Abstract

Employees with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may be hugely beneficial to a workforce, but it can be difficult for individuals with no formal training to manage these employees successfully. This definitive guide will help managers and colleagues successfully interact with and support these professionals on the autism spectrum so as to ensure mutual success.

Integrate Autism Employment Advisors use their experience advising employers on how to successfully employ professionals on the autism spectrum to identify the everyday challenges faced by employees with ASD in the workplace and sets out reasonable, practical solutions for their managers and colleagues. Barriers to productivity are highlighted, such as the sensory environment, miscommunication, and inadequate training of colleagues. Easy-to-implement strategies to adapt the working environment are provided, such as agreeing on non-verbal cues to signal ending a conversation or establishing parameters for appropriate email length. This book is an essential resource for anyone who works with professionals on the autism spectrum. It will allow them to engage with and support their colleagues on the autism spectrum in a respectful way and help them achieve a greater level of working success.

This book is a great asset for organizations and practitioners involved in autism at work employment programs. It outlines some of the challenges that people on the spectrum face in the workplace and provides managers with strategies to deal with those challenges. It is must read for any organization embarking on the neuro-diversity journey.
Michael Fieldhouse, Dandelion Program Executive, DXC.technology Adjunct Professor Cyber Security, La Trobe University
An Employer's Guide to Managing Professionals on the Autism Spectrum stands out for its comprehensive and contemporary presentation of information. Its delivery of crisp situational guidance makes it unique and especially useful in today's competitive landscape, where employers are looking to tap into this unexplored talent pool. I highly recommend this book to be read not just once, but to be at the ready for managers to create a strong work environment and elicit great performance from those who are on the spectrum.
James Mahoney, Executive Director, Head of Autism at Work, JP Morgan Chase & Company
Marcia Scheiner is President/Founder of Integrate Autism Employment Advisors. Previously, she had an extensive career in the financial services industry. She has a young adult son with Asperger's and lives in New York City. Joan Bogden has been working in communications and training for over 30 years. She has an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Fordham University, where she was a doctoral candidate and published researcher.
This book offers an accessible and clear overview for supervisors, co-workers, and individuals on the autism spectrum about how to improve the employment experience for professionals with autism. It provides a useful look at why there is increased interest in improving employment outcomes for this group, potential issues to anticipate, and ways to improve the likelihood of a successful job match and improved outcomes in retention and advancement over time.
Susanne M. Bruyere, Director, K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute for Employment and Disability, Cornell University ILR School
Marcia Scheiner and Joan Bodgen's excellent book is a very valuable guide to the challenges that people with autism face in the workplace, balanced with the assets and gifts that they bring to the workplace. Employers and fellow employees will find her book highly readable and helpful in knowing how to accommodate a colleague with autism, acknowledging their disability (which can often be misunderstood) and coming up with ways to make reasonable adjustments for them. In doing so, this will help ensure the workplace is inclusive for people with autism. In turn, the employer will benefit from the talents in people with autism, in excellent attention to detail, perfectionism, going the extra mile, and innovative ways of looking at information.
Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director, Autism Research Centre, Cambridge University