Examining the exclusion of employees with Asperger syndrome from the workplace
Structured abstract
Purpose – Thepurpose of this paper is to critically examine reasons for disproportionately highlevels of exclusion from the workplace of adults with Asperger syndrome.
Design/methodology/approach – Themethodology adopted involves empirical analysis of secondary, qualitative datasets. The twin datasets applied areexamined using labour process analysis.
Findings –The main findings highlight the role of new and subtle forms of management control, a deficient yet necessary conflict dynamic in the employment relationship, and a reluctance of employers to involve third parties, in the exclusion process.
Research limitations/implications – Thestudy is limited because of the use of secondary datasets. Further research should be based on primary data collection and analysis, particularly in terms of seeking the views of other important parties to the exclusion process.
Practical implications –Theproblem of exclusion is unlikely to be improved without considering strategies to address the challenging customary social relations between employer and employee.
Social implications: Improving employment inclusion is likely to reduce mental health problems for adults with Asperger syndrome and reduce the burden on those who play a broader supporting role.
Originality/value: The topic of Asperger syndrome and employment has yet to permeate the academic literature on human resource management, employment relations and organisation studies.
Key words: Employment; Asperger syndrome; Exclusion; Autism; Human resource management
Paper classification: Research paper
Introduction
According to the National Autistic Society, Asperger syndrome is a form of autism, which is a lifelong disability that affects how a person makes sense of the world, processes information and relates to other people (National Autistic Society, 2011). Asperger syndrome is a ‘hidden disability’ caused by atypical neurology and from outward appearances it is impossible to tell that someone has the condition. A person with Asperger syndrome, moreover, is likely to have varying levels of difficulties with social interaction – widely known as a ‘triad of impairments’ (Wing and Gould, 1979). People with Asperger syndrome typically have social and emotional difficulties, problems with processing verbalised information, as well as difficulties with imagination. In an employment situation this could involve difficulties with teamworking, coping with office ‘banter’ andadapting to change. However, compared to other forms of autism people with Asperger syndrome are often of average or above average intelligence and it is argued that with the right support and encouragement, adults with Asperger syndrome can live full and independent lives (National Autistic Society, 2011).
Although arguably unique as a condition, the experiences of employees with Asperger syndrome mirror to a certain extent the experiences of people with mental health problems, both in terms of social manifestations of the condition and the general failure of employers to implement reasonable adjustments. For instance, as Seymour and Grove (2005) note, employees with mental health problems raise the concerns of employers through conditions such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders and manic depression. Further, as Biggs et al. (2010) suggest, employers are often put off employing people with a mental illness because of the need to provide excessive supervision, extra help following instructions and dealing with problems concerning poor socialisation. Despite such barriers to employment, the evidence suggests adults with mental health problems can also fully engage with competitive paid work if they are provided with right kind of support (Secker and Grove, 2005).
Similar to the case of mental health and employment opportunity, it is believed that given the right support and encouragement adults with Asperger syndrome are capable of negotiating key employment-related social situations, such as job interviews, teamworking and the broader social conventions of work organisations (Attwood, 2007). Research suggests, however, that adults with a high-functioning form of autism, such as Asperger syndrome, are far more likely to be unemployed (80 per cent) when compared with adults who have a more recognised disability (50 per cent) (Barnard et al., 2001). Moreover, it has been said that the main consequence of neglecting the needs of adults with Asperger syndrome when seeking employment is not just felt in terms of missing out on a pool of particular talent (National Autistic Society, 2004 and 2005), it is the far higher costs of treating secondary mental health problems due to exclusion (Meyer, 2001; Jarbrink et al., 2007). Estimates suggest there are around 300,000 adults in the UK with high functioning forms of autism, such as Asperger syndrome (Barnard et al., 2001) and, in this sense, represents a significant and often invisible burden on society. Yet, as argued by Roulstone (2005), the extant literature on the emergent issue of high levels of workplace exclusion amongst adults with Asperger syndrome is not noted for an engagement with a mass of social science literature on the realities of employment and work organisations. Indeed, such an observation is in contradistinction to the study of mental health problems and the workplace (e.g. see Seymour and Grove, 2005) and the much broader study of all disabilities in relation to the workplace (e.g. see Roulstone and Barnes, 2005). As such, the main aim of this paper is to furtherrelate the problems of exclusion to the critical literature on employment and work organisations.
