The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

I have been working with Melissa Abich-Espinoza, Senior Vice President in charge of HR Accommodations at Bank of America, to develop a brochure for people with Autism on how to ask for work accommodations. All too often since there is no "how-to manual", people with autism are afraid to broach the subject of accommodations, or may do so inappropriately, which may result in them being fired for something that could have been avoided with a simple accommodation. This experience can traumatize the individual to the point that they're afraid to apply for another job and spend months, years or the rest of their life on disability thus preventing them from experiencing meaningful work that can contribute to their community at a company that doesn't have a specific program for people with autism.

In this session, I will cover knowing the difference between a reasonable and unreasonable accommodation because some accommodations can't be met by the nature of the job (ex. a job in a bank call center can't have a work-from-home accommodation due to privacy regulations), but also what to do if that conflict arises. Also we'll cover when it is appropriate to ask: in the cover letter? at the interview? after you're hired? public or private setting with current employer? And finally, we'll cover examples of difficulties and reasonable accommodations that might ameliorate the person's issue and what to do if you don’t know what to ask for. To wrap up the session I'll ask if anyone has an autism-related need not already covered and we'll discuss possible accommodations.

If there is time at the end, we will do a role-playing scenario where a person with autism can ask someone pretending to be a supervisor for an accommodation. The finalized brochure will be available digitally for all participants.

I am working on seeing if I can get a local HR professional from a major company to attend to help answer questions, but that is not solidified at this time. If I can find someone, I'll get their bio for you to approve their participation and have them acknowledge the conflict of interest policy.