Claire Jack has an article at Psychology Today titled "Are Autistic People More Likely to Speak Up at Work?"
Recent research 3 supports what my clients have told me and suggests that autistic people may be more likely to voice concerns when made aware of inefficient processes and dysfunctional practices in the workplace than non-autistic people. In an online survey, 33 autistic employees and 34 nonautistic employees were presented with examples of potential workplace situations, which contained an example of workplace dysfunction, including an ethical issue or example of operational inefficiency. Both groups were asked to evaluate the hypothetical examples at work and state what, if any, action they would take if they were aware of ethical issues or inefficiencies.
Why were autistic participants more likely to express a desire to take action? It might be because autistic people tend to be less worried about what others think when making moral judgments.4 It could also be the case that autistic people internalise a different set of cultural beliefs and psychological rules in their earlier developmental stages, which makes them less likely to be influenced by others.5
3. Hartman, LM, Farahani, M, Moore, A. et. Al (2023) Organizational benefits of neurodiversity: preliminary findings on autism and the bystander effect. Autism Research, 16(10): 1989-2001
4. Frith, Uta, and Chris Frith. "Reputation management: In autism, generosity is its own reward." Current biology 21.24 (2011): R994-R995.
5. Hartman, LM, Farahani, M, Moore, A. et. Al (2023) Organizational benefits of neurodiversity: preliminary findings on autism and the bystander effect. Autism Research, 16(10): 1989-2001
