This post is on a topic that deviates somewhat from what this blog is typically based on.
Myself and colleagues at Heriot-Watt University have just finished a research project on neurodiversity and the workplace, with the focus on people who work in the transport and travel industry.
Neurodiversity, for the purpose of this research, relates to conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, ADD/ADHD and Asperger syndrome.
The research was commissioned by the TSSA trade union.
The report looks at three things in particular:
1) Knowledge of neurodiverse conditions.
2) Attitudes towards the term "neurodiversity".
3) Perceived level of support and perceived level of support for employees with a neurodiverse condition.
If you would like to view the report click here.
The realities of work and new forms of web-based communication technology
Showing posts with label Asperger syndrome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asperger syndrome. Show all posts
Autism and employment
An area that I hope to move into in terms of research is the employment of adults with autistic spectrum disorders.
And how pleased I was to see this morning an article on the BBC News website on this very subject.
The article details a new venture right here in Scotland.
Some details:
Denmark which has made huge strides in employing workers with autism is expecting to begin work in the UK soon.
Specialisterne was started by a Danish man whose own son has autism.
Thorkil Sonne now employs more than 40 people with autism.
He is finalising plans to set up a branch in Glasgow in the coming months.
He hopes to hire 50 workers in the first three years of operating in Scotland.
See Why a firm wants staff with autism by Jane Dreaper for more details.
And how pleased I was to see this morning an article on the BBC News website on this very subject.
The article details a new venture right here in Scotland.
Some details:
Denmark which has made huge strides in employing workers with autism is expecting to begin work in the UK soon.
Specialisterne was started by a Danish man whose own son has autism.
Thorkil Sonne now employs more than 40 people with autism.
He is finalising plans to set up a branch in Glasgow in the coming months.
He hopes to hire 50 workers in the first three years of operating in Scotland.
See Why a firm wants staff with autism by Jane Dreaper for more details.
Asperger syndrome and employment
My research in a short career so far has concentrated on workplace misbehaviour and employee uses for Web 2.0 communication technology.
More recently, however, I have also been working on a quite different area - adults who have Asperger syndrome and the many problems they have seeking and holding down jobs.
It's a very new area for employment researchers and I've only mentioned it once on my blog before.
The outcome is working paper I intend to present to a sociology conference next week.
My paper is entitled: A labour process analysis of the exclusion of adults with Asperger syndrome from the workplace.
It's really an attempt to look at what sociologists can contribute to helping with the problem.
A paper can be viewed here (please contact me with any comments).
The abstract is as follows:
By comparison with the general employment experiences of adults with a recognised disability, adults with Asperger syndrome – a ‘social’ disability – have been found to have extreme problems when seeking and holding down long-term employment opportunities.
More recently, however, I have also been working on a quite different area - adults who have Asperger syndrome and the many problems they have seeking and holding down jobs.
It's a very new area for employment researchers and I've only mentioned it once on my blog before.
The outcome is working paper I intend to present to a sociology conference next week.
My paper is entitled: A labour process analysis of the exclusion of adults with Asperger syndrome from the workplace.
It's really an attempt to look at what sociologists can contribute to helping with the problem.
A paper can be viewed here (please contact me with any comments).
The abstract is as follows:
By comparison with the general employment experiences of adults with a recognised disability, adults with Asperger syndrome – a ‘social’ disability – have been found to have extreme problems when seeking and holding down long-term employment opportunities.
The eclectic literature that explores this emergent problem suggests the widespread exclusion of individuals with Asperger syndrome from the workplace is a multi-dimensional and highly complex problem, and the ‘problem’ is unlikely to be resolved without input from many professional fields of practice.
However, a key dimension to the problem is that until now problems of exclusion have been examined without drawing on a mass of social science literature based on the critical examination of work organisations.
As such, this paper investigates the problem from a labour process perspective – that is, how a labour process based on prioritising profits and targets is likely to conflict with attempts to make necessary and ongoing adjustments for such individuals.
The main approach and method used in the paper involves analysis of secondary qualitative data.
Particular attention is given to the role that socially organised resistance to organisational control, associated with informal groups rather than trade unions, plays in the exclusion of individuals with Asperger syndrome from the workplace.
The key findings suggest the benefits of specialist intervention practices, usually provided by external consultants, is quickly neutralised where employers knowingly or unknowingly marginalise or undermine day-to-day socially organised attempts to support such employees.
Recommendations are made on the character and direction by which future research in this area should progress.
Working with Asperger's syndrome
Since my son was recently referred for tests to see if he has Asperger's syndrome I've been keen to find out more about this increasingly common form of autism.
As I teach and research a range of things related to the working and employment environment I've also taken the time to find out how people with Asperger's syndrome cope with work - and how employers cope with employing people with Asperger's.
So far I've only come across one good source - Employing people with Asperger syndrome: a practical guide by Martha Fausset.
I was therefore heartened to find article in Saturday's Guardian called Special intelligence (Sabina Dosani).
The article speaks to a range of employers who employ people with Asperger's syndrome. The article is very positive and contains a range of advice for people who either have the condition or have to deal with people who have the condition in the workplace.
As I teach and research a range of things related to the working and employment environment I've also taken the time to find out how people with Asperger's syndrome cope with work - and how employers cope with employing people with Asperger's.
So far I've only come across one good source - Employing people with Asperger syndrome: a practical guide by Martha Fausset.
I was therefore heartened to find article in Saturday's Guardian called Special intelligence (Sabina Dosani).
The article speaks to a range of employers who employ people with Asperger's syndrome. The article is very positive and contains a range of advice for people who either have the condition or have to deal with people who have the condition in the workplace.
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