‘I did what I could to earn some money and be of use’: A qualitative exploration of autistic people’s journeys to career success and fulfilment

Added on 07/01/2025

Type de contenu

Journal article of the type Scientific research ( ; english)

Jade Davies , Rachel Melinek * , Adam Livesey , Estelle Killick , Evelyn Sam , Anna Romualdez , Elizabeth Pellicano , Anna Remington
‘I did what I could to earn some money and be of use’: A qualitative exploration of autistic people’s journeys to career success and fulfilment published in the journal "Autism" Preprint, 17 pages , doi: 10.1177/13623613241292177

*One co-author has publicly identified as autistic. [Learn more about this mention]

- 8% of authors cited in the bibliography of this resource have publicly identified as autistic (17 out of 201 authors).
- 16% of references cited in this resource contain at least one author who has publicly identified as autistic (13 out of 82 references).

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Summary/Presentation

Employment contributes to well-being, yet many autistic people who want to work face barriers to meaningful employment. Much research focuses solely on employment rates, rather than taking a more holistic view of professional trajectories and occupational experiences. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 autistic adults to explore their experiences of, and perspectives on, career success. Our participants highlighted the overarching importance of finding fulfilment in one’s career. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified five additional key themes: (1) volatile career journeys, (2) the need for continuing career support, (3) the impact (positive or negative) of social interactions, (4) the important role of organisations and (5) the catastrophic impact of poor experiences. Our findings highlight the importance of tailored, lifelong employment support and inclusive workplaces in enabling autistic people to thrive at work. Enabling autistic career fulfilment requires moving beyond entry-level hiring to foster sustainable, fulfilling employment for all autistic people.

For your information:

(1) References in blue are resources listed on our site.

(2) Authors listed in this bibliography whose names are in color have published other resources referenced on the site. Clicking on the name allows you to see the list of resources they have published and shared on the site.

(3) Authors whose names are followed by an asterisk have publicly disclosed being autistic.

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