Facial expressions are a form of non-verbal communication that accompanies a verbal message and can help convey the intent behind the message and the speaker’s emotional state. In short, it rounds out the complete picture for the receiver. And for neurotypicals, a conflict between a person’s words and facial expressions can lead to misunderstandings.

For autistics, this conflict is a way of life. We often rely on words only to communicate.

There is a stereotype that autistics can’t produce or read facial expressions, which isn’t true. Let’s take a look at what it really means to be autistic when it comes to facial expressions and where the challenges lie:

Autistics are not the “expressionless robots” we’re assumed to be.

We can unconsciously produce facial expressions, though it’s less frequent than neurotypicals. People around us may expect to see a facial expression only to be met with an expressionless face. When we do produce them, they can be inappropriate or ill-timed.

The “wrong” facial expressions can cause further challenges in communication. You aren’t – essentially – speaking the same language. The differences, though subtle, can make other people feel lost about your emotions.

But the challenge is…

We don’t know what our faces are doing.

I have memories of being scolded for rolling my eyes as a child. But I didn’t know that I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t annoyed or irritated. So, why did my eyes roll? Probably because I didn’t know what my face was doing.  

Unintentional eye rolling is only one of my unconscious facial expressions. Another one, my “resting face” is often confused for anger or irritation.

My face and tone of voice never clearly expressed my excitement about a new gift when I was a child. And the list goes on.

Feeling one way but being read by those around you another way is a way of life for us. We often catch ourselves apologizing for confusing people about our intention and feelings.

Like all autistic traits, the ability to produce facial expressions and their accuracy can vary from one autistic to another. Some are relatively expressionless, and others’ abilities are so similar to neurotypical expressions that a difference is hardly noticeable.

Some of us do mask our facial expressions.

As an autistic woman, I know society expects me to be more expressive and bubblier than a man. I also want to avoid being misunderstood.

“The world still has no space for eloquent women with flatter facial expressions.  I am aware that autistic men share this trait with us, but time and time again, including in my own family, I have seen this trait excused and overlooked in brilliant men.  Apparently, this sort of intensity in a man is not as threatening.” – Wendy Katz Erwin

The social expectation that women are emotional and expressive places an additional burden on autistic women to mask their non-verbal communication. A man is respected and confident if his face remains firm during a conversation. A woman, however, is thought to be rude or a bitch if she doesn’t smile.

So, like many autistic women, I actively monitor my face during social situations. At times I’m so caught up in the conversation and suddenly realize I have no idea what it looks like. I have to take a survey of everyone else’s faces and adjust mine to copy them.

“Oh, they are all smiling. I better smile, too.”

For most of my life, I thought everyone consciously monitored their faces. It’s like a tiny film director in my head – “Okay. Smile……NOW!”

This little voice calls out directions throughout an entire conversation. It’s exhausting to monitor my face while processing a conversation and saying the right things.

Apparently, neurotypicals don’t actively monitor their faces like us.    

We can’t always read facial expressions which can make masking tricky.

I can read some facial expressions but it’s a conscious process and limited to obvious expressions like smiling, laughing, and crying. Reading faces is limited to extremes or a resting face. Everything else is difficult to interpret.  

Eye contact – or lack of it – also comes into play. Every autistic has a different comfort level with eye contact. For me, it hurts to look people in the eyes, making it harder to read people’s faces.

Even with masking, we are unable to completely hide our difficulties with nonverbal communication. So, we lose friends (or can’t gain them, to begin with) and aren’t hired for jobs. Just think of the issues this can cause in an interview.

For fun, I’m throwing in the most anti-autistic career interviewing advice article. It even has a section dedicated to – dum, dum, DUM! – facial expressions. Go figure.

Obviously, there are no easy solutions beyond awareness and getting to know someone. If you’re interviewing someone with limited facial expressions, push past your initial reaction. Recognize that not everyone will be as expressive as others. Listen, instead, to their words. And if you are in a relationship with an autistic, get to know them. You will eventually understand how they share their feelings beyond facial expressions.

As autistic women, communicating is difficult, but we want to socialize and have friends and jobs. We don’t want to hide who we are all the time. For neurotypicals, communicating with an autistic isn’t easy. But communication is a two-way street. You will only discover the benefits of having an autistic coworker or friend if you make an effort.

The natural communication style for autistics tends to take a straightforward approach. We know what we want to say, and we say it. But there’s more to communicating than words for non-autistics. Words are just one piece of the puzzle, and the non-verbal communication accompanying a verbal message can significantly influence how others interpret the message.

