats reliable?

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Of course, but that is not my position. A number implies what it implies - no more, and no less. At least not if you base your reasoning in evidence.

This particular number implies that AS is an employment barrier. That's pretty much all it implies. Causation is a guess, without better data.



That's true, I was interjecting experience there, and not looking at this one particular bit of data in isolation. In isolation, it doesn't even imply that. All it implies is an employment barrier of some sort, which simply isn't defined by that statistic. You would need more data.



These are not mutually exclusive concepts. A charity must indicate a need, and often the need is quite factual (or the charity presumably would not exist). If everyone with AS is like Bill Gates and Einstein, and there is no prejudice against us and we all have lovely jobs - why would we need any help?

The numbers for unemployment are so consistent among various surveys and statistics and studies available that I tend to think that the impulse to argue that they're wrong tends to be a matter of wishful thinking than any connection with reality.

I think it would be far more constructive to address the problem - that it's difficult for many autistic people to get work, and easy to lose it.

I also find it strange to see people stating assumptions that because one is diagnosed with AS or is seen as high functioning autism, that they must necessarily be able to work, and the only reason otherwise must be co-morbid conditions. This isn't something anyone can really firmly declare, and one of the worst ways to provide evidence for this is to argue that this is what it's like for you.

In general, unemployment for disabled people is very high. Some of this is because of an inability to work, and some is because it is difficult to get and keep it. In this regard, the autistic spectrum is not much different from other disabilities.

A study from norway (hordaland) conducted in 2010 says the following;

( source: http://www.autismeenheten.no/publikasjo ... t/download )

So there you have it, given the right circumstances, only 17 to 36% of people with Asperger's should be unemployed.

That doesn't seem like good stats either; the best outcome [in that study] being the majority are only working part-time or less with allowances made.

I'd hazard a guess that the majority of normal individuals [in Norway] are working full-time or more than one part-time job without any allowances made.

The other studies have shown similar numbers for who should be employed/unemployed (the UK recently found 70% of autistic people should be employable at least part-time with enough help). That doesn't change the numbers for who are unemployed. Who should be does not change what current reality is.

The studies for who are unemployed tend to be used not to argue "look these people are unemployable, give us money", but "these people should be employed, and if they are given help most can work, you should help them, because its better for everyone and saves money in the long run if you do".

The ability to work does not equate to employment.

Why ? This is strictly, my opinion. A society that depends upon networking and/or an interview process in order to achieve employment puts the Autist at an inherent disadvantage by virtue of the defining characteristics of Autism/Aspergers: impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication, and resisted/repetitive behaviors.

Yet, once again, this will depend upon how Autism/Aspergers affects the individual.

TheSunAlsoRises

The stats are good, the odds are not (sorry to correct just one word like that, but it kind of changed the whole meaning)

I agree, thats why I wrote should ...given the right circumstances.

As far as I know, in America, the unemployment rate is determined by how many people are receiving unemployment benefits. Before this high unemployment situation, after 6 months, you'd stop getting unemployment. Then you were just screwed if you couldn't find work. I was on for a period of about 2 years, and now I've been off it for at least 2 years. Fortunately, I've been able to hold jobs the entire time since I got off of it. But they were mostly crappy ones. The only good one I had, I had to get rid of so I could move to live with my girlfriend. Sometimes I wish I was still there.

Anyway, the point is... If you're not receiving unemployment benefits(you have to meet certain requirements which vary from state to state), you're not part of the unemployment rate. So if you ran out of benefits, never could receive them in the first place, could never find a job in the first place, etc. you don't count for the unemployment rate.

I provided you with circumstances.

TheSunAlsoRises

I'm sure I'm not counted. I don't work but I've never received unemployment and haven't worked in over a decade.

Don't forget the mental breakdown

Their loss.....

Got some numbers together thought it might help shed light on the accuracy of the AS stat. Here are my estimates for the U.S.:

55% HF men are employed, 35% of LF men; for women it's 45% for HF and 25% for LF. That's U.S. in the UK the situation seems to be equally bad for both HF and LF.

I'd like to point out that these numbers fit fairly well with Blownmind's numbers of the study done in Norway

Unemployment numbers are shaky so I've focused on employment rates because they don't exclude people who aren't looking for work etc.. I tried to avoid studies or stuff published by charities. Footnotes are at the bottom.

First Schizophrenics

The employment rate for Schitzophrenia is 20 - 25 % [1]

Schizophrenics have some symptoms similar to AS and in many cases have more problems and face more discrimination than Autistics. This calls into question the Aspie numbers of 88% unemployment.

Employment rate for Disability in general is 29.7 % for men and 24.5% (compared to 76.01% for men and 65.05 for women for non-disabled pop.) [2]

However, this does not take in type of disability. I tried to find isolated numbers on mental disability rather than disability in general. The best I could do is one by the OECD. This suggests that mental disabilities are much less of a barrier to employment than disability in general. I like this because it categorizes between severe to mild which can fit well with a spectrum based illness like AS. As of late 2000s. The OECD numbers are [3]:

Mental illness employment rates:

In the US: Severe 45.9; moderate 71.2 and none 77.8
In the UK: Severe 47.1; moderate 40.4 and none 72.4

These numbers do seem a little high - but the study noted and I noticed that rates of employment are about 10% less for moderate mental illness in the Sates and 30 % less for severe illness.

According to the U.S. dept of labour stats[4]: employment rate as of 2009 is 64.7 for men over 16
that would mean HF males have approx 55% employment and LF males have approx 35% employment.

For women over 16 the general employment rate is 54.8
That would mean HF females have aprox 45% employment and LF females have prox 25% employment rate.

In the UK I'd expect about employment to be inthe 35% range or lower for both HF and LF males and dismal for females across the spectrum.

In conclusion it is harder for Aspies to find a job but it is not impossible and the numbers are not as dismal as some sources would like to claim. With effort, many of us can be employed.

[1](equal opportunity employment comission) http://www1.eeoc.gov//eeoc/meetings/3-1 ... forprint=1 (undated based on study publshed in 2007))
[2] U.S. Bureau of labour stats (all numbers are based on averages of seasonally unadjusted rates of the 2009 employment record)
[3] (OCED Mental health and work project fig 1.3)
http://www.oecd.org/document/20/0,3746, ... _1,00.html http://www.bls.gov/bls/unemployment.htm
[4] ibid., 2