2020-04-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

INTHEWORKPLACE

Althoughmanyautisticpeoplefind

jobsthatsuitthem,theconditionis

associatedwithunderemployment.

Somepeopletakepositionsbeneath

theirabilitiesbecausetheycan’than-

dlethestressoftoomuchresponsi-

bilityorbecausedepression,anxiety

orautism-relateddisabilitiesmay

provetoochallenging.

PeterStreet,71,wasdiagnosed

withautismatage64.Hisproblems

startedinchildhood.“Icouldn’tdo

English,maths–couldn’tdoany-

thingintheclassroom,really,”he

says.“I’dendupwithinkalloverme,

andI keptwonderingwhytheother

childrencoulddothings–simple

things– andI couldn’t.”

Hewasheldbacktwiceduring

school,thendroppedoutatage

15.Heworkedasa gravediggerfor

years,thenbecamea gardenerand

lateraforester.Hedidn’tbecome

literateforyears.In1982,Streetwas

hospitalisedafteranaccidentand

befriendeda fellowpatient,a liter-

atureteacher,whotutoredhimand

encouragedhimtowrite.Streethas

sincepublishedfourvolumesofpo-

etryanda memoir.

Inabilitytoconnectmeaningfully

withcolleaguesorgowiththef low

maylimitpeople’supwardmobility

orearningpotential,evenifthey’re

successfulprofessorsorengineers.

A 2017 Britishsurveyof 2471 people,

published in the journalMolecular

Autism, foundthatautistictraits

werenegativelyrelatedtoincome.

“Althoughtherearesomeroles

wheretechnicalskillsarepara-

mount,itishardtoimaginea work-

placeorroleforwhichitisnotalso

usefultobeskilledatprocessingso-

cialinformation,”saysstudyauthor

WilliamSkylark,seniorlecturerin

psycholog yatCambridgeUniversity.

Researchershavealsofoundthat

autisticadultsarelessempathet-

ic,whichmaylimittheirsuccessin

socialorprofessionalsituations.A

2018 studypublishedintheJournal

ofAutismandDevelopmentalDisor-

dersstudied 173 adultswhoweresent

forautismassessments.Itfoundthat

thosewhoreceivedanautismdiag-

nosistendedtohavelowerscoreson

a questionnairethatmeasuredhow

wellsomeoneunderstandsothers’

feelings.

Researchhasdemonstratedthat

peoplewithautismalsohavediffi-

cultieswithunderstandingwhatone

person thinks about another person’s

PeterStreetdidn'tdowellatschool.

He is now a published author

PHOTO: JOHN BENTLEY

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