Autistics’ limited ability to grasp non-verbal communication skills can cause misunderstandings. We cause conflict and lose friendships and jobs, often not realizing why. There are many types of non-verbal communication, but the three types that have been more problematic for me growing up are paralanguage, facial expressions, and eye contact.

My earliest memories specifically address paralanguage, so I’ll start there. I’ll discuss my experience with facial expressions and eye contact in upcoming posts.

Paralanguage, a new term for me despite a long history of being confused by the concept, is the nonverbal qualities such as the natural rise and fall of the voice and tone when speaking. These things can help convey emotions and nuanced meaning behind our verbal message. However, autistics often don’t hear what our voices are doing. Many of us have a flat or monotone delivery or an unusual vocal pattern, often emphasizing sounds unexpectedly.

How many times did people tell you, “It isn’t what you say but how you say it,” as a child?

My parents often said this – or some variation – in my childhood.

I distinctly remember my mother leaning over and whispering in my ear at my birthday party. As I unwrapped my gifts, I’d thank each gift giver. But she’d say, “You don’t have to like the gift, but you do have to convince them that you like it when you say, ‘thank you.’”

I was confused. I liked my gifts. How was it possible that saying thank you meant that I didn’t? But apparently, my “thank you” wasn’t delivered with enough emotion to show my excitement.

Even in my young adult years, as I entered the workplace, coworkers told me several times that I was being rude. I had no idea why because my intention wasn’t to be rude.

I’ve tried my whole life to figure out this “tone of voice” thing, and while I can somewhat figure out other people’s tone of voice and what they mean, I do not know what my tone of voice is doing at any moment in time.

Autistic Science Person

Like many adult autistic women raised not knowing about our autism, I spent a lot of time studying other girls and women around me. I’d practice their sentences and attempt to sound like them. Society expects women to be friendly and have a pleasant voice. To compensate and avoid misunderstandings, I consciously overdo the emotion in my voice. But it feels weird and unnatural. And cheesy. It’s sooooo awkward to me.

Now, I have a checklist in my head as I open gifts. I tell myself to smile and then say, “I LOVE my GIFT!” And follow it with one reason I love the gift – just to emphasize that I love it. As I hear myself say it, it sounds so cheesy and over-the-top. I worry that over-exaggerating the emotion in my voice can be taken as sarcasm or a backhanded insult.

It takes effort and concentration. And I still don’t always get it right. My voice can rise and fall in unusual ways, emphasizing syllables that can confuse others. Autistics can identify tone in other people’s voices but not in our voices as we are speaking. (Sometimes I have to record meetings at work so I can refer back to information presented during the call. I hate listening to myself in recordings because I can pick up the unusual and over-exaggerated sounds in my voice.)

Although facial expressions don’t come naturally to me, I find they are a little more predictable and use them to help emphasize my verbal message and cover up my paralanguage mistakes. (But that’s an article for another day.)

As an autistic, I specialize in hyper-focusing. Once I’m deep into my project, I cannot quickly switch focus. It takes a good minute to do that. If someone interrupts me while I’m hyper-focused and asks a question and I don’t take to reorient my mind, I’ll respond without effort to exaggerate my tone. It’s direct and flat – and apparently, sounding rude or argumentative.

My tone of voice is the most challenging skill to mask. And, quite possibly, the biggest reason I can’t seem to keep most of my friends.

Looking back on my suddenly lost friendships, I wish they’d asked about my intention. There is nothing wrong with asking for clarity. “Hey. I was a little upset by what you just said. Did you mean it to come across as rudely as it sounded to me?”

If you have a coworker or friend who is autistic, please keep this in mind: we don’t know what our voices are doing or not doing. Please give us the benefit of the doubt and listen to our words. We usually say what we mean.

Seeking to understand goes both ways. Too often, autistics are expected to pick up the total weight of adapting to a non-autistic communication style. But it’s a two-way street. 

Although everyone stims to some degree, it’s necessary for autistics. Stimming helps us regulate our emotions and relieve anxiety. But in the workplace, our stims can distract coworkers – drawing unwanted and unnecessary attention.

Not all workplaces are a safe environment for autistics to be our authentic selves. Our social challenges often cause our coworkers to exclude us, so we don’t need another “quirk” to make us stand out any further.   

But blocking our need to stim is harmful to our mental health. So, we need to find stims that meet our needs but won’t distract coworkers.

