8: Cultivating Neurodiversity-Affirming Workplace Environments for Autistic Individuals: Disclosure, Accommodations, Self-Advocacy, and Employer Training

Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent individuals encounter a variety of obstacles to maintain employment (Brouwers et al., 2024; Lorenz et al., 2016). Employers are required by law (Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], 1990; ADA Amendments Act, 2008) to provide reasonable workplace accommodations to disabled employees, and such accommodations can significantly improve employment outcomes. However, receiving accommodations is not an easy feat. Individuals need to know how to request accommodations as well as what accommodations to ask for. Crucially, employees also need to know how and when to disclose their disability in order to gain access to the protections that disability law provides. All of these tasks can prove difficult for neurodivergent people, particularly those with social differences, such as autistic individuals, who may experience difficulties interacting with employers and fellow employees and encounter stigma or biases within employment settings. This chapter focuses on the following three aspects of cultivating neurodiversity-affirming workplaces by attending to disclosure, accommodations, self-advocacy and employer training for those on the autism spectrum: (1) what disclosure and accommodations look like practically and how self-advocacy and self-determination are crucial components of disclosure and accessing accommodations; (2) what we know about workplace disclosures and experiences requesting accommodation (e.g., reasons for disclosure, disclosure frequency, what kind of accommodations are received, etc.) for autistic individuals; and (3) interventions to teach autistic individuals self-advocacy skills in order to inform their decision-making around workplace disclosure and accommodations as well as programs for employers to create more neuro-affirming, supportive, and inclusive work environments.