Fired for Being Autistic: Autism and Work-related Trauma

By Melissa Lushington, "Don't Cut Corners...Unless It's Cake" -Blog Series Vol. 5, Slice#1

There are a multitude of reasons for a person being fired from the job, but can you imagine

being fired simply because of who you are? It’s happened many times to many different types of people, and unfortunately, neurodivergent autistic people are no different. Being fired at all can be a traumatizing experience for anyone because of how it will affect your income and your ability to take care of yourself and your family. Still, I don’t think people even realize how being fired can be more harmful and traumatizing for neurodivergent autistic people.

Image used under license from Canva.com

Image used under license from Shutterstock.com

First, let’s get into some of the reasons why autistic people get fired in the first place. The first

reason is that autistic people don’t understand how to do their job. This reason is unfair

because some people may not even know they’re autistic and therefore won’t understand that

their brains process information differently from everyone else. This can even cause people to

not ask for accommodation because they’re unaware of how much they really need them.

“I think it’s fair that a person who cannot do their job is not able to keep that job, but only if

reasonable accommodations have been exhausted. When I first started working, I didn’t even

know I was different from everyone else, so asking for accommodations wasn’t even a thought in

my head.” Writer Jaime A. Heidel stated in this source. “In addition to being autistic, I also have

ADHD and learning differences, but neurotypical supervisors would show me what to do only

once or twice before I was expected to do it on my own! My brain could not catch on fast

enough, and I was often let go before I ever had the chance to get it right.”

The second reason is that autistic people ask too many questions. This reason infuriated

me because I think it’s unfair for autistic people to be berated and criticized simply because they

need clarification on what to do. I’ve had many experiences wherein I asked a lot of questions,

and people were annoyed with me for asking in the first place, especially if they thought the

questions were dumb. Many autistic people, including myself, ask questions for a reason. We don’t ask because we’re being difficult, lazy, stubborn, or stupid. We ask questions. After all, we’re not confident yet in being able to perform work-related tasks because we don’t fully understand what you want us to do. If you want us to do things right the first time, then you need to be open to answering as many questions as possible, because we want simple clarification, so that you’re not mad at us for not doing it right! In this sense, this shows that neurodivergent people ask questions for reasons that are different from neurotypical people. Still, people who don’t see that can easily take it the wrong way, and this could lead to autistic people being wrongfully fired. “Autistic people ask questions to get answers, whereas some neurotypical people ask questions to get answers OR to undermine and question the authority of others. My autistic mind cannot wrap itself around this other use of questions. It makes no sense to me.” Jamie stated. “Unfortunately, because I had to ask multiple clarifying questions in order to understand what was expected of me on the job, I quickly irritated others, unintentionally alienated myself, and was fired.”

The third reason is that autistic people are not sociable enough. This reason also made me

upset because some autistic people do want to socialize with others, but they don’t

understand social cues or norms to properly do that. Sometimes, autistic people don’t even think

about socializing with others because they’re so focused on doing their job, such as in the case of

Jamie. “At work, my focus was on my job, not on making friends, not on having a conversation by

the water cooler, but on my job.” She stated. “This made me seem ‘uninterested’, ‘above it all’,

and ‘stand-offish’ to others. However, nobody took the time to explain this to me. It was

something I had to piece together much later on my own.”

The fourth reason is that autistic people don’t pick up on neurotypical facial expressions

or body language right away. This happens to be one of the many reasons why autistic people are

often misunderstood in the first place, which is because some autistic people don’t understand

facial expressions or body language. This can often lead to many misunderstandings, and when it

comes to the workplace, too many misunderstandings can lead to autistic people being unfairly

fired. What makes this especially unfair is that often autistic people may not even be aware that

any issues are going on, until after it’s too late. “I don’t pick up on hints, and even though I’ve

memorized the meaning of certain types of neurotypical facial expressions, body language, and

tones of voice, reading them off the cuff is not natural for me,” Jamie stated. “This means that if

I was doing or saying something at work that was frowned upon, any signs my co-workers may

have been giving me with their facial expressions, tone of voice, or body language went over my head. They thought I just didn’t care, but their hints never reached my brain. I often didn’t even know there was a problem until I was fired, which is what made it all the more devastating.”

These are just some of the reasons why autistic people end up getting fired at work, and

based on Jamie’s work-related experiences, it shows the intense struggle that autistic people deal with when it comes to the job market. What makes it traumatizing and harmful for autistic

people to get fired is the mental and emotional abuse that autistic people suffer from while on

the job, which leads to them getting fired. Getting fired from a job causes tremendous damage to

an individual’s mental health. Such is the case with Marketing and Content Designer Elizah

Dalrymple, when she explained her past experiences of working in toxic environments as an

unidentified autistic individual. “Every employer I have ever had has been toxic and abusive in some way toward me because of the presentation of my autistic traits, even before I knew I was autistic. Asking me to provide references from toxic employers that traumatized me is really not much different than asking any other abuse victim to provide references from their abuser.” She stated on LinkedIn. “Yet it looks bad on me if I don’t want the people [who] traumatized me to have any say in whether I get to be employed or not. It looks bad on me if I even tell people they abused me at all.” After getting fired, Elizah suffered from extreme trauma that took a negative toll on her mental health, and this would later cause her to be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). “I have been unemployed for a year and dealt with the worst mental health struggles I have ever had because of the impact of my last employer.” She stated. “I was diagnosed with PTSD. It is likely that it will always have an impact on me.”

In conclusion, getting fired from a job is never a pleasant experience for anyone, but it’s

especially worse for those who are autistic. For all the harmful trauma that autistic people face

while on the job and by getting fired, so much would easily be avoided if employers took the

time to better understand their employees who are neurodivergent. I hope this blog post is read

with an open mind, and I hope this blog post is read with an open heart. This is important

because I hope everyone (employers especially) can understand that autistic people want to

survive life like everyone else, but autistic people often struggle the most. This world isn’t

naturally made for neurodivergent autistic people. Neither is the workplace, so whether it’s an

employee or coworker, please make the necessary accommodations to include people who are

autistic, but also to create a safe, autism-friendly environment for autistic people as well, so they can flourish and grow to reach their greatest potential.

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