New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline - Ministry of Health

Part 5: Living in the community
• arranging for or providing intensive one-toone
instruction and repetition of new job tasks
• supporting the person with ASD when
deciding whether to disclose their diagnosis
in the workplace
• helping employers consider the advantages of
having an employee with ASD (eg, punctual,
pays attention to detail, gains satisfaction
from repetitive work; loyalty, stability)
• educating employers and co-workers about
ASD
• supporting the person with ASD at times
of employment stress (eg, organisational
change, performance reviews)
• support in managing behavioural or
emotional problems that could hamper
work performance or relationships with
management or co-workers
• recognising the risk to the person with ASD
of discrimination, workplace intimidation
and bullying, and taking appropriate steps to
prevent and minimise this
• ensuring that the person with ASD knows
their employment rights, is a competent
self-advocate and/or has access to advocacy
services 39 262 362-364 (Recommendation 5.1.11).
• loyalty
• attention to detail
• perfectionism
• independence
• enjoyment of routine or repetitive tasks
• careful attention to the order and appearance
of the personal work area
• strong preference for structured time, and
discomfort with lack of structure
• unique work routines
• preference for no distractions or interruptions
• stress reactions to multitasking, change of
priorities, conflict of priorities and deadlines
• difficulties with teamwork and components
of work involving social skills
• anxiety about performance
• reluctance to ask for help or support, or
accept positions of authority and supervision
• low awareness of danger to self or others
• difficulty with starting projects, time
management issues
• strong reactions to changes in persons,
environment or work conditions
Even people with severe autism or co-morbid
intellectual disability can become engaged in
meaningful work 346 364 365 372 . Specialist schemes
for assisting less able people with ASD to get
into work have recorded success 365 367 368 . For
many people with an intellectual disability, real
work in real employment settings is preferable
by far to vocational and day services 350
(Recommendation 5.1.8).
Features of ASD may both help and hinder
finding work and obtaining employment
success. For example, attention to detail may
be valued highly, but may seriously hinder
speed of output. ASD characteristics relevant to
employment include:
• punctuality
• conscientiousness
• motivational issues regarding tasks of no
personal interest
• difficulty with writing and making reports 262
347
(Recommendation 5.1.12).
A strong finding in a survey of workplace
supervisors of people with ASD successful in
employment was that the supervisors believed
that assistance from specialist employment
services had been crucial 373 . The key supervision
strategies identified by those supervisors were:
• job modification
– maintain a consistent schedule and job
duties
– keep the social demands of the job
manageable and practicable
– provide organisers to help structure and
keep track of work
Part 5
New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline 171