Many of my stims are distracting, including biting my nails, pulling on my hair, rearranging objects on my desk, and cracking my knuckles. I’ve worked in an office environment on and off again for 20 years. Throughout this time, I’ve looked for more appropriate ways to stim without being so distracting.

I want to share them in case someone else needs an idea. If you have an alternative stim that you use in the workplace to avoid being a distraction, please feel free to share in the comments!

So, on we go:

Play-Doh

This one really helps me avoid the urge to bite my nails. I hide the small container in a drawer and pull out enough to roll around my fingertips while thinking at my desk. 

It’s quiet and moldable. A larger piece can act as a stress ball. A small amount can roll around between my fingertips. And when someone catches me with the Play-Doh, I tell them it’s my stress ball alternative. It seems to work, and they shrug it off because everyone can understand the need for a stress ball at the office.

I can make my blob of Play-Doh as big or small as I need it to be, which keeps it adaptable to my needs at that moment. A small piece can easily be smuggled into a meeting rolled around in my hand under the conference table.

Long Necklace

I have a long necklace with two metal leaf pendants. This necklace does wonders for meetings. It’s the perfect length to avoid drawing attention when people are looking at me. But I do have to be careful not to jingle them. Unfortunately, they don’t go with every outfit I wear. So, limitations. At least on the fashion front.

Also, because they are metal, they are not suitable for aggressive stimming. It becomes loud. When my anxiety skyrockets, I need something more moldable – like Play-Doh.

Blankets

I keep a small soft blanket at my desk. Rubbing the fabric and “petting” can relieve my anxiety and help me focus. The great thing about having a blanket at the office is that every woman has one! Offices tend to be too cold for women, so having a blanket at your desk doesn’t make you “weird” or “childish.”

Sweaters

For meetings, sweaters are fantastic. Under the table, I roll the threads and hems in my fingers. Since many sweaters have thicker threads, it’s easier to roll the thick seams around. I especially like my cardigan for this reason.

Meetings are always an overstimulating environment with the lights, people talking, the need to process the verbal conversation, thinking through social cues, reading the presentation, and bodies sitting near you. It’s overwhelming. The room can feel like it’s closing in on you; heaven forbid someone asks you a question when you weren’t expecting it.

Stimming in meetings is necessary; we need something to help channel the anxiety.

Doodling/Calligraphy

Years ago, when I taught high school, many of my students found doodling effective. Not so for me. I never liked doodling until I discovered calligraphy. Now, I’m not a calligraphy expert. In all honesty, I’m still a beginner. But I enjoy it enough to do it in my notebook during meetings. Calligraphy became my doodling and lifesaver. For most meeting attendees, it looks like I’m taking notes. And, frankly, even if someone knew what I was writing, doodling is a widely accepted practice for focusing during meetings. I have yet to have anyone get upset by it.

My notebook is filled with keywords from meetings and my kids’ names written in calligraphy. Calligraphy was a game-changer for me. I can do it as vigorously as I need. The more stressful the meeting, the more I can doodle in my notebook.

Calligraphy requires that I slow down and focus.

Chairs

I love rocking in chairs. Rocking is one of the more common stims for autistics. Thankfully, many types of office chairs can handle a slight rocking. My office chair doesn’t rock, but it does swivel nicely! I’ll grab my desk with both hands and swivel back and forth.

This may become distracting during a meeting, though. So, reserving this action for your desk might be more appropriate if you aren’t in an overly exposed cubicle setup.

These are just a few of the stims I’ve discovered work for me. They help me relieve my anxiety while avoiding the stims that distract others. (No one wants to sit across a conference table and watch a woman gnawing on her fingernails like a hyena with its prey! Gross!)

Have a stim to add to this list? Feel free to share it in the comments.

As an autistic person, I hate the question, “How are you doing?”

When I say that I hate the question, think Grinch-loathes-Whoville-and-Christmas level hate.

Seriously, it’s a horrible question. Why haven’t neurotypicals figured this out yet?

As most autistics do, I learned about the insanity of this question the hard way. People may ask this question, but they don’t want to hear the answer.

No matter how you actually feel, neurotypicals expect to hear, “I’m fine. And you?” in response. This doesn’t come naturally to autistics, and it isn’t a habit to learn quickly.

An exhaustive thought process occurs from hearing the question to verbalizing the response.

Want to know what it’s like? Peek into my head. Come on; I won’t bite. Get in here:

A co-worker walks by and says, “Hey, Sarah. How are you?”