To respond to the research aim set out above, the paper is organised as follows. First,there is a brief discussion of the existing, limited literature that describes why an extraordinary proportion of adults with Asperger syndrome come to be excluded from the workplace. In the second section, the analytical and methodological framework used in the current research is outlined and discussed. The analysis is presented in the third and fourth sections, divided into a presentation of the data from the two datasets, followed by an overall discussion of the findings.
Identifying explanations for the exclusion of adults with Asperger syndrome from the workplace
The following section is based around a discussion of pre-identified explanations for the exclusion of adults with Asperger syndrome from the workplace. The explanations emerged from the analysis of a relatively small body of literature that concerns itself with employment and Asperger syndrome. The literature search identified 26 resources in total – 13 academic journal articles (none related to human resource management), three reports (funded by academic and/or charity-related funding), and 10 books (typically written by lay experts on Asperger syndrome). The categorisation process identified four ways by which we can begin to develop our understandings of the exclusion process: the condition of Asperger syndrome; transition from education to employment;external and internal support-related failures and the nature of work and employment. The purpose of this section is to establish what is broadly known about the exclusion process to pave the way for further, context specific and more critical investigations into this highly complex and problematic phenomenon.
The manifestation of Asperger syndrome in the workplace
Other than examples briefly discussed so far, it is apparent that numerous workplace-related problems can arise because of the condition of Asperger syndrome. Examples of such problems include a higher than usual propensity for the employee to lose his or her temper, to be viewed by colleagues as arrogant andhave difficulties asking for help and being assertive (Meyer, 2001). Moreover, many employees with Asperger syndrome have a sensory system that makes it difficult to cope with everyday workplace sensations, such as office chatter or flickering strip-lighting (Grandin and Duffy, 2004). Employees with Asperger syndrome are also likely to require very clear, comprehensive and linear instructions (Fast, 2004) and take a literal view of the contract of employment (National Autistic Society, 2005). Further problems directly associated with Asperger syndrome include,as Johnson (2005) puts it, being ‘virtually oblivious of office politics’. Such employees can also become victims of workplace teasing whilst often blaming others in conflict situations (Attwood, 2007). A final common social manifestation of Asperger syndrome in the workplace involves extreme measures taken by the employee when under pressure or over-sensitised, such as sudden absence or resigning without warning (Hendrickx, 2008a). As such, unless a key member of staff is aware of social manifestations of Asperger syndrome, then social manifestations are likely to be viewed by managers and co-workers as odd and unwelcome in the workplace.
Transition from full-time education to the workplace
For some key writers associated with this specialist sub-field,the beginning of the exclusion processrelates to the end ofthe individual’s full-time education. Generally, this side of the problem concerns making the transition from a stable educational environment to competing in far less predictable labour markets and adjusting to workplace routines that differ markedly from official accounts. Indeed, it has been argued by Patterson and Rafferty (2001) that there has been a widespread failure of mainstream schools to adjust generic transfer models to suit the unique needs of adolescents with Asperger syndrome. More broadly, the quality of life for adolescents with Asperger syndrome can decline sharply once the support mechanisms in place at school are removed (Jennes-Coussens et al., 2006). Leaving school tends to lead to an abrupt end of a particular type of specialist and social support and a new era often defined by a deficient or non-existent equivalent.It would seem that continued and progressive efforts to ensure that children with Asperger syndrome achieve educational goals similar to their neuro-typical peers is not replaced by an equally effective and resourced employment-related equivalent on departing full-time education.
