{"id":349,"date":"2025-12-16T18:15:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T23:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/?p=349"},"modified":"2025-12-16T19:07:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T00:07:31","slug":"making-a-way-for-people-with-autism-to-find-fulfilling-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/?p=349","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0Making a way for people with autism to find fulfilling work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”7px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-20px|auto||auto||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]

Alternate routes: Making a way for people with autism to find fulfilling work<\/strong><\/a><\/h1>\n
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Autistic people in the workforce have long understood that autism itself is not what holds them back\u2014discrimination is. As writer Joey Murphy puts it, \u201cThe same kids who sensed your difference from the herd in the third grade are still with you in the office. At 35, you\u2019re better at masking, but they\u2019re better at making their reasons for not liking you seem legitimate.\u201d<\/em> The setting may change, but the social dynamics often remain the same.<\/p>\n

One reason for this disconnect lies in the differences in how brains are wired. Neurotypical (NT) brains tend to prioritize social interaction, relationships, and unspoken hierarchies. Neurodivergent (ND) brains, by contrast, often devote the same intensity to organizing, exploring, and deeply engaging with topics of interest.<\/p>\n

A simple comparison highlights the difference. For many NTs, a familiar narrative might be: girl meets boy, they fall in love.<\/em> For many NDs, the story looks more like: girl meets a topic, girl falls in love, and her passion drives her to explore that subject in depth\u2014please stop interrupting her while she\u2019s doing so.<\/em><\/p>\n

At a fundamental level, we are motivated by different priorities. This mismatch is where many workplace communication problems begin. NTs may interpret ND behavior as rude or distant, while NDs may experience NT social norms as inefficient or distracting. Neither perspective is wrong\u2014they are simply shaped by different ways of thinking and valuing the world. (more<\/a>)<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alternate routes: Making a way for people with autism to find fulfilling work Autistic people in the workforce have long understood that autism itself is not what holds them back\u2014discrimination is. As writer Joey Murphy puts it, \u201cThe same kids who sensed your difference from the herd in the third grade are still with you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,30,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aspergers","category-autism","category-employment","category-resources","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/joey-lead-illustration.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363,"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions\/363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.aspergerworks.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}