Employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with neurodevelopmental issues which affect social interaction, communication, and behavior in the neurotypical workplace.

A recent Forbes report says that only 32 percent of adults with autism are employed, compared to over 70 percent of neurotypical adults. This demonstrates the systemic barriers that individuals with autism face while pursuing meaningful employment. This statistic is true even for people with autism who have college degrees.

Such has been the case for my daughter, Adrianna, a baking professional, who was diagnosed with autism at age 21.

A Little Bit of History

Adrianna’s love for culinary arts led to the start of her professional culinary career at age 12 when she began baking for various community events.

After graduating high school, Adrianna took a short detour from her passion for food to study music at a local university. She quickly realized that this was not what she wanted, decided to leave the program, and returned to her original calling of cooking and baking.

Shortly after leaving college, Adrianna enrolled in the Boulder, Colorado-based Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts as an online externship student in the Hospitality Operations and Restaurant Management program.

Although Adrianna owns Cauthen Confections, a home-based business, she also took a part-time job as an assistant baker with a popular cookie chain. And that’s when she began to experience problems.

A Rude Awakening

Almost immediately, Adrianna discovered that working in commercial kitchens presented huge challenges. 

Her struggles with multitasking, along with the various sensory triggers in a commercial bakery, quickly became evident. She was also plagued with feelings of anxiety because she had difficulty observing and interpreting social cues.

“Not being able to read social cues and nuances is a terrifying experience,” Adrianna said. “I imagine that it’s like being blind. You lack the vital information that you need to function well and feel emotionally safe.”

“Also, being likable plays into being successful at work,” she continued. “I didn’t always know whether my bosses or coworkers liked me or whether I was doing things that were socially awkward. Because of this, I often felt that I had to overcompensate at work. This created a lot of stress for me.”

Because her hours at work had been drastically reduced, she eventually left the bakery, and took a job as a line cook at a high-volume, full-service restaurant, and things went from bad to worse. 

“Working there was like working for Gordon Ramsey in Hell’s Kitchen,” Adrianna said. “In addition to working long hours for low pay, I was completely overwhelmed by the fast pace, and most days, I was frantic and drained, both physically and emotionally,” she continued. “It had gotten to the point where I dreaded the thought of going to work.” 

Adrianna eventually quit that job, and after a short break, took another job as a line cook in a high-end Italian restaurant. After only working one week, however, the general manager told her that things were not working out, and let her go.

“I was devastated,” said Adrianna. “I felt like such a failure.”

Taking Time to Reassess

Exhausted and unable to go on, Adrianna decided to stop working, and take some time to evaluate what she needed to do in order to move forward. 

“I wasn’t sleeping very much because of all of the stress, so it took several weeks for me to just feel like myself again,” Adrianna said. “But once I did, I realized that part of my problem was that I had unrealistic expectations and didn’t understand the limitations that come with being autistic.”

“Not only was I working 30 plus hours a week, not including the travel time on public transportation, I was in school and working my business on the side,” said Adrianna. “This would be a lot for anybody, much less someone with autism.” 

During her time off from work, Adrianna competed in Chef Carla Hall’s Favorite Chef competition. The contest was a collaboration between celebrity chef Carla Hall, the James Beard Foundation, and the Taste of Home Magazine. The winner would receive a grand prize of $25,000, a television show appearance, and be featured on the cover of the Taste of Home magazine.

There were approximately 56,000 contestants in the competition when it began. Adrianna made it to the semifinals which consisted of the 48 top contestants, and came in seventh, overall.

“Although I didn’t win the contest, making it to the semifinals was a real boost to my self-esteem,” Adrianna said. “It helped me to see that people saw my talent, believed in me, and that gave me the mental energy I needed to do the next thing.” 

Finding a Path Forward

Adrianna returned to work as a part-time assistant baker in a commercial bakery, but only long enough to pay off the remainder of her tuition. She realized that long hours in a commercial kitchen does not work for her.

“One of the most important things that I learned during my break was that continuing to push through was counterproductive,” Adrianna said. “It leads to more burnout, and everytime you burn out, it gets harder and harder to get back to 100 percent.”

Taking time to reassess also helped Adrianna to see that there was more than one way to move forward in the culinary arts industry.

“I realized that I needed to be creative and think outside the box in order to work with my ASD,” Adrianna said. 

“Since I already have a home-based business, I decided to spend more building the Cauthen Confections brand,” she said. “I’m able to showcase my baked goods on my website and fill catering orders. I also sell my baked goods via GrubHub, and I use my personal social media platforms to produce cooking videos, advertise my business and teach cooking classes.”

Adrianna also talked about the importance of persons with ASD assessing and leveraging their resources.

“My mom owns Cauthen Enterprises, a business that facilitates retail pop-up markets, so I’ve been able to sell my baked goods at these events,” said Adrianna, who also works as the vendor coordinator/administrative assistant for Cauthen Enterprises.

“In addition to finishing my culinary arts program, I plan to continue to get a better understanding of how autism presents for me, and to work with my therapist to learn workarounds for some of my triggers,” said Adrianna. “Who knows? I may be able to return to a commercial kitchen space, but this works for me for now.” 

A Word to the Community

Adrianna believes that there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way hiring managers interview and screen applicants because traditional methods don’t work for most people on the autism spectrum.

“I feel like the cards are stacked against people with autism from the very beginning of the screening process,” she said. “For instance, the personality tests that companies use put people on the spectrum at a disadvantage. They test for qualities that people on the spectrum lack, but fail to look for other qualities that we can bring to the workplace.”

She also explained how traditional resumes don’t always work for people who have neurodivergent issues. 

“Hiring managers want to see a resume that shows a consistent work history, but I, and a lot of people with autism, struggle with something called ‘uneven productivity,’” said Adrianna.

“Some days, we can work long hours and get a lot of things done, and on other days we can barely accomplish anything,” Adrianna said. “This makes it very difficult for us to work traditional jobs, since most companies expect a consistent level of output each day. If you can’t mass produce on their terms, you’re of no worth to them, and they let you go. This ends up leaving gaps in your resume.”

Adrianna stressed that companies need to educate themselves about autism, and look for other qualities that people with ASD can bring to the workplace.

“Many autistic people are highly intelligent and have abilities and unique skills that can be of great benefit to many employers,” Adrianna said. “Some of the skills include strong focus, problem-solving abilities, and an unparalleled attention to detail which can prove advantageous and lead to high-quality work.”

Although autism has certain common characteristics and features, the disorder presents differently for each individual, and Adrianna emphasized that it’s important not to assume that everybody with autism is the same. 

“There’s a popular quote in the autism community that says, ‘if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,’ which is very true,” Adrianna said. “Each individual should be evaluated to see what specific talents and skills they can bring to the workplace.”