My thought process:

Ugh. THAT question. I don’t know. How am I? I’m hungry, but he doesn’t need to know that. I’m depressed because I hate my job. If I say that, does it make me a Debbie-downer? Maybe I should avoid that subject since he is a co-worker. But perhaps he feels the same way, and it would be nice to know someone else hates this place, too. How well do I know him? I think he has kids. Should I tell him that I was excited about my son’s promotion in swim class last night? Does he want to hear about my son? Probably not…What part of my life is he asking about???

Oh, yeah. He probably doesn’t want an answer. Why do people even ask this question if they don’t want the answer? What’s up with not telling the truth? They ask me how I feel but don’t want the answer. They want everything to be fine – let’s lie to the world and say everything is fine. Why ask the question if you don’t want the truth? Geez. 

Okay, slow down. Sllllloooooowwwww down brain!

Just tell him you’re fine – isn’t that what people expect. Quickly. Before too much time has passed. He’ll think I’m ignoring him. 

“I’m fine.”

There. I said it. Wait. He’s just staring at me. Shit. I forgot something. He’s looking at me weirdly. What did I forget? Oh, yeah…

“And you?”

Okay, he’s fine as usual. But wait, he can’t be fine. His face is red, and he’s gripping his pencil so hard his knuckles are white. Dude, you aren’t ‘fine.’ Why would you lie about that? I know you are lying to me. 

Is it his mom? She was in the hospital for a while. Maybe his wife? Is he sick? Did his boss chew him out? Is he mad at me? Was my tone off? Did I come across as rude? Too abrupt? Am I smiling to let him know I’m not annoyed at his question? What else am I forgetting here?

Seriously, WHY IS YOUR FACE SO RED????

Shoot. Did he just ask me another question? I missed it…

So, why is this a big deal to autistics?

• Cognitive Empathy 

According to Sara Hodges and M.W. Myers, cognitive empathy is “having more complete and accurate knowledge about the contents of another person’s mind, including how the person feels.”

Unfortunately, mindreading isn’t in the autistic skillset. Neurotypicals can weigh the type of relationship they have with someone to predict what’s in their head.

But for me, the expectation of invoking cognitive empathy adds another round of wheel whirling in my head. There are too many variables to consider.

If I’m too tired to go through this thought process, I’ll start answering. I’ll pour out the details or stumble my way through as I attempt to shorten the response. All this takes energy to reign in the details because the question isn’t specific enough. How am I? There are so many paths to go down for this, and I have no idea which one to take.

• Literal Interpretation of Language

I remember the first time I heard the phrase: it’s raining cats and dogs. My mother was standing at the front window with the curtains open. I ran to the window to look because, you know, cats and dogs are falling from the sky, right? Gotta see that!

To my disappointment, there were no cats and dogs – just rain. That was my first lesson in idioms.

To this day, I go through a translation process in my head when I hear that phrase and many others. Same with the greeting, “How are you?”

Autistics take language at face value. What you say is what we expect you to mean. If you ask, “How are you doing?” then answering the question honestly should be the expectation. It feels fake otherwise.

If you don’t care to hear the answer, then a simple “Hello,” is greeting enough.

The point of sharing this is: If one greeting can cause this much anxiety to an autistic, can you imagine the anxiety and exhaustion of an entire conversation? We’re expected to communicate by neurotypical rules. It’s complicated, exhausting, and confusing.

For many neurotypicals, all of these “unspoken” rules come naturally. Neurotypicals can read an interaction and relationship enough to respond to this seemingly simple question.

But for autistics, it isn’t apparent. How do I know if someone is willing to hear the honest answer? When is the “I’m fine” response expected?

I just want people to mean what they say….or ask in this instance. Is that too much to ask?

We all know that interrupting someone is rude. Our parents taught us that. Our teachers taught us that.

It’s frustrating to be engrossed in a task or conversation and be interrupted. Just about anyone, neurotypical or neurodivergent, is irritated on some level.

I envy the person that can pick up a conversation with, “Now where was I? Oh, yeah! So, as I was saying…” I’ve never been that person. The person that can take a few moments to remember and pick it up the conversation again. Me? If I’m interrupted, I need to start the thought process over from the beginning.   

For autistic people, interruptions are on another level. Forget irritated – try emotionally shattering. I’m so involved mentally in the task that when someone interrupts me, I’m ripped out of my body. I’m thrown off and expected to pay attention to the interrupter. But my attention doesn’t want to let go of the original task. It’s mentally and emotionally jarring.

