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CelesteMejia
ProfessorBatty
English113B
7April2016
AnEqualOpportunityintheWorkforce:WhyHiringAutisticEmployeesCanBenefitany
Business
Forsomereason,manycompaniesstillchosenottohirepeoplewithautismbutinfact,
companiesdonotknowthathiringapersonwithautismcanactuallybeanadvantagetotheir
company.Yes,peoplewithautismmayhavebadsocialandcommunicationskills.Theyalso
havetroublecommunicatingwithotherpeopleandkeepingaconversationgoing.Althoughtrue,
thisisnotagoodenoughreasontonothiresomeoneforajob.Iftheyqualifyforthejobandthey
havetherightskillsanddedicationtheirsocialskillsshouldnotmatter.Infact,therearemany
jobsthatdonotrequiretalkingtocustomers.Anautisticpersonmaygotheirentirelifewithout
gettingajobwhichissadbecausetheywon'thaveasourceofincomeandwon'tbeableto
supportthemselvesortheirfamily.Thisisnotright,everyoneshouldhaveanequalopportunity
togetajobandcompaniesshouldnotdiscriminateapersonjustbecausetheyhaveautism.
Peoplewithautismarecapableofgettingjobs,andareinfactreallysmart.Companiesshould
focusonthepositivesofhiringapersonwithautismbecausethefactthattheydonothavegood
socialskillsdoesnotmatterandinsteadshouldlookattheirpositivequalities.Somepeoplemay
arguethat,peoplewithautismarenotcapableofworkingbecausetheylacksocialskills.
Althoughthismaybetrue,weshouldnotdiscriminatethemandinstead,givethemachanceat

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workingbecausetheycanbebeneficialtoanybusinessbecausetheyhavemanyspecialskills
andtalentswhichcanbeusefulforanyjob.
Peoplewithautismareveryskilledandtalentedwhenitcomestomath.Therearealotof
perfectjobsforpeoplewithASDthatinvolvesmathsuchas,engineering,computer
programming,andevenvideogamedesign.Forexample,Microsoftstartinghiringpeoplewith
ASDbecausetheyknowtheyareverysmartandtheycanhelpimprovethecompany.

MicrosoftlaunchesapilotprogramforhiringautisticworkersbyJenaMcGregorstatesthat,

Smithwrotethatinadditiontothegeneraladvantagesofamorediverseworkforce,Microsoftis
gettingbehindtheeffortbecausepeoplewithautismbringstrengthsthatweneedatMicrosoft...
somehaveamazingabilitytoretaininformation,thinkatalevelofdetailanddepthorexcelin
mathorcode."(McGregor).Furthermore,sincePeoplewithASDareexceptionalwhenitcomes
tomath,Microsoftsawthatandtheynowhaveaprogramthathiresautisticpeople.
Jobslike
theseareperfectforapersonwithASDbecausetheydonotrequiremuchsocialinteractionor
dealingwithcustomersandtheyalsotheyloveworkingwithmath.Thereshouldbemore
companieslikeMicrosoftthataregivingautisticpeopleachanceatworking.Companiesshould
considerthefactthatautisticpeopleareverysmartandareextremelyskilledwhenitcomesto
hiringthem.
Somepeoplemaynotknowthat,hiringpeoplewithautismcanalsobenefitacompany.
Forexample,peoplewithASDareveryhardworkersandaregoodwithtimemanagement.This
means,theycangetanytaskdonefasterwhichisgoodforthecompanybecausetheywillbeup
tospeedwithalloftheirwork.Theyalsohaveveryhighlogicalskillswhichisgoodbecause
theyhelpimprovecompanieslikeacomputersoftwareprogram.Forexample,sincetheyare

