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 threadEveryday.Human DerekMar 25, 2024

@hosford42 @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence

I have a strange work history. I started teaching computer to nurses in the 90s at 12. I went and progressed really well until I hit burnout a couple times. I was the bootstrap kid. I mean why give up just if life deals you shit I thought.

I had good mentors.

I can still remember all thier advice. It was a privledged life I learned.

Now I realize my internalized ableism broke me down over time. So that’s from another perspective.

Show threadAaronMar 25, 2024
@EVDHmn @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence So often we follow unusual life trajectories due to our cognitive differences. The degree requirement, as an actual hard requirement, puts a straight jacket on that, excluding anyone who isn't ordinary. But often it is our extraordinary paths that give us unique and valuable perspectives. I think it's fine to require a degree *or equivalent experience*, but excluding alternative sources of education (e.g. autodidacts) is ableist and harms the prospective employer, too.
Show threadNateMar 26, 2024

@hosford42 @EVDHmn @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence I doubt that I could have gotten a degree thirty years ago. Here I am, at 47, a 4.0 student. But I won't kid myself, I couldn't do this if it wasn't for the online, async format.

But the entire reason I'm going is that I've never gotten past the foot in the door stage. When you couple the degree requirement with having to play nice by arbitrary rules I'm a poor fit. So here I am, getting a degree to prove that I know what I already know.

Show threadNateMar 26, 2024
@hosford42 @EVDHmn @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence since we're on the subject of education I'd like to point out that the problems we're discussing in the job market apply at least as much on an educational setting. I can't tell you how many times teachers got pissed off at me for asking why something worked the way it did it why it was relevant. They likely thought I was just being difficult, when I just needed that information and the lack of it being forthcoming was physically painful.
Show threadNateMar 26, 2024
@hosford42 @EVDHmn @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence my experience in school as a child was alternating periods of adults being excited over my "giftedness" and then being angry with me for not doing the work they assigned me. I was not just passing every test but scoring higher than everyone else, so the fact that they were asking me to waste time on practice problems was just a curiosity to me, which meant I just shrugged shoulders, buried myself in whatever book I was reading and took the F.
Show threadThe Great Llama 
@jeang3nie @hosford42 @EVDHmn @actuallyautistic @neurodivergence
🤣 My childhood to a T.
Mar 27, 2024 at 12:06amWeb