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 threadAutigirl Steph Mar 25, 2024
@hosford42 @[email protected] @[email protected] not in job requirements specifically, but I've done interview training where they specifically told us to judge candidates based on their eye-contact
Show threadAaronMar 25, 2024
@PurpleStephyr @actuallyautistic This is one of the worst ones. It's hard to get more explicitly ableist against autistic people than judging folks based on eye contact. The worst thing is, police are taught to do this, too. And when they misread you, they have the legal license to use violence.
Show threadSemi Sentient AI Cooling WaterMar 25, 2024

@hosford42 @PurpleStephyr @actuallyautistic This is also really stupid of the police too because there's tons of evidence showing that actual criminals know this & so deliberately make eye contact.

More enlightened law enforcement know this & so actually expect innocent people to avoid eye contact.

I've just started watching a french series called Astrid: Murder in Paris about an autistic woman who works in the police records unit. It's excellent 👌🏾

Though it's an over used trope I can't help myself. Anyway back to it.

Show threadalastair87 (old account)Mar 26, 2024
@sentient_water @hosford42 @PurpleStephyr @[email protected] It does a good job of recognising that autistic people have empathy and metacognition, as well as it not always being visible (I'm thinking of the group leader in the pilot).
Show threadSemi Sentient AI Cooling WaterMar 26, 2024

@alastair @actuallyautistic @PurpleStephyr @hosford42 Really glad I've got someone else to chat about this show with. Gonna watch the third episode tonight.

It's fascinating because there are MANY autistics in the show but almost every other represention in the past has been a single autistic surrounded by allistics.

I love how among themselves there's no real communication difficulties.

Show threadalastair87 (old account)Mar 26, 2024
@sentient_water @[email protected] @PurpleStephyr @hosford42 I would have said there are autistic people I've met where I am actually more like a neurotypical than I am them, and I think the first thing that is important (which Raphaelle does) is simply to accept that the person is atypical in some way without needing to justify it or apply prejudices.
Show threadSemi Sentient AI Cooling WaterMar 26, 2024

@alastair @PurpleStephyr @hosford42 @actuallyautistic Oh absolutely. Weirdly the most "autisticky" people I've met have been those who've had the earliest diagnosis. They've been coddled & also constantly reminded of their limitations. They're told, & their parents are told. They'll never live independently, so they don't. They'll never have friends or a partner. So they don't.

"Argue for your limitations & sure enough, they're yours."

The constant insistence for the earliest possible diagnosis is weird & I think detrimental.

I've lived a very full life & have autistic friends who've never got a DX or much later in life. They similarly have raised families, been married, had careers.

Show threadalastair87 (old account)Mar 27, 2024
@sentient_water @PurpleStephyr @hosford42 @[email protected] On the other hand large numbers of us can end up homeless, in abusive relationships, in the criminal justice system or worse due to lack of understanding and accommodation. So it's difficult.
Show threadSemi Sentient AI Cooling Water

@alastair @actuallyautistic @PurpleStephyr @hosford42 Oh yeah I've experienced all that stuff too. I certainly recognise my own vulnerability & difficulty with adulting. Though in a way it's actually those very challenges that have given me a range of resources.

I think I'm saying, it's about over protection & about giving us more credit & capacity than we're usually given.

I just don't know why a five year old NEEDS to know they have a complex neurological condition. How does that benefit them?

We also need to stop pathologizing harmless autistic traits.

Mar 27, 2024 at 10:15amWeb
Show threadAaronMar 27, 2024
@sentient_water @alastair @actuallyautistic @PurpleStephyr My kids have known from the beginning that I'm different, and what the words are for that. I've made no secret of my opinion that they are most likely similar to me in that regard. The key is to not pathologize it, but rather embrace it. Yeah, we are different. Anybody who doesn't accept us as we are is in the wrong, not us for being who we are. We have fun with it. We laugh about our individual oddities, and we talk about not only the cons, but the pros. So when my daughter got diagnosed with dyslexia, there wasn't even a hiccup in her self-esteem. I feel like, of all the parenting decisions I've made, this was one of my biggest successes.