As autistic people, we play a pivotal role in shaping the world of work and employment, bringing our own strengths, skills, and perspectives to the workplace. This interview is the first in a series on our blog highlighting autistic people in the workplace and sharing our diverse experiences, including the challenges and opportunities we encounter in navigating a career. To kick off the series, we sat down with Evan Yankey.
Evan works in the field of disability advocacy as an advocacy director for an independent living center for people with disabilities. He has experience working in day programs and group home settings supporting people with disabilities, and has previously worked for other organizations focusing on advocacy and policy issues affecting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He has been a member of Autistic Adults NYC since 2024 and was diagnosed with autism as an adult. In his interview with us, Evan shared how his experience with autism has shaped his career trajectory and how autism currently influences the way he navigates relationships and the workplace.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
1.What made you choose this career? Did aspects of your autism (such as having a special interest) contribute to that decision?
Without knowing that I was autistic, I started working with people with developmental disabilities as a teenager as a direct support professional. I’ve worked in day programs, group homes, and eventually, that led to an advocacy career. Even though I didn’t know I was autistic at the time, I liked being around other people with disabilities. It's nice to be around people who have relatable experiences and challenges.
2. Has your work environment posed barriers and challenges in managing aspects of autism (e.g. sensory overload, communication difficulties, executive functioning issues etc.)?
Yes, it definitely has. You know, I have in fact been demoted because I wasn’t able to do some communication tasks at work. I’ve made mistakes at work that are pretty significant sometimes, then in retrospect, think ‘oh I was perseverating on an idea’ and missed things that were relevant. Like many people with autism, there's a lot of aspects of an office environment that are frustrating. If I have to stay in one place, it makes it really tough for me to think. I have certain sensory reactions to things that sometimes happen in the office like people eating food or overlapping conversations, crowded areas, too much noise, etc... And those things have all really impacted my work.
I think even in the most understanding of environments, work is not built for people who are neurodiverse... [or] designed for difference more broadly either… even when [workplaces] are trying, and even when people are being self-conscious. I think that's why communication matters: …being able to talk to each other about shared experiences, …being able to talk with neurotypical people and being able to talk with other people that you're working with.
3. Has your job ever contributed to autistic burnout? Have there been any buffers or protective factors against burnout at work?
Yes, I've reached points where I've had to stop working because I know that some of the ways that my brain operates would lead to me being unable to continue working if I didn't stop. A lot of the commitments that I have to other folks are personal. They're relational, even if they're professional. I think of the colleagues, people I work with, through our relationship. That does help me do my work. It's also why I'm a member of Autistic Adults NYC because it's an organization, a group where people can build a web of relationships and commitments to each other.
I don't want to think about burnout like a medical condition. I think of it as an emotional experience. And there's cases in which I am experiencing this emotional experience of burnout. And I have to let other people know about that. I have to ask to stop working or go to a different environment. But you know, an emotional experience is something that you can process through relationships. And so if you have strong relationships, you can tell people, this is why I have to do this. This is why I have to leave. This is why I have to stop. And so that at least has helped me, whether it's in my professional career or if it's in my personal life.
4. What are your thoughts on self-disclosure in the workplace? Have you disclosed your autism to your boss or coworkers?
I have disclosed to my boss and coworkers, but I don't think everyone has to disclose. People are in different situations and neurotypical folks understand autism differently.
I don't think you [should] have to tell people you're autistic or that you have a disability to ask for the ability to work in a certain style or modify your workflow. That should be available to everyone, whatever their identity is.
I do think it always helps people to communicate. I supervise other people at work, other people with disabilities, and I always tell them the best thing to do if you feel like you have a need is to tell me. I'm willing to modify the way that I work if it works better for you. I try to do that with my coworkers, to tell them the things that are tough for me or the things that are easier for me.
5. Have you requested and received accommodations at work? If not, what types of accommodations would be most helpful for you?
I know there’s a formal request for an accommodation, writing to your supervisors that you would like a change in the conditions of your work. I have never done that. I've been able to informally communicate with people at work about my work style and the things that I know that work for me. If I was requesting an accommodation, the thing I want most is for people to be understanding of the different style that I have. While I could ask for breaks in my workday where I go outside or ask for a desk that's farther away from people in the office, really I just want people to understand when I do things a little differently.
The main thing I want is to be in a work environment where people understand that I'm going to make mistakes sometimes. And here's why. And I sincerely regret it. And we work together to try for it to not happen again. It's almost like the biggest accommodation we can get is just people accepting us for being autistic.
6. Many autistic folks struggle to get and maintain employment. Why do you think this difficulty is so common?
The model of employment that most people have isn't built with autistic people in mind. Some of the rigidity of professional employment isn't very accommodating. And then there's other barriers that people face even before they start looking for jobs. Autistic people are likely to have problems with housing, with receiving supports and services, with education in some cases. And these things impair people's ability to have jobs.
Part of it too is really low expectations. This is true for all people with disabilities, but sometimes if people have a visible or apparent disability they're offered a certain type of career and that career doesn't actually make sense for them. It may be something that's minimum wage or involves very simple tasks. And those kinds of careers don't often work very well for people, especially people with sensory differences and information processing differences. We want more autistic people talking about what we want, what we need, who we are, and also becoming employers themselves.
7. How can employers be more inclusive in their recruitment and selection procedures?
They should work more directly with college and university accessibility offices, which have the capacity to help autistic students network. For autistic people with intellectual disabilities, many of them receive employment services and supports and employers should work directly with them. There also should be more intentional efforts to hire autistic people. There are a lot of different employment incentive programs. Those things need to be expanded and the government needs to play a role in connecting employers with groups of autistic people. There are disability employment supports currently in New York, but it's not well tailored for autistic people in particular, and it's not high quality. The city and state could invest more in those supports.
8. Are you satisfied with your current position or is there another role or industry you’d be curious to explore if given the opportunity?
In some future, where there's more autistic people who are explicitly employing other autistic people, I'd love to be part of something like that. But for now, working in disability advocacy is the easiest way to be around people with a lot of differences.
I like working with people who are different. Most people are different from each other. It's hard to find that in another industry.
We appreciated Evan’s time and insights, particularly his reflections on how working in disability advocacy has allowed him to find a sense of fulfillment, community, and relatedness in working with others who identify with being different. He highlighted the importance of advocacy on a systemic level as well as self-advocacy in the workplace. Part of navigating the workplace and building resilience is finding people who understand our needs and can offer support when we face challenges or struggles. One of Evans key takeaways was finding connection and community within differences. Perhaps we have more in common with one another after all.