PhD Candidate Kari Sherwood presented her poster, “Prevalence of Autistic Microaggressions in the Workplace” at the 2024 Illinois Center for Transition and Work Symposium and the University of Illinois Urban-Champaign.
Introduction:
- Autistic individuals have higher unemployment rates than their allistic peers (Roux et al., 2015) and often face challenges with the social aspects of maintaining a job (Bury et al., 2021).
- Social factors such as microaggressions can impact autism employment.
- We adapted a valid measure of microaggressions (Kattari et al., 2019) for use with autistic people.
Primary Aim:
- To measure the prevalence of autistic microaggressions experienced by autistic adults in the workplace.
Methods:
- n=60 autistic adults participated in a randomized control trial during which they completed baseline measures of social ability and mental health status.
- Autistic microaggressions were measured at baseline via a 57-question self-report measure, Autistic Microaggressions in the Workplace Inventory (AMWI-57).
- A factor analysis revealed two factors, including a subscale on exclusion at work.
- Social responsiveness was measured using the SRS-2; self-direction and work skills were measured using the ABAS-3.
- Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlations were used to analyze demographic and survey data.
Results:
- 88% of autistic professionals experience autism-related microaggressions in the workplace.
- Exploratory analyses examined the relationship between age, race, and gender identity with microaggressions and found no statistically significant between-group differences.
- Microaggressions were significantly correlated with social responsiveness (r=.41, p<.01), self-direction (r=-.51, p<.001), and work skills (r=-.39, p<.01).
Limitations:
- These are preliminary results and must be interpreted within the context of study limitations such as small sample size.
- We did not gather data on autism disclosure at work, which might have an impact on microaggressions experienced by participants as autism is an invisible disability.
- These adult participants may have had more experience masking than transition-age youth holding entry level positions would have.
Implications:
- Autistic microaggressions are prevalent in the workplace, which may contribute to the employment status and/or quality of life for autistic adults.
- Employer/coworker-facing interventions as well as bystander intervention training, might provide one solution to the problem of autistic microaggressions in the workplace.
Download the poster here: INSAR 2024 Poster Microaggressions