Recent studies ( Source: "Global Prevalence of Autism: A Systematic Review Update, 2022") indicate that approximately 1% of the population are diagnosed with autism.

With that said, data across multiple studies indicate a material gender bias in favour of males. Currently, there's no scientific consensus as to why this might exist, aside from biases in diagnostic criteria - therefore, equalising for this bias suggests that autism prevalence may be as high as 4%.

We should note that, owing to advances in diagnostic capabiliies, and a greater understanding and awareness of autism, prevalence has steadily increased over the past decades (some studies indicate a tripling of rates in the US between the years 2000 and 2020). Should these advances continue, the figures mentioned in this presentation likely underestimate the "true" prevalence.

• The vast majority of the neurotypical population have IQs centered around 100, with a small cohort of people either side of this
• Autistic people often fall in two camps - IQs below 70 (cognitively impaired) or above 115 (very intelligent)
• There are estimated to be 4 times as many autistic people with IQs above 130 (gifted) than neurotypicals

Source: "Autism Spectrum Disorder and IQ - A Complex Interplay", 2022

Despite the IQ figures shown on the previous slide, autistic individuals display the lowest employment rate of all disabilities recorded by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) at 29%.

Further studies indicate that:

• For those indiviuals with a college degree, the employment rate falls to only 15%
• Those individuals with jobs appear to be materially underemployed, with "office and administrative support" and "food preparation and service" accounting for almost 40% of jobs
• Approximately 80% of jobs held are part-time
• Of those employed full-time, average earnings are a mere $8.08 per hour

Source: US Department of Education, NLST2

Begin with 100 autistic individuals

... 71 are unemployed

... Of the remaining 29, a further 23 are only employed on a part-time basis

... Of the remaining 6, a further 3 are underemployed (food service, admin support)

... This leaves only 3 individuals of the original 100 that are likely to be "fully" employed

... But wait! We know that 60 of these individuals are of "average" or "above average" intelligence!

... In fact, 40 of them are considered "highly intelligent"

Even the playing field with respect to:

Attracting applicants

Interviews

Accommodations within the workplace

1. Work with autism- or neurodiverse-specialist recruiters
2. Clear and concise job adverts, plainly specifying role duties and responsibilities
3. Be objective about the abilities and experiences that are essential for the job to be done well; leave out any that are not
4. Specify that your company encourages applications for autistic individuals, alongside any workplace adjustments your company has made
5. Directly approach candidates for roles

1. Don't do interviews, favour work trials instead
2. Teach your interviewers about autism awareness
3. Re-consider the benefits of competency-based questions
4. Send the interview questions to the candidate in advance
5. Be considerate about the interview environment

Food for thought: would Elon Musk pass the Tesla interview?

1. Train all line managers in autism awareness
2. Consider the most efficient deployment of your human capital - promoting specialist "centres of excellence" rather than insisting upon broad roles
3. Implement "low stimulation" zones in your offices to allow autistic employees a safe space if they become overwhelmed
4. Implement tools to deal with sensory overload
5. Structure the work days and weeks for predictability
6. Structured learning paths to help autistic staff develop the necessary skills they lack in order to progress in the business
7. Embrace different methods of communicating great ideas
8. Facilitate drop-in clinics to promote autism awareness