Employers and prejudice

Post Reply New Topic

To me personally, it feels like employers really don't want to hire job seekers on the autistic spectrum. They will hire people with physical disabilities but not mental. For example, I have been rejected after attdending two job interviews in the last two weeks but my wife's friend who has sight problems was accepted for a job working in a children's hospice. I am happy for my wife's friend and as far as I know she hasn't struggled to find work, she's been bullied a bit which is awful but never by management.

My last job interviews have involved being observed for about 20 or 30 minutes which is terrifying for those without autism, but for those with autism it is much worse for us, but I don't think I did terribly bad in those interviews. I did have some confidence and maintained eye contact and engaged with people, yet I keep being rejected by employers and the pay for these jobs is not all that great either yet just make you jump through hoops. If your face doesn't fit they don't wanna know. I really wish that employers see us as the honest, passionate and dedicated people that we are, rather than a nuisance they don't want to risk hiring. Does anyone else feel like autism is the ultimate disability employers discriminate against?

What sort of job has interviewers observing you for 30 minutes?

I’ve never experienced this. I’m guessing it’s for some really professional-type job.

Yep....never mention that you have a disability before being offered the job.

I think that the reason many of us struggle to get a job is that we just don't send and/or catch all the social vibes that average people do and expect. I don't think that the employers are actually discriminating us on purpose, they just get an "off" feeling about us that makes us worse options compared to other people... I mean if I had a business of my own I'd certainly hesitate hiring someone who made me uncomfortable or gave some kind of bad vibe even if the person was a professional on paper.

More the other way around for me. I didn't want a job, I wanted to create my own company.

I disclosed to an employer ONCE about my diagnosis. Never again. She immediately started treating me different. She slowed her speech to talk to me, for one, as well as:

-being shocked when I dyed my hair (?)
-being shocked when I did my makeup nicely (??)
-being shocked and condescending when I got a boyfriend (???)
-acting like it was ASD that made my till that ran on Windows 95 not work. I remember her being like "computers are hard sometimes!" I was pretty fed up so I was like "No, Trish, computers that were obsolete by the time I was six shouldn't be used in a retail setting"

I work at a place that offers social work services for people with disabilities, and one of its operating requirements is that it has a minimum 50% of staff with disabilities. I play my autism up and show how it can be a strength during interviews, because I can't hide it during the interview, and I want to be clear with employers about the "weird vibe" they may be getting when I look past them instead of at them, or take longer to respond to questions.