AaronMar 25, 2024

Requirements to put in a job description to discourage or filter out autistic people:

* Comfortable with ambiguity
* Strong people skills
* Good culture fit
* Multitasking
* A fast-paced dynamic environment
* Bachelor's degree or better

I see these things and think you don't want my >30 years of programming and machine learning experience, or my problem-solving skills and comprehensive knowledge that had people mistaking me for one of the team's PhDs, or my solutions that have proven patent-worthy. Your loss.

#ActuallyAutistic
@actuallyautistic
@neurodivergence

Show threadAaronMar 25, 2024
@actuallyautistic @neurodivergence The degree requirement, in particular, is one I want to highlight. I was a National Merit Scholar, with a free ride to a major, respected university. But I lost my scholarship and ended up homeless for a time because of my (as yet undiagnosed) disability. By the time I got back on my feet, college was no longer an option. But guess what? I kept actively learning on my own, and even pursued my own research agenda in machine learning and NLP. So I don't have the piece of paper you want to see, but I'm a stronger candidate than a lot of folks who *do* have that piece of paper. You'll never know that, because your job description is implicitly ableist in excluding neurodivergent folks who were not a good fit for university -- thanks to ableism there, as well.
Show threadAaronMar 25, 2024
@actuallyautistic @neurodivergence My fellow neurodivergent folks, tell me the ableist requirements you've seen in job descriptions. Let's give folks some insight into the stuff that contributes to systemic ableism in the workplace. I know there are way more examples than the few I've already listed.
Show threadSemi Sentient AI Cooling WaterMar 25, 2024

@hosford42 @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence

Must work well as part of a team.

Any other duties. (So just anything they make up that's not related to the job you were hired to do)

Show threadAaronMar 25, 2024
@sentient_water @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence Right! It depends on the team anyway, doesn't it? Is it a team of people who are autistic and/or comfortable working with autistic people? Or were those folks already filtered out by your previous ableist hiring practices?
Show threadSemi Sentient AI Cooling WaterMar 25, 2024

@hosford42 @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence It's not even that I can't work as a team but every team contains at least one person who is just into head games & gossip & being a prick & they infect everyone else.

Often I can see it. Can't unsee it & ultimately have to deal with it. That puts a target on your back & before you know it the rest of the team are turned against you.

Show threadAaronMar 25, 2024

@sentient_water @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence Over and over and over. We are canaries. If there's something toxic in the air, it'll take us out first.

I always end up being the target of some jerk who wants to prove to himself and everyone else what a piece of garbage I am for not being compliant with his manipulations. Even in cases where the rest of the team sides with me, it ends up being a fight to the death. I try to make peace with the aggressor repeatedly, to no avail.

Show threadSelena
@hosford42 @sentient_water @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence
'we are canaries'
💯
Mar 25, 2024 at 11:00pmWeb