Critical Reflections on Employment Among Autistic Adults

Encouraging efforts have emerged in recent years to study and build employment opportunities for adults on the autism spectrum. In this Perspectives piece, we acknowledge this important work while offering critical reflections for consideration as the field of employment in autism advances. We call for five areas of increased focus: (1) nurturing long-term versus short-term employment success; (2) broadening employment readiness efforts beyond only the individual to the entire community employment ecosystem; (3) providing professional development that starts with an individual's strengths, and not with their disability; (4) building community employment support that can be independent of family support; and (5) striving for a good life versus just the next job. Overall, we aim to help galvanize the field toward greater consideration of individuals' quality of life and development, the broader community ecosystem around individuals and their families, and vocational stability over the life course, all on individuals' own terms.