Workplace support for the employee with Asperger syndrome
A third area of concern relates more generally to appropriateness, availability and funding of specialist employment support, although it should be acknowledged that many work organisations have never employed to their knowledge, and have no precedents in employing or helping with the transition of,a person with Asperger syndrome (Hawkins, 2008; Austin et al., 2008). Further, as Nesbitt (2000) suggests, where there is precedent employers often hand the burden of identifying support to the individual rather than seeking specialist advice. For instance, in one sense there is a great deal of research that reports on the economic and therapeutic gain of specialist employment support initiatives (Gilson, 1998; Mawhood and Howlin, 1999; Nesbitt, 2000; Howlin et al., 2004; Schaller and Yang, 2005; Lattimore et al., 2006; Garcia-Villamisar and Hughes, 2007; Jarbrink et al., 2007; Palmen et al., 2010). Conversely, there appears to be a rather large gap between the demand for specialist support and the supply of specialist support. Indeed, even the National Autistic Society (2005) reports that Prospects,its employment support service, can only deal with a minority of the many thousands of requests for help and guidance. Estimates of the shortfall in specialist employment support suggest around 10 per cent receive support at the interview stage and around 20 per cent receive some sort of specialist support when in employment (Beardon and Edmonds, 2007).
A further dimension to this particular side of exclusion is that it is often claimed that support is unfit for purpose because, as Fast (2004) suggests, the needs of people with Asperger syndrome do not compare well with the needs of the usual disability population. For example, research has found that support rarely recognises the unique, on-the-job training needs of such people (Lattimore et al., 2006; Palmen et al., 2010). The outcome is support that tends to overlook the high intellectual capability of people with Asperger syndrome (Mawhood and Howlin, 1999; Schaller and Yang, 2005)and where specialistemployment services exist there is also a propensity to treat all people with Asperger syndrome as an homogenous group (Hendrickx, 2008a). There is also evidence that employment specialists are in thehabit of having an overly narrow and stereotypical understanding of the jobs and careers to which adults with Asperger syndrome are capable of aspiring(Fast, 2004). It has even been suggested that specialist charities or other voluntary organisations are often equally ill-equipped at coping with the employment-related needs of adults with Asperger syndrome (Hawkins, 2004; Hendrickx, 2008a). As such, it could be said that the exclusions process is exacerbated by a general lack of understanding, support, respect and appropriate services (Bliss and Edmonds, 2008).
The nature of employment and work organisations
A fourth side to the exclusion process concerns the main context of the problem. Indeed, a great deal of what emerges from the literature suggests, according to Meyer (2001), that people with Asperger syndrome are in many ways unanticipated and uninvited guests in most work organisations. There is also evidence to suggest many employers simply do not see people with Asperger syndrome as employable (Austin et al., 2008). This particular side to the problem, as many would expect, is multifarious. For instance, Fast (2004) generally sees the problem as finding a fit between the individual and the work organisation. Similarproblems include intolerant bosses (Grandin and Duffy, 2004), the commonality and reliance upon ‘unwritten rules’ (National Autistic Society, 2005; Wilkinson, 2008), and not allowing sufficient time to process information in a manner that makes sense to the employee with Asperger syndrome (Bliss and Edmonds, 2008). The list goes on and this perspective on exclusion is by no means exhausted by the following range of problems related to the nature of employment and work organisations: the provision of poor job previews(Hendrickx, 2008a); a general lack of managerial or collegial tolerance for individual idiosyncrasies (Bliss and Edmonds, 2008); a failure to build on precedents of employing people with Asperger syndrome (Nesbitt, 2000);employers’ inconsistent management of prospective employees disclosing details of their condition (Meyer, 2001); and employers claiming ignorance when challenged to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 (Bliss and Edmonds, 2008; Graham, 2008). Takentogether, there would appear to be little doubt that the nature of employment and work organisations play a pivotal part in exclusion, particularly in terms of setting up the individual to fail in employment situations. What is also apparent is how such problems are repeatedly described and not understood in the context of an analytical framework designed to cope with the realities of employment and work organisations.
Analytical approaches to exploring exclusion
In the absence of a body of literature that takes a critical view of the widespread exclusion of adults with Asperger syndrome, new entrants into this emergent sub-field of human resources management and employment studies are allowed a level of freedom in terms of electing an analytical approach.Further, recent studies that look at mental health problems and employment do not appear to be characterised by a particular employment-related analytical approach (e.g. Samson, 2004; Secker and Grove, 2005; Seymour and Grove, 2005; Biggs et al., 2010). Labour process analysis will be used to facilitate a critical analytical approach to exploring the exclusion of adults with Asperger syndromefrom the workplace. The rationale for this choice is explained as follows.
