Romualdez, Anna Melissa; (2021) Exploring the Diagnostic Disclosure Experiences of Autistic Individuals in Workplace Settings. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Autistic adults are currently facing a crisis of unemployment, malemployment, and underemployment in the UK. Autistic people may face barriers to employment that prevent them from finding or maintaining a job, and autism researchers have sought to understand both what these barriers are and how to eradicate them. While research on autism and employment has become a priority in recent years, studies focussing specifically on autism diagnosis disclosure in workplace settings are scarce. Researchers have largely focussed on measurable employment outcomes for autistic people, such as average number of hours worked per week, average pay, and rates of success in recruitment. Much less common are studies highlighting the employment experiences of autistic people. Moreover, the existing literature contains few studies that explore the potential role of disclosure in improving employment outcomes. In this thesis, I first sought to explore the disclosure experiences of UK-based autistic adults when seeking or maintaining employment. In Chapter 2, my first doctoral study examined the disclosure experiences of a large group of autistic employees and job seekers in an effort to identify the commonalities among their experiences. In the study outlined in Chapter 3, I explored autistic people’s disclosure experiences through more in-depth qualitative methods, identifying common themes and sub-themes found within one-to-one interview transcripts. From these interviews, I also determined the factors associated with the outcomes of disclosure based on the experiences of autistic employees and job seekers in the UK. My last study, outlined in Chapter 4, aimed to examine potential employers’ perspectives on hiring autistic candidates who disclosed on the application materials. This study also compared employers’ perspectives on hiring autistic vs. dyslexic or physically impaired candidates. Finally, in Chapter 5 of this thesis, I discussed how my research findings contribute to the extant literature on the subject of autism disclosure in the workplace. I also outlined how these findings may be translated into best practice for employers and colleagues in workplaces. To conclude, I made three recommendations that may improve disclosure and employment outcomes for autistic individuals, specifically: 1) Interventions or training programmes should be targeted toward other people in the workplace rather than autistic individuals; 2) Inclusive organisational cultures must be shaped by organisation leaders; and 3) Disclosure policies and protocols should clearly welcome but not necessitate disclosure.

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