Getting Autistic People into Work: Evaluation of a Paid Internship Programme for Autistic Graduates

Background:

Autistic individuals often face significant challenges to obtaining and maintaining meaningful employment – more so than other disability groups. Aside from the clear economic impact of this gap, the failure to get autistic people into work has a demonstrably negative effect on quality of life in a group of people who commonly have unique and valuable skillsets. In addition, those autistic individuals who are in full-time work are often in poorly paid, low-skill jobs that do not reflect their competencies. The UK autistic community has identified that understanding effective ways to deliver appropriate employment support is one of their top ten research priorities. Consequently, employers are beginning to offer paid work placement opportunities for individuals on the autism spectrum.

Objectives:

This research seeks to understand the benefits and pitfalls of one such British scheme implemented by Deutsche Bank, a large German global banking and financial services company, and to determine its impact on the confidence and future employability of the interns. By better understanding autistic adults’ workplace experiences, and the perspective of their co-workers, we aim to highlight both challenges to address, and also factors associated with successful transition to work.

Methods:

Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 8 autistic interns (aged 21 – 27 years), all with undergraduate degrees, and their hiring managers before the start of the programme and again immediately after its completion. Before commencing the programme, interviews focussed on previous employment experiences (interns) and expectations of the upcoming programme: opportunities, possible challenges and, in particular, how they might address these challenges (interns and managers). Following the internship, interviews with both interns and managers focussed on their experiences of the internship: aspects that went well, issues that arose, and ways they were overcome. Six team members who worked alongside the interns were also interviewed following the programme. They were asked about the perceived benefits and challenges of the scheme, both for the interns and for themselves as a team.

Results:

Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and resulting data was analysed using thematic analysis. Analyses are on-going, however preliminary results from initial interviews suggest a number of key themes. Both interns and managers saw great value in the scheme, identifying benefits for the organisation (original ways of thinking, high quality of work) as well as the individuals themselves (training in key areas, experience of office environments). Managers’ concerns often focussed on social aspects of the workplace, whereas the autistic interns commented on performance-based worries such as whether they have the necessary skills for the role. Managers also highlighted a range of accommodations they had made, both with respect to workplace environments and their own leadership style, to facilitate the success of the internship programme.

Conclusions:

In light of the minimal existing literature, the current study contributes to a better understanding of the experiences of skilled autistic individuals currently in work. The findings also offer suggestions that can be used to inform the creation, and successful implementation, of subsequent programmes aimed to promote employment opportunities in autism.