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dedicatedtotheirjobandarereliablesobusinessownerscancountonthemtogetanyjobdone.
InAndrewJacobsarticle,Thecostsandbenefitsofemployinganadultwithautismspectrum
disorderhestates,Benefitscanincludereliability,lowerlevelsofabsenteeism,
trustworthiness,attentiontodetail,ahighdegreeofaccuracyinvisualtasks,advantageous
longtermmemoryandconcentrationability(Jacob).Inotherwords,autisticpeoplehaveso
manypositiveskillsandtraitsthatcanbeusedinanyworkplace.Theseareallbeneficialtoany
companybecausewhatbusinessdoesnotwantareliableandtrustworthyemployee.Autistic
peoplecanalsobenefitthebusinesstheyworkinbecausetheyareintelligentandcanreallyhelp
advanceanybusinesswiththeirlogic.
Itisevensaidthat,peoplewithautismarecapableofbeingevengreateremployesthan
averageworkers.Theyaremorepassionateabouttheirworkandwillputalltheireffortintheir
job.Forexample,peoplewithautismareverypassionateaboutthingslikemusic,math,andart.
Sincetheyarereallydedicatedtosomethingtheywillenjoyworkingandcanbringmuchmore
knowledgeintothatfieldofwork.Inreality,apersonwithautismcanbemuchmoreexcited
abouttheirjobthanaregularemployeebecausetheyknowtheyarefortunateenoughtogetajob
anddonotwanttolosethatchance.Inaddition,theywillworktwiceashardthenanaverage
workerbecausetheywanttoprovepeoplewrongandshowthattheyarecapableofworking.
Jacobalsostatesinhisarticlethat,Thisisanadditiontoproductivitybenefits,includingthe
greaterworkethicandbetterfocusthatindividualswithASDapplytorolesandjobsthatmight
berepetitiveinnatureorareisolatedfromothersandwhichotherworkersmaybereluctantto
perform(Jacob).Basically,otheremployeesdonotputmucheffortintheirjobwhileaperson
withASDappliesmuchmoretotheirworkandareharderworkersthananyotheremployee.

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Theyputinsomuchmoreeffortintheirperformancethananaverageemployeedoesbecause
regularemployeesusuallyarenotenthusiasticabouttheirwork.Moreover,hiringapersonwith
ASDisagreatopportunitytoshowotherworkershowpassionatetheyareabouttheirjobwhich
canmotivateotheremployeeswhenitcomestoworking.
Apersonwithautismcanbeagreatemployeetheyjustneedtherightmanagementand
therightleadership.Inotherwords,peoplewithautismoftenhavealeadertohelpthematwork
andteachthemhowtobegreatemployees.Theyjustneedalittlebitoftrainingsotheycanget
usedtoworkingandtohelpthemimprovetheirsocialskills.Inthearticle"EnhancingWork
OutcomesofEmployeeswithAutismSpectrumDisorderThroughLeadership:Leadershipfor
EmployeeswithAutismSpectrumDisorder"authorsAlissaandHunterstate,Wecontendthat
supervisors,individualswhoarewellintegratedintheenvironmentandhaveamorepermanent
role,maybethecruciallinkagetoenablesuccessfulengagementofemployeeswithASD.
SupervisorscanserveasacriticalsupporttohelpindividualswithASDbetteradapttotheir
environmentandsuccessfullyengageintheirjobToputitanotherway,companiesshouldalso
havetherightsupervisiontohelpautisticemployeeswhichleadstothembecominggood
employees.Therightsupervisioncanalsohelpautisticpeopleengagewiththeirothercoworkers
andtheycanhelpthemwiththeirsocialskills.Itisimportantforthemtohavesomeonetohelp
andguidethemandsoonenoughtheywillbeworkingontheirownandwillsureenoughbe
exceptionalworkers.
Asyoucansee,Peoplewithautismarecapableofworkingaregularjobtheyjustneed
therightsupervisionandtherightguidetohelpthem.Companiesshouldnotdiscriminatepeople
withautismandshouldgivethemachanceatworking.Theycanbecomegreatemployeesand

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canevenbenefitthebusinesstheyworkfor.Theyhavesuchhighmathskillswhicharevery
neededinanybusinessofwork.Itisheartbreakingthatpeoplewithautismcangotheirentire
liveswithoutoutacareerwhichcanmakethemfeeldepressedbecausetheydonothaveany
financialsupport.Businessesneedtooverlookthefactthatpeoplewithautismarebadwith
socialsituationsandinsteadlookathowsmartandtalentedtheyreallyare.Theycanbringa
wholelotintotheirworkbecausetheyarehardworkersandareverymotivatedtogetanyjob
done.Hiringautisticpeoplecanactuallybenefitusaswell.Sinceautisticpeopleareverysmart
andgoodwithmaththeyarealsoverygoodwithtechnology.Theycanhelpimprovetechnology
whichisbeneficialbecauseweallusetechnologyeveryday.Morebusinessesneedtostarthiring
autisticpeoplebecausetheywillhelpmanybusinessesgainmuchmoreknowledge.

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WorksCited
Jacob,A.,Scott,M.,Falkmer,M.,&Falkmer,T.(2015).Thecostsandbenefitsofemploying
anadultwithautismspectrumdisorder:Asystematicreview:A0139896.
PLoSOne
,
10
(10),.
McGregor,Jena."MicrosoftLaunchesaPilotProgramforHiringAutisticWorkers."
Washington
PostBlogs
,(2015):.
Parr,Alissa,andSamuelHunter."EnhancingWorkOutcomesofEmployeeswithAutism
SpectrumDisorderThroughLeadership:LeadershipforEmployeeswithAutism
SpectrumDisorder."