Masking is virtually impossible at this moment. Attempting to stop the look of frustration and avoid a terse response is hit or miss.

The response to being interrupted during a task at work is amplified. The interruptions aren’t a sometimes thing, they are excessive. It’s exhausting to shift focus to the interrupter then shift back to the task at hand. It’s like spending all my time sorting coins only to have someone come along and throw them all around the room. I can’t jump into the task where I left off, I need to start at the beginning to reorganize the information in my head and follow the thought process all over again.

On top of frequent socializing, task interruption is probably one of the main causes of exhaustion for me. At the end of the day, I’m frustrated and on edge. I can’t focus on anything. And I take all that home. Sustaining this work method just throws me into meltdowns and burnouts.

Notifications for chats, phone calls, email dings, meetings, and people randomly stopping by my cubicle. For much of the pandemic, I’ve worked remotely – desk drops are replaced with Teams chat notifications or unexpected calls.

Even though meetings are scheduled, they too interrupt my work. I don’t have the time to focus deeply on a project before shifting over to another meeting. When autistic people focus, we can lose all track of time and miss a lot of our own body signals until the last minute. When I’m focused, I don’t know when I need to go to the bathroom until it becomes an urgent feeling. Even though I know a meeting is coming up, I’m so focused and lose track of that time that the notification reminding me of the meeting is a frustrating interruption.

Lately, I started exploring a few options to reduce the interruptions. Blocking large chunks of time on my calendar, turning off notifications, and silencing my phone help a little. But they don’t stop the persistent co-worker or boss in an environment where every employee is expected to jump at any moment’s notice. I live in fear of being fired because I set up boundaries that others don’t.

If we really want to create inclusive work environments for autistic people, the entire way companies work will need to change. That’s what companies don’t understand.

It isn’t a few accommodations for the autistic person – it’s how everyone in the office works. Although interruptions effect autistics at a much greater intensity level, they do negatively affect the overall productivity of everyone at the office.

According to University of California Berkley, “The length of our recovery time depends on the complexity of our task; ranging anywhere from 8 minutes for simpler tasks to 25 minutes for more complex ones,” and, “Frequent interruptions can also lead to higher rates of exhaustion, stress-induced ailments, and a doubling of error rates.” 

Avoiding interruptions isn’t just good for autistics, its good for the entire workforce. If only we could rely less on accommodations (which many companies do not approve or support anyways) and more companies overhauling the way they work.

When the entire company culture is aligned on reducing task interruptions and maximizing productivity, autistic employees – and employees with other neurodiverse conditions – benefit as well.

If only, right?

Just like most things in our society, we’ve structured the employment process around neurotypical social skills. Unfortunately, autistic social skills do not align with these expectations. It’s disheartening to read in Forbes that “a staggering 50-75% of the 5.6 million autistic adults in the U.S. are unemployed or underemployed.” 

As an autistic, I know how difficult it is to get–and keep–a job. We are expected to transport ourselves to a neurotypical world 8 or more hours every day. So much of the employee experience operates against brains on the autistic spectrum. This includes the social skills needed to maintain long-term relationships.  

Most workplaces are ripe with social nuances. Learning and participating in them can improve career success. But operating in an environment that runs counter to our innate social skills inhibits our ability to succeed in the workplace. 

Companies are not prepared to shift the current formula for success to include autistic employees. It would require an overhaul of the entire hiring and promotion process.  

Autistic employees don’t “fit in.” 

As the saying goes, it isn’t what you know, but who you know. Networking begins the day you start your new job, and the first step in this process is to build relationships with the coworkers you see every day.

Inter-office relationships are challenging to build. Think about it. Our coworkers must interact with us every day, even if we aren’t, shall we say, their cup of tea.  

As Marcia Scheiner said in her book An Employer’s Guide to Managing Professionals on the Autism Spectrum, “Although autism is considered a ‘hidden disability,’ the observable behavior of colleagues with autism is often described as annoying, odd, rude, and uncaring. While many people on the spectrum may want to socialize with others, their social-skill deficits can make these interactions awkward.” 

Basically, our coworkers don’t see why autistic employees socialize the way we do. Instead, they experience autistic traits that are difficult to hide, and misinterpret them. To them, autistic coworkers are awkward. In response, they may limit their social interaction with their ‘awkward’ coworkers. They will avoid inviting them to lunch or stopping by their cubicle for a quick chat.

