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Experiences of autistic and non-autistic individuals participating in a corporate internship scheme.

ABSTRACT:

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Autistic people can find it difficult to find and keep a job, and fewer autistic people are employed compared with people from other disability groups. There is not enough research in this area, especially research that directly compares the experiences of autistic and non-autistic colleagues starting in an organisation at the same time. Our study looked at the experiences of autistic and non-autistic people taking part in an internship at Deutsche Bank, UK. We spoke to the interns before the internship began, and again once it had finished. We also asked the interns' hiring managers about their experiences of the internship. We used interviews and online questionnaires to find out people's views. Before the programme began, managers of autistic interns were more worried about the internship than managers of the non-autistic interns. They were worried about providing the right level of support, communicating successfully and treating all their employees fairly. At the end of the internship, everyone felt that the internship was a success. Managers of autistic interns explained how the experience had made them better managers. Both groups of interns and said that they benefitted from clear communication and would have likes more support. Managers of autistic interns spoke about dividing tasks up into smaller chunks and being flexible in their communication were helpful when working with the autistic interns. More work is needed to make sure that autistic interns are integrated alongside non-autistic peers. One way to make this happen might be to create guides for managers.

SUBMITTER: Remington A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8750129 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:IntroductionSports participation has many physical and mental health benefits for individuals with a disability, including improved functionality and reduced anxiety. Despite this, a large proportion of individuals with a disability are inactive. This review will be the first to synthesise the literature on the experiences and perceived health benefits of sport participation for children, adolescents, adults, elite athletes and veterans with a disability. Investigation of these phenomena will enable an understanding of the positive aspects and benefits of sport participation specific to each population, which may help to improve participation rates and ultimately improve health through promotion of these benefits.MethodsA protocol for systematic review is reported in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis-P. The phenomena of interest are the experiences and perceived health benefits of individuals with a disability participating in sport. There will be no age limit on participants and all study designs, besides reviews, will be included. Studies in languages other than English will be excluded. Two independent reviewers will conduct the searches, study selection, data collection and quality assessment independently. The online databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL Plus, Web of Science and SportDiscus will be electronically searched from database inception to February 2020. Grey literature will be searched and several sport-related journals will be hand-searched. The Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs will be used for quality assessment of included studies. Thematic synthesis will be used to analyse the qualitative studies, narrative synthesis will be used to analyse the quantitative studies and the perceived health benefits will be analysed using content analysis. The strength of the overall body of evidence will be assessed and reported using GRADE-CERQual (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation-Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) for qualitative studies and GRADE for quantitative studies. These approaches will be applied to mixed-methods studies, respectively, where necessary.Ethics and disseminationThis systematic review raises no ethical issues. Results will be published in a peer reviewed journal and disseminated to key stakeholders to inform practice.Prospero registration numberCRD42020169224.

Project description:Background and aimsHumans communicate primarily through spoken language and speech perception is a core function of the human auditory system. Among the autistic community, atypical sensory reactivity and social communication difficulties are pervasive, yet the research literature lacks in-depth self-report data on speech perception in this population. The present study aimed to elicit detailed first-person accounts of autistic individuals' abilities and difficulties perceiving the spoken word.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with nine autistic adults. The interview schedule addressed interviewees' experiences of speech perception, factors influencing those experiences, and responses to those experiences. Resulting interview transcripts underwent thematic analysis. The six-person study team included two autistic researchers, to reduce risk of neurotypical 'overshadowing' of autistic voices.ResultsMost interviewees reported pronounced difficulties perceiving speech in the presence of competing sounds. They emphasised that such listening difficulties are distinct from social difficulties, though the two can add and interact. Difficulties were of several varieties, ranging from powerful auditory distraction to drowning out of voices by continuous sounds. Contributing factors encompassed not only features of the soundscape but also non-acoustic factors such as multisensory processing and social cognition. Participants also identified compounding factors, such as lack of understanding of listening difficulties. Impacts were diverse and sometimes disabling, affecting socialising, emotions, fatigue, career, and self-image. A wide array of coping mechanisms was described.ConclusionsThe first in-depth qualitative investigation of autistic speech-perception experiences has revealed diverse and widespread listening difficulties. These can combine with other internal, interpersonal, and societal factors to induce profound impacts. Lack of understanding of such listening difficulties - by the self, by communication partners, by institutions, and especially by clinicians - appears to be a crucial exacerbating factor. Many autistic adults have developed coping strategies to lessen speech-perception difficulties or mitigate their effects, and these are generally self-taught due to lack of clinical support.ImplicationsThere is a need for carefully designed, adequately powered confirmatory research to verify, quantify, and disentangle the various forms of listening difficulty, preferably using large samples to explore heterogeneity. More immediate benefit might be obtained through development of self-help and clinical guidance materials, and by raising awareness of autistic listening experiences and needs, among the autistic community, communication partners, institutions, and clinicians.

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Experiences of autistic and non-autistic individuals participating in a corporate internship scheme.

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