Central to labour process analysis is recognition of a control imperative in the labour process, so that employers can release the power of labour and at the same time secure profits from labour (Thompson and Smith, 2000). How this relates to the problem of exclusion is summarised as follows. First, the labour process is said to involve a ‘struggle’ between employer and employee typically concerning, for example, the division of labour, possibilities for deskilling, and the separation of conception and execution (Bolton, 2005). The struggle, as argued some time ago by Edwards and Scullion (1982), is typically denoted by the social organisation of conflict leading to order and understandings between managers and non-managers. This approach is relevant, therefore, because no person operating in competitive employment markets isexempt from suchcustomary struggles. Indeed, in this instance, the struggle is likely to be distinctive because of the typically limited social skills of the employee or prospective employee with Asperger syndrome. A second advantage of labour process analysis is its adaptability to ‘new realities’ of the workplace (Thompson and Smith, 2010). It is clear that employers having to make reasonable adjustments for employees with hidden disabilities represent a very new workplace reality, especially as the previous section highlights how difficult it appears to come to a level of order and understanding between manager and employee with Asperger syndrome.Thirdly, as Bolton (2005) suggests, labour process analysis considers the extent to which groups, when subject to employer attempts to control the labour process are able, via resistance, to re-make the world in small ways. In other words, any attempt to explore why employees and prospective employees with Asperger syndromehave problems acquiring and holding down competitive employment must be prepared to use an analytical framework that is efficient at teasing out why it is especially hard foremployees with Asperger syndrome to bring about the small changes required to make employment tolerable and,to an extent,fulfilling.
More specifically, in this paper, labour process analysis will be used to examine situations that play a significant part in the exclusion process. These situations pre-identified in the data include the selection process, everyday people management, the physical and social working environment andemployer reticence and resistance towards workplace support. All four categories represent key points at which problems can occur and the point at which the exclusion may start or intensify.
Methodological approach
Empirical studies typified by labour process analysis are often characterised by the use of rich and colourful qualitative data (Ackroyd and Thompson, 1999). As such, in keeping with labour process analysis traditions and conventions, the method adopted for the current research involves empirical analysis of secondary qualitative datasets or interpretations, conclusions or knowledge additional to or different from those presented in the first inquiries (Hakim, 1982). Data used in this paper comes from two sources – a national report on the broader needs of adults with Asperger syndrome by Luke Beardon and Genevieve Edmonds (2007) and the findingsfrom a similar study by Sarah Hendrickx (2008a). More specifically, data is recycled from qualitative research where adults with Asperger syndrome are, amongst many things, allowed to report and reflect on employment experiences. Study one (Beardon and Edmonds, 2007) involved the gathering of 237 questionnaires by adults with Asperger syndrome, with employment representing just one of many issues tackled as part of a much wider research project and policy shaping initiative. The sample was drawn from attendees of a nationwide consultation event(Manchester, UK, 27 April 2006),with approximately 80 per cent of the participants having a formal diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. Further details of the sample are not mentioned in the report and the ratio of employed to unemployed is unknown or not stated, although the actual data suggests wide-scale experience of employment seeking and employment itself. An important reason to use data from the study relates to the fact that the consultation was believed to be the largest of its kind in the UK. Study two (Hendrickx, 2008a) is much smaller by comparison and is chosen because it targets employment problems. The data from this study is also noted for beingrich and colourful. The sample for the second study is broadly similar to a book by the same author on adults with Asperger syndrome and personal relationships (Hendrickx, 2008b). The sample in question is based on semi-structured interviews with 25 individuals who either have a formal or a self-diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. The majority are male (22 in total) and range from 21 years to 75 years of age. It is important to note, however, that the vast majority of this sample has a job, which is somewhat different from the wider reality of adults with Asperger syndrome.