Sometimes, autistic employees will be the subject of water-cooler gossip and inter-office bullying. Autistic employees may see the restricted interactions by others. And, recognizing that they are not included in the inter-office relationships building up around them, can cause autistic employees to further withdrawal from office interactions.  

That autistic employees don’t “fit in” according to neurotypical social expectations. In the workplace, this can hinder our ability to keep jobs and promote. 

Autistic individuals’ strong sense of fairness works against the social expectations of the workplace.

Probably the first thing young adults learn when entering the workforce is that hard work isn’t enough to push them through the ranks. Mastering inter-office politics is a skill needed to succeed. 

Unfortunately for autistic employees, it isn’t that simple. 

We can’t wrap our heads around the unfair concept of hiring and promoting based on favorability instead of job skills. Favoritism is “when a person (usually a manager) demonstrates preferential treatment to one person over all of the other employees for reasons unrelated to performance,” as defined by Susan Lucas.

Being the boss’s favorite usually means better annual reviews and raises, the first choice of projects, and improved chances for promotion, even if the favored employee’s work is mediocre. This does not sit well with autistic employees.

We can’t see the purpose of the favorability over work quality and skill.

Office politics is a challenging concept to grasp. In addition to favoritism, employees need to learn to read social situations – not a natural skill for autistics. When should an employee be honest with my boss and when should I tell the boss what they want to hear instead? What does the boss want to hear instead of the truth? Why can’t I be honest?

“Office politics and ‘sucking up’ to the boss are not in (an autistic woman’s) social toolbox and this can cause others to dislike her socially, despite being skilled at her job.” – Sarah Hendrickx, Women and Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Between our social skills and inability to navigate office politics, we are not held favorably in the eyes of bosses. Unfortunately, some bosses will do more for the “socially favorable” and find reasons to drop the “socially unfavorable.”

Autistic employees can do a few things to help maximize their success in the workplace.

Office politics won’t go away. Depending upon the job, some inter-office politics and social skills will always be required to maintain employment and promote. But there are things autistic employees can do to support themselves.

1.      Choosing careers that align with our strengths and preferred working environments.

Choosing a career that doesn’t heavily rely on social skills and aligns with our strengths can improve our chances for success. Also, understanding the type of working environment can maximize our resiliency.

“The main problem for most of us (autistics) is that we have a hard time holding onto jobs for social reasons. I cannot stress enough how important it is to work with your strengths and acknowledge your triggers – things that push your autistic buttons – so that you choose the right career path.” – Rudy Simone, Aspergirls

An office environment may not be the best place for some autistic people. Fluorescent lights, cold temperatures, white-noise machines, and impromptu hallway meetings can grind on our senses. Working from home may be more appropriate for some.

I know an autistic person that loves food and can hyper focus on cooking. He is now a chef. The hustle and bustle of a commercial kitchen gives him the excuse to avoid most socializing. Hyper focusing on the plate in front of him propels him forward.

We can increase our chances of success by pursuing opportunities that align closely with our needs and strengths.

2.      Become a Subject Matter Expert (SME).

Generally, autistic individuals can focus intensely on a subject; often researching it until fully knowledgeable. We love details. Understanding the details gives us some level of control and order in the subject. Typically, self-learning is an autistic strength.

These skills can help us become SMEs. Thus, becoming a source of valuable information for coworkers. 

Professional conversations are a great opportunity to know someone. As subject matter experts, we can share valuable knowledge with coworkers and build a rapport through these interactions.

Autistics find small talk challenging but can talk endlessly about areas of interest. These types of interactions involve less pressure to socialize casually. The focus is on the professional subject matter, not the weather or what-was-Pam-thinking-wearing-that-outfit-to-work gossip. 

Building a reputation as a “go-to” person across departments can help boost your career internally. Leaders talk. Make sure they are talking about your skills and expertise. 

3.     Find a mentor.

There are many benefits for anyone–autistic or not–to having a professional mentor. A mentor can shorten the learning curve, help mentees navigate the office environment, and improve their professional network. 

Many companies offer mentorship programs. Autistic employees can benefit from the professional support an inter-company mentor can offer. The one-on-one support for autistic employees can be invaluable.

We all have the right to pursue career ambitions and earn a living. Unfortunately, the workplace wasn’t built with an autistic or neurodiverse brain in mind. It doesn’t mean that autistics can’t be successful in the workplace. Being more purposeful and self-aware can help us align our career goals and working environment to our strengths.