OTCohortJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026

Associations Between Features of Employment and Job Satisfaction Among Autistic Adults.

Eman Durrani, Carly Moser, Sophia Brandl Mueller and 4 others

PMID 41563661

WHAT IT FOUND

Perceived workplace climate strongly predicted job satisfaction across all five facets.

Neither working full-time nor receiving job supports showed significant associations with satisfaction, though full-time work trended toward higher pay satisfaction.

Key findings

01A more positive perceived workplace climate was significantly associated with higher satisfaction with coworkers, supervision, pay, opportunities for promotion, and the work itself, with a large effect size.

02Receipt of job supports was not significantly associated with any facet of job satisfaction.

03Working full-time versus part-time was not significantly associated with job satisfaction facets, although trend-level associations suggested full-time workers might be more satisfied with pay and promotion opportunities.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs

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What it does not show

The sample was primarily young adults (twenties and early thirties), so findings may not apply to older autistic adults. Data collection occurred post-pandemic, which may have influenced workplace perceptions and employment stability. Job satisfaction and workplace climate were measured via self-report only. Autistic adults with intellectual disability were underrepresented, and self-employed workers were excluded. The sample was not racially or ethnically diverse, limiting generalizability regarding diversity climate effects. Only 12% of participants received job supports, which may have limited the ability to detect associations between supports and satisfaction.

Declared interests

No specific conflicts of interest or funding sources were declared in the provided text.

The easy way to misread this

Do not conclude that job supports are ineffective for job satisfaction. The study found no significant association, but only 12% of participants received supports, and the type and intensity of support were not differentiated. This null finding may reflect the low prevalence and heterogeneity of supports in the sample rather than a lack of benefit.

Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →