‘The Assembly’ a perfect example of the ‘untapped potential’ of Autistic workers  

ABC’s recently released program, The Assembly, led by renowned journalist Leigh Sales, has highlighted the untapped and often disregarded potential of individuals with autism in the workplace.

We often hear discussions about “redefining” inclusion throughout the Australian workplace. But what does that look like? Is it merely lip service, or can it be put into practice while upholding and strengthening business outcomes?

A recent ABC TV program featuring 15 Autistic student journalists interviewing prominent Australian figures has given a clear-cut example of what the term “redefining inclusion” really means.

The show – which featured Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and actor Sam Neill – offered a powerful example of how an autism-friendly environment enables individuals on the autism spectrum to thrive.

In this context, the workplace is no different. That is what Dr Tom Tutton, executive manager of Aspect Autism Friendly, expressed to us in a recent interview.

Tutton and his organisation were major supporters and drivers behind the program.

“Essentially, there was a group of us involved, and I think obviously what you see is a TV show, but what we experienced was a journalism course. There were a bunch of lecturers, a bunch of students, a number of sites and settings, lots of coaching and learning around the theory of journalism, some mentoring from Leigh Sales, plus then the interviews themselves,” Tutton said.

“[But] the first thing we did was actually some training for the whole of the crew. We did an hour and a half’s worth of training mostly around helping [everyone] really get to know autism.”

Through these teachings, the crew behind the scenes and involved with the program had to learn about autism and the different intricacies that each person with autism may have. Tutton believed that this set a culture of understanding right from the get-go, which put the show on a great pathway.

“If you [were] a sound man or a sound woman, one of the things that you have to do is clip on microphones to people, and we know that touching people, if they’re not ready for it, is one of those things. So we, for example, would cover sensory issues, how to make sure that if you’re doing something that you do that in a way [that] is respectful and hopefully pleasant enough,” Tutton said.

“[It was about] getting the culture right from the beginning, so everybody had a kind of modern-day understanding of autism.”

This short yet informative education on the inner workings of autism is such a simple and effective measure. As Tutton goes on to explain, simple and effective are common themes throughout his strategies for crafting an autism-friendly environment in the workplace. He uses the avenue of recruitment as an example.

“I think recruitment is a big barrier for autistic people. You think about coming to a job interview; it’s really a test of your social skills/communication, and we know that autistic people communicate differently. They may have great ability to explain themselves, but that can come and go depending on how stressed they are, and interviews are stressful and don’t set people up to shine well,” Tutton said.

“One of the things that we encourage, and that we do routinely for every single interview, whether autistic or not, is provide the interview questions beforehand. We have a standard template that’s embedded in our recruitment system, that basically our interviewers, they fill out the questions, hear the questions, but it also not only tells you what the questions will be but [also] explains a little bit about what the questions for, why we’re asking the question because it’s not a sort of a test of spontaneity.”

These small changes can have a monumental effect on candidates who may have autism, as it sets a precedent that this interview isn’t designed to stump or trip you up on your spontaneous answers. Instead, it allows you to prepare and alleviate some of that nervous tension that arises for those on-the-spot answers.

“[We] always tell the candidates; you are welcome to be yourself in this interview. If that means, if you need to pick up something and fidget to help you concentrate, please feel free to do that. If you need to turn your video off for a little bit, you can also do that. Whatever makes you feel comfortable to be yourself, that’s fine. We really just want to hear from you as best as we can,” Tutton said.

“The idea is that we make people feel relaxed and prepared in coming for the interview by removing [some] of the stress. We’ve had people in tears at interviews because they said they’ve been so well prepared and so well catered for in coming. You want to make sure you remove any barriers to getting people inside your organisation.”

These strategies that Tutton has implemented throughout his organisation are by no means radical or costly. In fact, their strategies can quite easily be attributed to the majority of Australian organisations, if that company is ready to ”redefine” their inclusivity.

“The message is that it’s low-cost and high-impact. The interview questions took us a little bit of time just to develop the format and to trial and error and to get it right, but now we’ve embedded it in our recruitment system.

“In our organisation, that probably took a couple of hours to do from a few different people but doesn’t cost anything, and it’s embedded as standard across the organisation. And I think again it’s really important to think about this; it’s not high effort all the time, sometimes it’s just a little bit of effort and a little bit of cost to get things well organised and well fitted to your organisation,” Tutton said.

As the skills shortage continues, having a workforce that is seemingly untapped is a major issue, as it could somewhat diminish said skills shortage if organisations are willing to buy into their inclusion principles.

“We know that only 13.3 per cent of Autistic adults choose to disclose their diagnosis, largely due to the complexities involved and concerns over how it will be perceived, with 31 per cent of these disclosures happening in the workplace,” Tutton said.

“Even when people do get jobs, they often have lower incomes, fewer hours, they are doing jobs that are below their skill level just because they’re not recognised. On top of this, very few people feel safe to disclose autism at work for fear of discrimination, so, as a result, they’re coming into jobs where they’re underappreciated, misunderstood, and are just trying to get by.”

“It’s terrible for them, but also, as an organisation, just imagine you have all of this untapped potential that could be really pushing your organisation forward. [Therefore,] doing it well is a win-win for the employee but also a win for the organisation. I think that’s a really important message.”