Perspectives on Employer-Initiated Terminations Among Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum.
Florencia Pezzimenti, Eman Durrani, Shuting Zheng and 3 others
PMID 36626010WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults who lost their jobs most often blamed themselves, citing work performance and social difficulties.
Only a minority cited discrimination or lack of accommodations. This self-blame persists even when workplace barriers exist, suggesting a need to address internal attributions in employment support.
Key findings
01Work performance was the most common reason for termination, cited by approximately 18% of participants.
02Social difficulties were the second most common reason, cited by 16% of participants.
03Nearly half of the adults attributed the termination to internal reasons, while only one-quarter attributed it to external reasons.
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 relatively homogeneous, with 84% White and non-Hispanic participants, limiting generalizability to autistic adults from racial or ethnic minoritized groups. Data was collected just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the findings may not reflect current labor market conditions or the impact of remote work. The study relied on self-report without verifying employer records or knowing if the participant had disclosed their autism diagnosis to the employer. Participants could only provide one primary reason for termination, which may oversimplify complex situations where multiple factors contributed.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the FAR Fund. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high rate of internal attribution as evidence that these terminations were actually caused by the individuals' deficits. The authors note that external factors like lack of accommodations were cited less often, which may reflect self-blame rather than an accurate assessment of the workplace's role.